RFID Research and Its Success in the Scientific Community: A Bibliometric Perspective

This study presents a comprehensive bibliometric analysis of research on Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology, pursuing two main objectives: (i) mapping the intellectual structure and thematic evolution of the field, and (ii) modelling the factors that influence the citation impact of publications. The bibliographic dataset consists of 47,357 documents extracted from Scopus and published between 1999 and 2023. The methodology combines descriptive bibliometric analyses (publication trends, authorship patterns, and keyword analysis) with a multi-group Structural Equation Model examining the role of various publication characteristics in determining the annual citation rate of a paper, taking into account different document types (journal articles, review papers, conference documents, and books/book chapters). The keyword analysis reveals a highly skewed distribution across four thematic categories, with a small core of well-established themes (Internet of Things, security, supply chain management, authentication, localization) dominating both frequency and persistence rankings, alongside a larger set of trendy topics (blockchain, machine learning, Industry 4.0) that have generated significant citation peaks despite their limited temporal persistence. The results of the Structural Equation Model indicate that publication age is the most structurally dominant predictor of citation accumulation, consistent with cumulative advantage dynamics, while the effect of title characteristics varies across document types. Citation impact is highly concentrated in a small subset of publications, a pattern that persists even when the analysis is restricted to journal documents. The findings offer practical guidance for researchers seeking to maximize their scientific impact in the RFID field.