Mapping the intellectual landscape of remanufacturing research: a scientometric review (1990–2025)

Remanufacturing has become a key strategy within the transition toward circular and sustainable industrial systems. At the same time, the rapid growth of publications has led to a fragmented research landscape. However, despite the growing body of literature, a holistic understanding of how the remanufacturing research field has evolved and is structured remains limited. Therefore, the objective of this paper is to systematically map the intellectual structure, thematic evolution, collaboration patterns, and emerging research fronts of remanufacturing research to provide guidance for future research. Therefore, this paper presents a scientometric analysis of remanufacturing research from 1990 to 2025 based on 6,073 publications indexed in the Web of Science Core Collection. Using multiple scientometric analyses in CiteSpace, the intellectual foundations, thematic developments, collaboration structures, and temporal dynamics of the field were systematically examined. A conducted document co-citation analysis reveals a well-structured intellectual landscape characterized by high modularity (Q = 0.81) and silhouette values (S = 0.91), indicating thematic differentiation and strong internal cluster coherence. Based on the co-citation network, 13 major research clusters were identified, representing both foundational and emerging research streams within remanufacturing research. Early research was dominated by reverse logistics, inventory control, disassembly, and closed-loop supply chains, whereas more recent clusters increasingly focus on circular economy, Industry 4.0, additive manufacturing, intelligent disassembly systems, and the remanufacturing of electric vehicle components. The analyses further reveal a transition from analytically oriented operations management research toward sustainability-driven and technology-enabled system perspectives. In addition, the results highlight the increasing internationalization of remanufacturing research, with particularly strong publication growth and collaboration activity in Asia, Europe, and North America. Based on the scientometric findings, a multi-level framework integrating macro-, meso-, and micro-level perspectives is proposed to systematically structure remanufacturing research. The analysis reveals substantial research gaps regarding the integration of sustainability objectives, operational decision-making, and emerging digital technologies across system levels. Overall, this paper provides a comprehensive mapping of the remanufacturing knowledge domain and offers guidance for future interdisciplinary research on sustainable and digitally enabled remanufacturing systems.