Automation in Construction 124 (2021) 103558

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Automation in Construction
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/autcon

Review

The progress and trend of BIM research: A bibliometrics-based

visualization analysis
Qing-Jie Wen a, *, Zi-Jian Ren a, Hui Lu b, Ji-Feng Wu c
a
State Key Laboratory for Geomechanics and Deep Underground Engineering, School of Mechanics and Civil Engineering, China University of Mining & Technology,
Xuzhou, China
b
College of Economics & Management, China University of Mining & Technology, Xuzhou, China
c
Henan Provincial Communications Planning & Design Institute Co., Ltd, Zhengzhou, China

A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T

Keywords: As a new and important technology in architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC), Building Information
BIM Modeling (BIM) has witnessed a decade of rapid development. It is highly necessary to analyze the research
Co-citation analysis progress and development trend of BIM. Based on 1369 relevant literatures published and the core database
Co-word analysis
“Web of Science”, this study used co-citation analysis, co-word analysis, and cluster analysis to analyze the data
Cluster analysis
Progress and trend
and drew the mapping knowledge domains with Citespace software. The results show that BIM research is still in
the rapid growth stage. And BIM research is mainly distributed in nine fields. In terms of time sequence, the
development of BIM in the past decade developed from data collection to information integration and to
knowledge management. The research hotspots are mainly concentrated in eleven directions, which can be
further classified into three levels. This paper will provide valuable theoretical and practical reference for the
future research of BIM.

1. Introduction
As a data tool applicable to engineering design, construction, and
management, Building Information Modeling (BIM) has brought forth
great changes in architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) [1].
It can be used to precisely digitalize the virtual model of buildings,
which is also called BIM. Once the model is completed, the precise
geometric shapes and relevant data contained would be of great help to
actualize the necessary design, purchase, manufacture, and construction
[2]. BIM used to be mainly applied to the pre-planning, design, con­
struction of buildings, and infrastructures as well as the delivery of
integration projects. Recently, the focus of relevant research has been
extended from the early stage of buildings’ life cycle to the maintenance,
refurbishment, reconstruction and dismantlement of buildings [3].
With the rapid development of BIM in the past decade, many new
research directions also spring up. The integration of BIM and other new
technologies has been more than common. Javier Irizarry [4] put for­
ward an integrated BIM-GIS system to visualize the actual state of ma­
terials in the whole supply chain. Park and Chan-Sik [5] proposed a
concept framework which could be applied to building defect manage­
ment. This framework integrated the ontology and augmented reality
(AR) with BIM to support the field defect management. In recent years,
as the global environment deteriorates, how to preserve natural re­
sources has been increasingly prominent. It is in this context that the
sustainable development of construction industry has become the in­
dustry consensus. Yujie Lu [6] put forward a “green BIM triangle” tax­
onomy which conceptualized the interaction between BIM and green
buildings and provided some valuable insight as to the merits and
challenges of implementing green BIM. Mohamed Marzouk [7] pro­
posed a framework that integrated BIM with Genetic Algorithm Opti­
mization and Monte-Carlo Simulation. This framework can help the
decision-makers of construction industry to choose proper building
materials and realize the environmental and economic sustainability of
buildings.
Although BIM has witnessed a rapid development in the past decade,
quite little has been done about the visualization analysis of the key
fields and emerging trends of BIM by means of bibliometrics. Accord­
ingly, it is rather hard to determine the research directions worthy of
special academic attention. However, a right research direction is more
than a necessity for scholars and practitioners in this industry. Guangbin
Wang, et al. [8] employed co-word analysis to sort out the research
hotspots and evolutionary trends of BIM during the period of

* Corresponding author.
E-mail address: cumtwenqingjie@126.com (Q.-J. Wen).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.autcon.2021.103558
Received 21 July 2020; Received in revised form 9 January 2021; Accepted 16 January 2021
Available online 23 January 2021
0926-5805/© 2021 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Q.-J. Wen et al.
2002–2012. Yet their research period is relatively early and the research
method is monotonous. X. Zhao [9] used co-author analysis, co-word
analysis, and co-citation analysis to conduct a scientometric study of
worldwide BIM research during the period of 2005–2016. Nevertheless,
the study was difficult to generalize comprehensively the development
trend of BIM owing to the small study sample. Therefore, it is of great
necessity to study the latest intellectual base and development trend of
BIM. To provide some reference and help for scholars in the field of BIM
study, this paper adopts the visualization analysis method based on the
theory of scientometrics to reveal the development trend and future
research directions of BIM. Meanwhile, co-citation analysis, co-word
analysis, and cluster analysis are used to carry out data analysis and
literature analysis, so as to keep abreast of the current development and
ascertain the future research directions.
2. Research method and data
2.1. Research method
As a branch of information science, scientometrics analyzes the
models in scientific literatures quantitatively so as to acquire a
comprehensive understanding of the newly emerging trends and
knowledge structures in research fields. In recent years, scientometric
analysis of scientific research has become one of the most commonly
used methods to assess the research performance of research staff, de­
partments, colleges, universities, and even countries as well as academic
journals [10].
Co-citation Analysis is a research method to assess the correlation
between literatures. To be specific, co-citation analysis is to locate the
most influential literatures-that is, the key or core literatures-in certain
research fields by means of analyzing the frequency of these literatures
being cited by other literatures. The citation relation among literatures
also verifies that scientific literatures are correlated and systematic
rather than isolated. The co-citation of scientific literatures reflects the
objective laws of scientific development. Meanwhile, it demonstrates
the cumulativity, continuity, and inheritance of scientific knowledge on
the one hand, and interdisciplinary penetration on the other hand.
Citation network can help researchers trace backward to the origin and
forward to the future development. The citation frequency of scientific
literatures is in no way equally or evenly distributed, which reflects the
scattering and concentration of citations [11].
Co-word Analysis is a bibliometric analytical method, which was put
forward by Callon and his colleagues [12]. The fundamental working
principle of co-word analysis is to make statistics of pairs of words
appearing in the same group of literatures and then assess the affinity-
disaffinity relationship between them by their co-occurrence fre­
quency. As a content-analysis method, co-word analysis can map
effectively the correlation between information items in the text data. It
deals with the keyword sets shared by publications and maps the rele­
vant literatures according to the interaction of keywords directly.
Therefore, the keywords used to summarize the content of the publi­
cations can be taken as the basic building blocks for the structure of
research fields [13].
Cluster analysis is, in essence, to classify the individuals or objects so
as to make them more cohesive than other groups [14]. To be specific, it
assesses the closeness between the variables or samples according to
their numeric features and places those more homogeneous ones into
one category. The merits of cluster analysis are quite obvious: the
analysis results are intuitive, and the conclusions are simple and clear. In
this study cluster analysis is used to identify the results of co-citation
analysis and co-word analysis as different knowledge fields. The find­
ings would be further taken as the intellectual base and research hot­
spots for the future research.
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Automation in Construction 124 (2021) 103558
2.2. Data collection and processing
To ensure the comprehensiveness and higher reliability of research
data, Web of Science (the largest international database) was taken as
the data source for this study. The journal articles published during the
past ten years (2010–2019) were retrieved with BIM and related key­
words as search terms. In total, 7937 literatures were sorted out. How­
ever, there were a large number of literatures with the same
abbreviation but different meanings, such as Budget Impact Model
(BIM), and Bcl-2 Interacting Mediator (BIM). Therefore, the refinement
function of the Web of Science was used to eliminate the literatures that
did not belong to architecture and civil engineering, and 2854 litera­
tures were obtained. For the accuracy and reliability of clustering
analysis, the conference papers were filtered out by use of Citespace, and
then the most relevant 1369 papers were left for further analysis.
To conduct analysis, Citespace and VOSviewer were used in this
study. As a Java application for information visualization, Citespace is
mainly based on co-citation analysis theory and pathFinder algorithm. It
is designed to find critical points in the development of a field or a
domain, especially intellectual turning points and pivotal points by
measuring the literatures (sets) of a field or domain. Meanwhile, it can
be used to analyze the potential dynamic mechanism of discipline evo­
lution and detect the front of discipline development through a series of
visualization mapping [15]. In this study, Citespace was used to conduct
co-citation analysis of literature, co-occurrence analysis of keywords,
and the subsequent cluster analysis.
VOSviewer is a program for constructing and viewing bibliometric
maps. VOSviewer can construct web links to scientific publications,
scientific journals, researchers, research organizations, countries, key­
words, or terms based on co-authorship, co-occurrence, citation,
bibliographic coupling, or co-citation [16]. VOSviewer counts the
number of links and the total strength of those links to prepare for a
graphical network visualization [17].
3. Analysis of intellectual base
3.1. Status of literature publication
Generally, technology development of any research field would be
highly similar. It generally goes through an initial conception phase.
Then, with the proliferation of research tools, the capacity and scope of
the research begins to increase, and then enters the dispersal phase. It is
during this phase that researchers would apply this research method to
other fields. Finally, it enters the declining phase [18]. In this study, the
number of papers in BIM field published in the past ten years
(2010–2019) and the countries or regions where these papers were
published were analyzed, and the statistic of publications on BIM is
shown in Fig. 1. Fig. 1 exhibits, during the period of 2010–2012, the
number of publications in BIM field displays a fluctuant trend. The total
number of publications is smaller than 100, which indicates that BIM
research is still in its conception stage. Since the year of 2012, with the
increasingly wide application of BIM technology in engineering prac­
tices and constant promotion of various software tools, the number of
publications on BIM shows a significant rising trend during the period of
2012–2015. The total number of publications in 2013 exceeds 100,
indicating that BIM research has entered the diffusing growth stage.
During the period of 2016–2019, over 140 journal articles are published
every year and the number of publications in 2019 exceeds 1000. The
development of BIM research shows a sharp and accelerating rise, which
marks that it has entered a rapid growth stage. During the past ten years
(2010–2019), the number of publications related with BIM has increased
by 78.59 times. In contrast, the number of BIM-related publications has
increased by 291% in the past five years (2015–2019), displaying a
rapidly rising trend which is expected to continue.
Furthermore, the geographical distribution of BIM research is also
analyzed. The study reveals there are 50 countries or regions that have
Q.-J. Wen et al. Automation in Construction 124 (2021) 103558

Fig. 1. Statistic of publications on BIM in 2010–2019.

engaged in BIM research in the past ten years. China takes the lead in the
number of publications, with 298 publications which account for 17.3%.
Next comes the USA, with 288 publications and 16.7%. And it is fol­
lowed by England, South Korea, Australia, and others. The top 20
countries or regions are listed in Table 1.
The mapping of cooperation network analysis via Citespace is
described in Fig. 2. As depicted in Fig. 2, Australia, England, Canada,
and some other countries display a high between centrality (marked by a
purple circle), which means that the cooperation between the research
institutes of these countries is pretty frequent. The color varying from
dark to light symbolizes the publication time from far to near. The larger
the annual ring is, the more academic papers are published. It can be
easily seen from Fig. 2 that compared with China, the USA, South Korea,
and Australia witness a relatively stable development of BIM research
during the whole research period and their publications grow steadily.
China starts relatively late in its BIM research, but experiences a rapid
development in the past five years.
listed in Table 2.
In Table 2, it can be seen that the most influential journal in terms of
total citation frequency is Automation in Construction. The number of
citations and the total link strength are much higher than those of other
journals, indicating that this journal has a strong authority in BIM field.
The next most influential journals are as follows: Journal of Construction
Engineering and Management, Advanced Engineering Informatics, and
Journal of Computing in Civil Engineering. The total link strengths of
the three journals are above 40,000, indicating greater contributions to
BIM research. Four of the top ten most cited journals are published in the
United States and the other six are in Europe, indicating that the main
research areas for BIM research are still in Europe and the United States.
Similar to the data in Table 2, Fig. 3 exhibits that Automation in Con­
struction occupies a central position, indicating its great influence and
contribution in BIM research. The same color in Fig. 3 indicates that
these journals are closely related, and the proximity of each journal
indicates their relationship to each other.

3.2. Co-citation analysis of journals 3.3. Co-citation analysis of literatures

Using VOS viewer, co-citation analysis of journals is performed.
Journal co-citation occurs when two documents from two different
journals receive a citation from the same document in another journal
[19,20]. The co-citation map of BIM-related journal is shown in Fig. 3.
When the threshold is set to 50, a total of 131 nodes are generated for the
map. The size of the circles indicates the relevance of the topics [17].
The lines between the circles indicate co-citation relationships, and the
number and thickness of the lines indicate the strength of links between
journals. The top ten journals with the largest number of co-citations are
The mapping of BIM literature co-citation analysis is shown in Fig. 4.
Fig. 4 demonstrates that there are in total 287 citations and 803 con­
necting lines among them. Each node in the diagram denotes a litera­
ture, and the size of the node stands for its total citation frequency. The
bigger the node is, the more frequently it is cited. The color of the
connecting line denotes the time when the literature is cited for the first
time. The color varying from dark to light denotes the citation time from
far to near. Some nodes have been marked out by purple circles, indi­
cating that these nodes display a relatively higher between centrality,

Table 1
The geographical distribution of BIM research (Top 20).
Country Count Percentage Country Count Percentage Country Count Percentage

China 298 17.3% Taiwan 45 2.6% Turkey 18 1.0%

USA 288 16.7% Spain 44 2.6% Belgium 17 1.0%
England 163 9.5% Italy 26 1.5% Malaysia 17 1.0%
South Korea 163 9.5% Singapore 25 1.5% Egypt 16 0.9%
Australia 141 8.2% Israel 21 1.2% France 15 0.9%
Germany 115 6.7% Portugal 21 1.2% Scotland 14 0.8%
Canada 69 4.0% Netherlands 20 1.2% / / /

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Q.-J. Wen et al.
Fig. 2. The mapping of country/region network conducting BIM research.
which is not less than 0.1.
The literatures shown in Fig. 4 constitute the most important intel­
lectual base of BIM research. And the top five of the most cited litera­
tures are listed in Table 3. Among them, BIM Handbook: A Guide to
Building Information Modeling for Owners, Managers, Designers, Engineers
and Contractor is the top one. This book starts from the needs of different
owners and elaborates whom BIM should serve and what service BIM
can offer. It also puts forward that BIM is not an object or software, but a
human activity which would ultimately bring forth great changes to the
process of construction. Building Information Modeling (BIM): Trends,
Benefits, Risks, and Challenges for the AEC Industry discusses the current
situation, profits, potential risk, and future challenges of BIM in AEC
industry. Building Information Modeling (BIM) for existing buildings:
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Automation in Construction 124 (2021) 103558
Literature review and future needs reviews over 180 publications and in­
troduces the latest applications and research of BIM in existing build­
ings. It points out that much still needs to be done in BIM industry in the
following aspects: modeling/conversion of the collected building data,
the information updating of BIM, handling the uncertain data, objects
and relationship of existing buildings in BIM field.
3.4. Cluster analysis of visualization network
A research field can be conceptualized from its research front and
intellectual base. The cited literatures in the raw data constitute the
intellectual base of this research field and correspondingly the citations
form the research front [21]. Therefore, the cluster analysis of
Q.-J. Wen et al. Automation in Construction 124 (2021) 103558

Fig. 3. The mapping of BIM journal co-citation analysis.

subject words of Building Information Modeling, nine research directions

Table 2
for BIM research are obtained through the cluster analysis of literature
Highly cited journals in BIM (Top 10).
co-citation network. And they are as follows: #1 augmented reality, #2
Journal Host Citations Total link construction safety, #3 education, #4 virtual learning, #5 life cycle
country strength
assessment, #6 geological information system (GIS), #7 computer aided
Automation in Construction Netherlands 9,244 226,165 design, #8 engineering design and analysis models, and #9 prefabri­
Journal of Construction Engineering USA 2,744 91,873 cation housing production. The nine clusters are identified in terms of
and Management
Advanced Engineering Informatics England 1,506 48,310
the temporal evolution of clusters as depicted in Fig. 6, and analyzed in
Journal of Computing in Civil USA 1,420 43,233 details as follows.
Engineering
Energy and Buildings Switzerland 1,374 38,118 #1 augmented reality. Augmented Reality (AR) is applied in the full
Journal of Information Technology in Netherlands 1,051 34,914
life cycle of BIM to bridge the gap between the actual reality and the
Construction
Building and Environment England 810 23,683 virtual reality generated in BIM model [22]. In other words, it can
International Journal of Project England 729 26,959 make up the gap between digital world and real world. AR is used as
Management an effective tool to connect BIM with construction site [23], thus
Journal of Management in USA 664 26,098 assisting the project managers in scheme design, field management
Engineering
Journal of Cleaner Production USA 603 22,626
and later operation. As shown in Fig. 6, the research on AR springs up
in huge quantities in 2010 and displays a trend of stable growth after
the year of 2013.
intellectual base is the premise and starting point for the researchers to #2 construction safety. As the complexity of constructional engi­
discriminate the research front and explore the correlations. Cluster neering increases, it has become harder to ensure the construction
analysis was conducted with the mapping of BIM literature co-citation safety accordingly. The cooperation and communication between the
and the cluster mapping was subsequently obtained as depicted in Fig. 5. various project participants in terms of security is quite limited [24].
Fig. 5 exhibits that BIM research is still in the diffusing growth stage. Owing to its visualization, coordination, and modularization, BIM
To be specific, the research network centrality is in a state of overall plays an instructive role on construction safety. Automatic safety
diffusion and local aggregation; the network is highly overlapped and checks of building models and construction process can be achieved
featured with a large number of research branches. The correlation by use of BIM technology [25]. During the period of 2012–2016, the
among node literatures is relatively strong. The number of literatures number of publications on BIM correlated with construction safety
correlated with other clusters is relatively greater, indicating that the witnessed a significant rise and the rising trend is highly likely to
research branches are highly correlated with each other. From the dis­ continue. The most cited literature is Building Information Modeling
tribution of connecting lines it can be known that many literature (BIM) and Safety: Automatic Safety Checking of Construction Models
clusters have come into being in the field of BIM research. These clusters and Schedules. It points out that construction safety is a worldwide
are connected with connecting lines of different colors. Except the

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Q.-J. Wen et al. Automation in Construction 124 (2021) 103558

Fig. 4. The mapping of co-citation analysis of BIM literatures.

The working staff for different types of work learns in a collaborative

Table 3 mode through virtual engineering projects. Considering BIM as the
The most cited literatures in BIM field (Top 5).
learning platform, virtual learning lays a solid foundation for more
The first year Paper/ work Citation elaborate collaboration in the future [29]. Relevant publications are
author frequency
relatively concentrated around the year of 2010.
Eastman C 2011 BIM Handbook: A Guide to Building 250 #5 life cycle assessment. The concept of environmental sustainabil­
Information Modeling for Owners, ity spurs the reform of building environment and reduces the con­
Managers, Designers, Engineers and
Contractor
sumption of energy and natural resources during the life cycle of
Salman 2011 Building Information Modeling (BIM): 146 buildings [30]. The greatest advantage of BIM technology consists in
Azhar Trends, Benefits, Risks, and Challenges for its application to the full life cycle of buildings. To be exact, the
the AEC Industry application of BIM technology can achieve the sustainability of
Rebekka 2014 Building Information Modeling (BIM) for 145
projects and improve the performance of buildings. This will become
Volk existing buildings — Literature review and
future needs a key research direction for the coming years. Fig. 6 exhibits that this
David 2013 The project benefits of Building 107 cluster is increasingly attractive to BIM researchers and this trend is
Bryde Information Modelling (BIM) expected to continue.
Sijie Zhang 2013 Building Information Modeling (BIM) and 96 #6 GIS. With the deepening application of BIM, it begins to integrate
Safety: Automatic Safety Checking of
Construction Models and Schedules
with other technologies. For instance, the integration of BIM and GIS
can be applied to urban data management [31], traffic planning
[32], building design assessment, and building reconstruction [33].
problem and provides some case study of applying automatic safety In this way, BIM pushes forward the development of smart cities. In
regulations to BIM. terms of infrastructure construction, on the basis of BIM manage­
#3 education. With the constantly extensive application of BIM ment, the macro-scale function of GIS can be used to improve the
technology worldwide, businesses and enterprises are facing many construction and management of large long-term engineering pro­
problems such as insufficient reserve of skilled personnel for BIM jects [34]. Before the year of 2010, this cluster had a relatively high
application, lack of experience in BIM projects, the inflexibility of popularity among BIM researchers, yet after the year of 2012, its
management process [26]. Consequently, education concerning the academic attraction has declined slightly.
professional competence training for BIM personnel, project man­ #7 computer aided design. In the field of computer-aided design,
agement, and interoperability has become more and more popular traditional 2D CAD technology and its application system have
among scholars both at home and abroad [27,28]. During the period already failed to meet the demand of current architectural design.
of 2010–2015, a large number of most cited literatures were The development of BIM technology promotes the collaborative
composed and published. development of computer-aided design [35]. Meanwhile, the rapidly
#4 virtual learning. To apply BIM successfully, businesses and en­ changing computer technologies and information technologies also
terprises are facing a huge demand for investment, including soft­ provide a huge boost in construction productivity. The populariza­
ware, hardware, training and other items. The upsurge of BIM tion and application of 3D or even nD CAD technology in building
technology has changed the traditional project-based learning mode. industry has become an inevitable trend [36]. As depicted in Fig. 6,

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Q.-J. Wen et al.
Fig. 5. The mapping of co-citation clusters of literatures.
before the year of 2010, the relevant studies were highly popular. But
since the concept of BIM was proposed officially in 2002 [37], it has
become urgent for computer-aided design to transform from 2D to
multi-D, and from static to dynamic. This also accelerates the
development of relevant theoretical studies. In the past ten years, the
research in this aspect has slowed down due to the constant devel­
opment of new software and technologies.
#8 engineering design and analysis models. Studies on BIM model
design and analysis are increasingly rising. Model design analysis has
been conducted by various means such as AR + BIM or VR + BIM to
explore and discuss the systematic integration of BIM and other
technologies.
#9 prefabricated housing production. Prefabricated construction
differs from the traditional construction mode in that a large quantity
of field work has been shifted to factory. The prefabricated compo­
nents are assembled together to a building at the construction site.
There is much space for the integration of BIM technology and
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Automation in Construction 124 (2021) 103558
prefabricated buildings. By use of BIM technology, the component
design can be transformed from 2D to 3D, thus promoting the stan­
dardization of component production. In addition, by means of
collision check, component design can be adjusted timely so as to
reduce loss and ensure the scientific design and construction quality
of prefabricated housing production [38]. Fig. 6 displays that this
cluster has gained increasing academic attention in the past decade.
4. Analysis of research front
4.1. Co-word analysis of high-frequency keywords
The distribution and evolution of research themes can identify the
research hotspots and the change of research front during different pe­
riods. Given that keywords are the vocabulary of natural languages to
express the topic and focal concept of literatures, the co-word analysis of
keywords can reveal the research hotspots and evolution trend of the
Q.-J. Wen et al.
Fig. 6. The temporal evolution of clusters.
corresponding research fields.
In total, 1369 literatures were imported to Citespace for co-
occurrence analysis of keywords, and subsequently the co-occurrence
network mapping of keywords was obtained as depicted in Fig. 7. The
co-occurrence network mapping of keywords contains 151 keyword
nodes and 1093 connecting lines among the nodes. The size of each node
denotes its frequency of co-occurrence. The larger the node is, the more
frequent the keyword co-occurs in literatures. The node color varies
from blue to orange, which indicates the time of co-occurrence from far
to near. The thickness of the connecting lines among the nodes stands for
the closeness between the keywords. The thicker the connecting line is,
the more closely the keywords are related with each other. The color of
the connecting line stands for the time of the first co-occurrence. Some
nodes are marked off with purple circles, indicating that these nodes
boast of relatively larger centrality.
According to the processing results of Citespace, there are in total
Fig. 7. The co-occurrence network mapping of high-frequency keywords.
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Automation in Construction 124 (2021) 103558
151 high-frequency keywords. The keywords that are similar in meaning
are sorted and then merged. Similarly, those which are the same in
meaning but different in spelling are also merged. For instance, “BIM”,
“building information modeling”, and “building information model” are
unified as “BIM”, and “4-d” and “4d cad” are unified as “4d”. Due to the
length limit, only the keywords whose co-occurrence frequency is over
30 times are presented in Table 4.
Fig. 7 and Table 4 exhibit that next to the keyword “BIM”, the most
frequent keywords are “design”, followed by “construction”, “system”,
“management”, “model” and so on. This indicates that these keywords
are the research hotspots currently. “Construction” co-occurs in the most
years, indicating that the application of BIM technology concentrates
more on construction. The co-occurrence frequency of “Design” is the
highest (not including “BIM”), which means that at present, the appli­
cation of BIM technology is mainly related with BIM product design and
BIM framework or model design. In addition, the application of BIM to
Q.-J. Wen et al. Automation in Construction 124 (2021) 103558

Table 4
High-frequency keywords(frequency>30).
Sequence number High-frequency keywords Frequency Sequence number High-frequency keywords Frequency

1 BIM 526 16 Ontology 58

2 Design 253 17 Sustainability 55
3 Construction 224 18 Optimization 53
4 System 221 19 Impact 51
5 Management 204 20 Innovation 50
6 Model 194 21 Visualization 45
7 Framework 143 22 ADOPTION 44
8 Performance 115 23 SAFETY 42
9 Implementation 105 24 Industry 41
10 Simulation 89 25 Industry foundation classes (IFC) 41
11 Information 78 26 Construction project 40
12 Project 77 27 Information technology 38
13 Technology 77 28 Integration 36
14 Interoperability 62 29 Augmented reality 36
15 Building 62 30 Collaboration 34

project management also accounts for a large proportion. As depicted in
Fig. 7, the high-frequency keywords are closely distributed with a
relatively high centrality, indicating that the research hotspots are
closely related with each other and thus highly interpretative to each
other.
4.2. Cluster analysis of high-frequency keywords
The cluster analysis of high-frequency keywords was conducted by
means of Citespace. And the high-frequency keywords were sorted into
twelve clusters as the research hotspots and front in BIM field, as
depicted in Fig. 8.
Fig. 8 shows that the high-frequency keywords are sorted into twelve
clusters. Apart from BIM cluster, the other eleven clusters are
sustainability (#1), knowledge management (#2), literature review
(#3), implementation (#4), automation (#5), cost and schedule (#6),
topological information extraction model (#7), project management
(#8), green building (#9), engineering education (#10), and cloud
computing (#11). Based on clustering results, the sustainability cluster
(#1) is the largest, which indicates that the research heat of sustain­
ability is the highest in the research. And the research heat of knowledge
management and literature review is relatively high. The clusters
ranking at the bottom, such as green building (#9), engineering edu­
cation (#10), and cloud computing (#11), reveal that the relevant
research is just springing up and has a great development potential.
A comprehensive analysis of the literatures revealed that BIM
research exhibited the initial knowledge exploration and communica­
tion, the development of related technologies, and finally the practical

Fig. 8. The cluster network mapping of high-frequency keywords.

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Q.-J. Wen et al.
application. In other fields, literature review also reveals the research
path exhibits a similar pattern. For example, UnJin Ryu et al. divided the
metal-organic frameworks into research, technical development, and
application levels [39]. Zhang Yue et al. characterized the basic theories
and technologies of big data mining, and finally analyzed the applica­
tion of big data mining in clinical medicine [40]. Yu Huan first intro­
duced fractal theory, then summarized and analyzed current state-of-
the-art technologies, and finally discussed the application of GIS and
RS in landscape ecology [41]. Therefore, the BIM technology research
hotspots can be classified into three levels: knowledge communication,
technology development and practical application based on similar
development pattern of new technologies. Because it is exactly difficult
to determine the level of each cluster, experts in BIM field were con­
sulted, and the classification of each cluster was determined by use of
Delphi method.
Furthermore, the eleven clusters are divided into three levels: the
knowledge communication of BIM, the technological development of
BIM, and the practical application of BIM. To be specific, the knowledge
communication level includes knowledge management (C2), literature
review (C3), and engineering education (C10). Technology development
level includes automation (C5), topological information extraction
model (C7), green building (C9), and cloud computing (C11). And the
practical application level includes sustainability (C1), implementation
(C4), cost and schedule (C6), and project management (C8). The three
levels and their subordinate clusters are shown in Fig. 9.
5. Discussion
5.1. Developing trend under the perspective of time
From the current situation of BIM research and the trend of publi­
cations, it is well known that studies on BIM display a rising trend year
by year. During the past five years, this trend is especially significant.
The high-frequency keywords were sorted out according to the time of
their first occurrence and the results were shown in Table 5. In Table 5,
the year marks the first occurrence time of the keywords, and re-
occurrences in the following years are not covered.
Table 5 reveals that the development of BIM in the past decade, in
essence, is a process from data collection to information integration and
to knowledge management. The research during the period of
2010–2011 focuses on model construction and the interoperability be­
tween different models. Meanwhile, great importance has also been
attached to the visualization of engineering drawings. From the year of
2012 on, more and more researchers divert their academic focus to the
application of BIM informatization. During the period of 2012–2016,
research focus is on the process of BIM informatization. To be specific,
researchers not only pay attention to modeling, but focus more on in­
formation sharing. The change trend is mainly displayed in the following
aspects: (1) from physical simulation to virtual simulation. The relevant
keywords include simulation, 3d, and implementation. (2) from local to
cloud. The relevant keywords are web service, and point cloud. (3) from
limited building model to integrated simulation. And the relevant key­
words are integration, and facility management. (4) focusing on the
harmonious coexistence between building and environment. And the
relevant keywords are sustainability, green building, and prefabrication.
Since the year of 2017, studies on knowledge management have grad­
ually sprung up on the ground of existing informatization research. BIM
technology is used to integrate the tremendously complex and massive
information and thus form the industry knowledge system. Predictably,
the future development of BIM technology would be featured with high
informatization and knowledgeablization.
5.2. Analysis of the three levels
5.2.1. Knowledge communication of BIM
As stated above, this level contains three clusters, namely,
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Automation in Construction 124 (2021) 103558
knowledge management (C2), literature review (C3), and engineering
education (C10). Knowledge management (C2) refers to the planning
and management of knowledge creation and application. In the building
industry, BIM serves as a platform for information storage, exchange,
mining and sharing. BIM-based building structure enriches the geo­
metric modeling on the one hand and contains a huge quantity of non-
geometric information such as material characteristics, component
cost, and purchasing information on the other. BIM can be used to
manage the knowledge of building industry, to sort, store, and manage
the information which can be shared and utilized as knowledge wealth
in the following engineering projects. This can give a deeper and more
comprehensive exhibition of BIM as an integrated database.
The core keywords of knowledge management are facility manage­
ment, common knowledge, facility maintenance. Facility Management
(FM) is a new interdisciplinary field. International Organization for
Standardization (ISO) defines FM as “integrating the organizational
functions of staff, place, and procedures in the building environment so
as to improve workforce productivity, safety, health and well-being”
[42]. BIM is supportive of 3D modeling and enables the users to retrieve
the comprehensive information conveyed by the object and its proper­
ties. BIM provides a unified platform for various data sources which are
indispensable in daily activities [43]. In this sense, it can promote the
process of project decision-making by integrating the data about rele­
vant technical specifications, planning activities and building perfor­
mance (either through simulating or monitoring). The current research
trend indicates that researchers are increasingly interested in applying
BIM to information management. Accordingly, the standard for data
exchange and interoperability between BIM and FM are the new
research directions.
Literature review (C3)
Literature review is one type of academic papers where the latest
development, academic insights or suggestions in a certain research field
are summarized and presented. It can reveal the possible research di­
rection and inspire the creation of new concepts and ideas. With the rise
of BIM, more and more scholars began to review the achievements in
BIM field. Literature review promotes the in-depth analysis and sys­
tematic summary of BIM industry at the knowledge communication
level. As revealed in this study, model-based synchronous collaboration,
design pattern, facility management handover model, infrastructure
industries, and structural sensor are the hot topics for review study in the
past decade.
Engineering education (C10)
Education for BIM industry has become a crucial part of BIM
knowledge communication. When identifying and assessing the key risk
factors of BIM projects, Kuo-Feng Chien [44] listed out the first three
factors: lack of experience, poor software compatibility, and difficulties
in mode management. Admittedly, the shortage of experienced BIM
practitioners and the immature operation mode of BIM projects have
severely retarded the development of BIM. Therefore, relevant educa­
tional research on BIM theory, software operation and development, and
project management has gained increasing academic concern. E. Sackey
proposed that BIM users should be positioned as constant cycle learners
so that they can familiarize the ever-changing BIM work-piece and
corresponding work procedures [45]. In this way, the consistency of BIM
can be maintained.
5.2.2. Technological development of BIM
Automation (C5)
The rapid development and application of BIM technology provides
infinite possibilities to construct the automation of the whole building
Q.-J. Wen et al. Automation in Construction 124 (2021) 103558

Fig. 9. The framework of BIM research hotspots and front.

11
Q.-J. Wen et al.
Table 5
The evolution of high-frequency keywords.
Year Subject keywords
2019 Barrier, internet
2018 Methodology, environment, embodied energy
2017 Life cycle assessment, management system
2016 Integration, facility management, energy, bridge
2015 Life cycle, prefabrication, construction safety, green building
2014 Project, safety, support, point cloud, 3d
2013 Management, performance, implementation, simulation, ontology,
sustainability
2012 Information, optimization, industry foundation classes (IFC), web service
2011 Design, system, framework, visualization, project management
2010 Construction, model, interoperability, industry, information technology,
collaboration
industry chain. As the trend of next-generation commercial buildings,
smart building connects different building systems with Building Auto­
mation System (BAS) [46]. The high-frequency keywords of this cluster
include 4d-based integrated solution, parallel schedule, and site trial.
Traditional 2D models cannot solve all the problems existing in the
construction process. BIM can be used to construct 4D dynamic model
which integrates BIM model and project schedule together. J.P. Zhang
et.al studied the integration of construction simulation and analyzed 4D
construction management and safety control [47]. On this basis, they
proposed a new method to analyze the conflict and safety in the process
of construction. According to their study, the newly proposed method
can improve the construction safety level and optimize construction
management. Currently, the research on automation is still in an initial
stage. The following two aspects have huge research potential for the
researchers: to import 4D technology into the safety analysis of time-
varying structures [48], and to integrate 4D-BIM with GIS to track ma­
terial logistic and construction activity [49].
Topological information extraction model (C7)
The topological information of buildings reveals the connection
relation between various building space and components, thus exerting
a key influence on the performance of buildings [50]. BIM contains a
large quantity of complex data. Accordingly, it is highly significant to
extract and sort the BIM spatial topological relations. Sang-Kyu Jeong
[51] developed a topological information extraction model (TIEM) to
extract the basic data from the building information constructed through
CAD system. It could identify automatically the geometric and topo­
logical features of space and assist architects in sustainable environment
design through assessing spatial characteristics and spatial behaviors via
spatial parsing. Zhang Jianping expanded the application scope of space
and device topology [50]. He employed IFC to extract topological in­
formation so that it can support more design software and improve the
efficiency and depth of information utilization. Up to now, studies on
BIM model from the perspective of topological information are still quite
rare. In other words, it is of great necessity to conduct in-depth research
on the spatial relations in the field of building.
Green building (C9)
The concept of environmental sustainability stimulates the reform of
building environment and reduces the energy and natural resource
consumption during the traditional building life cycle. But the official
statistics reveal that constructional engineering is still the primary
energy-consumer. The core principle of green building is to improve the
efficiency of resource utilization and protect the environment in the
process of construction, operation, and maintenance throughout the
whole building life cycle. As for applying BIM to green building, envi­
ronmentally sustainable development can be achieved in building in­
dustry through the integration and coordination of design information.
To be specific, in the design stage, the combination of BIM tools and
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Automation in Construction 124 (2021) 103558
value engineering can optimize the design greatly and determine the
equilibrium point between green building assessment and owners’ de­
mand [52]. Moreover, the potential value of BIM during the stage of
construction, facility management and operation maintenance has been
recognized widely [53]. Currently, the development of green BIM is
mainly focused on the design stage. In contrast, there is much to be done
in other stages of the whole life cycle. In addition, the relevant theories
are far from enough, and there is no industry standard yet.
Cloud computing (C11)
Cloud computing is a brand new concept of network application,
whose core concept is to provide fast and safe cloud computing and data
storage service on the websites. BIM technology involves a tremen­
dously huge amount of data which sets a high demand for computing
and storage capacity. The application of cloud computing to BIM pro­
jects can strengthen the synergy of BIM projects, and improve
computing efficiency and data storage capacity, which in the end im­
proves the working efficiency. The key issue of integrating cloud
computing and BIM is how to achieve interoperability of data. To solve
this problem, Alan Redmond [54] proposed that IFC XML could be used
to design “Cloud BIM” integration platform. Yi Jiao [55] aimed to solve
the problem of data integration by correlating project engineering data
with project management data. Cloud computing can also be applied to
safety monitoring in the construction site to improve the construction
safety [56].
5.2.3. Practical application of BIM
Sustainability (C1)
The clustering degree of this cluster is the highest among all the
clusters of keywords, which indicates that the research on BIM sus­
tainability has been one of the focuses in academic circles. The sus­
tainability of building industry covers virtually every stage of building
life cycle, from raw material excavation, processing and transport, to
construction, operation and maintenance, to renovation and trans­
formation, and to the demolition in the end. The research on the sus­
tainability of building industry aims at reducing the influence of
construction on the environment to the uttermost degree. Currently, on
the one hand, BIM researchers are supposed to focus on the development
of visualization and synergy. On the other hand, they should also make
full use of the platform advantages to optimize constantly every stage of
building life cycle. In other words, to reduce the impact on environment
and to optimize the project cost should be achieved simultaneously,
which is consistent with the current trend of environmental protection
and sustainable development.
Implementation (C4)
This cluster mainly focuses on the actual problems and obstacles in
the implementation process of BIM projects. Its high-frequency key­
words include adoption processes, building site, quantitative evaluation,
project benefit, IFC-based data schema, using terrestrial laser, and
automating surface flatness control.
Cost and schedule (C6)
In the multi-dimensional form of BIM, model can be connected with
the information of quantity, progress and cost. In the construction stage,
cost and progress are the core and indispensable part. Kun-Chi Wang
[57] developed a method to clarify the complex relationship between
progress and cost by use of BIM. On this basis, a progress curve could be
constructed to support progress control. In terms of infrastructure con­
struction, there are also pioneering studies which integrated BIM with
cost and progress. Sakdirat Kaewunruen [58] used 6D modeling which
Q.-J. Wen et al.
integrated 3D model information with timetable, cost estimation, and
carbon footprint analysis throughout the whole life cycle of the bridge
project. His study verified the possibility and feasibility of applying BIM
to the infrastructure projects. Seung Soo Lee [59] developed a path-
based BIM application system which could improve the operability of
information on the basis of nD. This system was verified to be effective in
process management in actual road projects. The stage of operation and
maintenance is the longest stage in the whole life cycle of a building.
Meanwhile, it is also the most costly. Chao Chen [60] proposed an
innovative process design of management which integrated BIM with
digital programming. With the help of this process design, effective
progress and cost planning of structural maintenance could be achieved.
How to apply BIM to cost and progress control is a worthwhile research
direction.
Project management (C8)
Delicacy management can be achieved by importing BIM to project
management. BIM can be applied to cost management, quality and
safety management, technical management, and field management,
which improves greatly the communication efficiency of project par­
ticipators and realizes the control over cost and progress to a larger
degree. However, there are still many obstacles to the systematic
implementation of BIM in projects. Some scholars tried to integrate BIM
into the life cycle of building projects by importing the conceptual
framework which was composed of BIM information flow, BIM model
chain, BIM workflow, BIM institutional environment, and BIM-based
project management information system [61]. The high-frequency
keywords of this cluster include effective utilization, theoretical
framework, and construction safety planning. These keywords indicate
that the application of BIM to project management is still in its initial
conceptual stage. The actual project application is still rather limited
and needs much research and attention.
What needs illustration is that the clusters mentioned above are not
completely separate from each other. These clusters are interrelated
closely indeed.
6. Conclusion
This study used mapping knowledge domain as the analytical
method to systematically review the literatures on BIM research during
the period of 2010–2019. Visualization analysis and interpretation were
conducted to the 1369 literatures and high-frequency keywords. On this
basis, the following conclusions can be drawn.
(1) As revealed by the analysis of the 1369 literatures, in terms of the
quantity of publications, BIM research experienced three stages:
conception stage, diffusing growth stage, and rapid growth stage.
Since the year of 2012, the number of publications on BIM dis­
plays a rapid rising trend, indicating that BIM research is still in
the rapid growth stage. Accordingly, the prospect of BIM research
is very promising. In terms of geological distribution of BIM
research, China and the USA are the top two. The BIM research in
the USA, South Korea and Australia is relatively stable during the
research period. Comparatively, the BIM research in China starts
late, but developed at a remarkable rate in the past five years.
(2) The co-citation analysis of the journals reveals that the most
influential journal in terms of total citation frequency is Auto­
mation in Construction, which has a strong authority in BIM field.
The next most influential journals are as follows: Journal of
Construction Engineering and Management, Advanced Engi­
neering Informatics, and Journal of Computing in Civil Engi­
neering. Geological distribution of the top ten most cited journals
indicates that the main research areas for BIM research are still in
Europe and the United States.
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Automation in Construction 124 (2021) 103558
(3) The co-citation analysis of the literatures indicates that BIM
research is still in the diffusing growth stage according to the co-
citation network cluster map. BIM research is mainly distributed
in the following nine fields: augmented reality, construction
safety, education relevant to BIM, virtual learning, life cycle
assessment, geological information system, computer-aided
design, engineering design and analysis models, and pre­
fabricated housing production. The nine fields constitute the in­
tellectual base of BIM research.
(4) The co-word analysis of BIM high-frequency keywords reveals
that “design”, “construction”, “system”, “management”, and
“model” are the core buzzwords of BIM research. Meanwhile, it
also means that these keywords are currently the hotspots of BIM
research. Under the perspective of time evolution, the develop­
ment of BIM in the past decade experienced a process from data
collection to information integration and to knowledge man­
agement. During the period of 2010–2011, the research focus was
on model construction and the interoperability. And great
importance was attached to the 3D visualization of engineering
drawings. During the period of 2012–2016, the research focus
shifted to BIM informatization. From 2017 up to now, studies on
knowledge management began to spring up on the basis of
existing informatization studies. Predictably, the development
trend of BIM technology will be featured with advanced infor­
matization and knowledgeablization.
(5) The cluster analysis of BIM high-frequency keywords reveals that
these keywords have formed twelve clusters in total. Through
further integration and merger, these clusters can be divided into
three levels, namely, the knowledge communication of BIM, the
technological development of BIM, and the practical application
of BIM. To be specific, the knowledge communication level in­
cludes knowledge management (C2), literature review (C3), and
engineering education (C10). The technological development
level includes automation (C5), topological information extrac­
tion model (C7), green building (C9), and cloud computing (C11).
And the practical application level includes sustainability (C1),
implementation (C4), cost and schedule (C6), and project man­
agement (C8). The twelve clusters reflect the hotspots and front
of BIM research. The cluster of sustainability (C1) covers the
largest number of high-frequency keywords. This indicates that
the sustainable development of BIM draws more academic
attention and possesses considerable research value.
Declaration of Competing Interest
We declare that we have no financial and personal relationships with
other people or organizations that can inappropriately influence our
work, there is no professional or other personal interest of any nature or
kind in any product, service and/or company that could be construed as
influencing the position presented in, or the review of, the manuscript
entitled.
Acknowledgement
This research is supported by the Science and Technology Project of
Henan Transportation Department Grant (Grant number: 2019J-2-1).
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