The Research on the Autonomous Vehicles: A Bibliometric Analysis

Abstract

Autonomous vehicles (AVs) can create human social welfare by reducing traffic accidents, improving traffic efficiency, reducing cost, etc. However, there is a lack of systematic analysis of AVs research. This study used CiteSpace visualization software to conduct bibliometric analysis, and data were collected from 2663 valid documents in the Web of Science (WoS) from 2001 to 2021. By analyzing the annual volume of publications, major distribution, co-occurrence of authors, institutions, keywords, and cluster analysis of AVs research in the past two decades, this study reveals the historical evolution, hotspots and trends in AVs research, which is helpful for researchers to have a comprehensive understanding of this knowledge field and have a more objective and scientific basis for AVs further research from a quantitative perspective.