A Bibliometric Review of Ethical Leadership Research: Shifting Focuses and Theoretical Insights

Abstract

This study used bibliographic data from Web of Science and employed various bibliometric analysis tools to present a systematic review of ethical leadership research from a board perspective. Theoretical evolutions underpinning how ethical leaders influence their followers are also detailed. Results identify the key documents, frequent keywords, and the most used theories in the field of ethical leadership. Results show that not only are there few newcomers to the field, the knowledge on ethical leadership, dominated by a minority few, has not diffused to a broader community. Results also show that although the focus of ethical leadership research in recent years shifted to employee creativity and knowledge sharing, the theories applied in the investigations remain the dominant social exchange theory and social learning theory. The results provide useful references for future studies, avoiding repetitive research while identifying possible knowledge gaps.