Abstract
In recent years, research on carbon accounting has developed rapidly. To address the lack of up-to-date reviews, this study employs bibliometric methods and CiteSpace to analyze 592 carbon accounting-related publications indexed in the Web of Science Core Collection, including SCI-EXPANDED and SSCI, from 2005 to 2025. The results show that carbon accounting research has exhibited substantial growth overall and entered a phase of rapid expansion after 2023. China, the United States, and Australia are the leading contributing countries, while universities constitute the main research institutions. Research output is relatively dispersed across authors and publication outlets, while the leading outlets demonstrate distinct interdisciplinary characteristics. The main research themes include climate pressure, climate risk and policy responses, corporate governance and carbon management, as well as green innovation and performance outcomes. The evolution of research hotspots indicates that the field has gradually shifted from an early focus on ecological and policy issues to firm-level management and environmental information disclosure, and has subsequently expanded to performance outcomes and corporate social responsibility. This study reveals the structural characteristics and evolutionary trends of carbon accounting research, providing a systematic overview and useful reference for future research.