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SOCIOLOGY | REVIEW ARTICLE
COGENT SOCIAL SCIENCES
2025, VOL. 11, NO. 1, 2484468
A systematic review of signicant research on poverty alleviation by
social organizations: comparing distinctive approaches in China and
the world
Binbin Suna , Chin Yee Whaha and Yankai Wangb
aSchool of Social Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Penang, Malaysia; bSchool of Architecture, South China University of
Technology, Guangzhou, China
ABSTRACT
In today’s world, social organizations play a crucial role in poverty alleviation. However,
studies on their participation in this area are often fragmented. Given China’s significant
impact on poverty alleviation, this study analyzes 588 studies on poverty alleviation by
social organizations sourced from both the Web of Science (WOS) and China National
Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), covering the period from 1998 to 2023. Using the
bibliometric method in Citespace, it systematically analyzes the research status,
development course, and potential trends of research on poverty alleviation by social
organizations. The findings reveal that since 2017, policy shifts in China resulted in a
decline in CNKI publications. Conversely, WOS research continues to expand. The
thematic analysis highlights WOS’s emphasis on development studies, environmental
sustainability, and entrepreneurship, while CNKI prioritizes agricultural economics, public
administration, and precision poverty alleviation. Collaborative poverty alleviation
emerges as a shared hotspot, highlighting the necessity of multi-stakeholder
partnerships. Methodologically, qualitative case studies dominate both databases,
though WOS integrates advanced quantitative tools (e.g., T-tests, logistic models) to
assess intervention efficacy. Future research should focus on developing a comprehensive
framework that considers the interactions among government, market, and organizations,
integrating theory with practice for enhanced operability.
IMPACT STATEMENT
Poverty has always been the focus of global attention. In order to eradicate poverty to
achieve the common goal of humanity, scholars advocate for collaborative efforts
involving multiple actors, including social organizations like non-governmental
organizations (NGOs). Whether in developed or developing countries, poverty alleviation
by social organizations has been recognized by all sectors of society, and the Chinese
government has also issued various policy documents to encourage social organizations
to participate in poverty alleviation work. From a scientific perspective, studies on
poverty alleviation by social organizations change along with the changing social
environment and policies. Still, with the deepening of research, various study results
provide theoretical guidance for the practice of poverty alleviation. So, what Dare the
research hotspot in poverty alleviation by social organization? What are the trends? The
paper selects 588 studies on poverty alleviation by social organization from Web of
Science (WOS) and China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI). Using Citespace’s
bibliometric method, the current status, development process and potential trends of
social organization poverty alleviation research were systematically analyzed.
© 2025 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group
CONTACT Chin Yee Whah ywchin@usm.my School of Social Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Penang 11800, Malaysia.
https://doi.org/10.1080/23311886.2025.2484468
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which
permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. The terms on which this article has been
published allow the posting of the Accepted Manuscript in a repository by the author(s) or with their consent.
ARTICLE HISTORY
Received 16 November
2023
Revised 10 March 2025
Accepted 14 March 2025
KEYWORDS
Poverty alleviation by
social organizations;
research hotspots;
research trends;
bibliometric method;
CiteSpace
SUBJECTS
Public Relations; Public
Administration &
Management; Sociology
& Social Policy; Social
Policy
2 B. SUN ETAL.
1. Introduction
The United Nations’ 2015 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) prioritize poverty eradication as the
primary objective among its 17 targets (Tollefson, 2015). The World Bank projected a rise in global
extreme poverty from 88 million to 115 million individuals by October 2020 due to the COVID-19 pan-
demic, underscoring the urgency of multi-stakeholder collaboration (Florini & Pauli, 2018). Social organi-
zations have emerged as critical actors in poverty alleviation, addressing systemic gaps in public welfare
delivery caused by market and government failures (Kamat, 2004). These entities, operating across
macro-level institutional frameworks and micro-level community needs, demonstrate unique capacities to
mobilize resources and empower marginalized populations.
The conceptual boundaries of social organizations remain contested in academic discourse, encom-
passing terms such as non-governmental organizations (NGOs), non-profits (NPOs), and civil society
groups. In China, these entities are formally classified as “social organizations,” defined by Wang (2009) as
non-governmental, non-profit, and voluntary institutions dedicated to public welfare. Salamon’s seminal
framework further identifies five defining attributes: organizational structure, privatization, non-profit ori-
entation, autonomy, and voluntarism (Salamon et al., 2004). These conceptualizations collectively empha-
size the sector’s independence and public service ethos.
Social organizations perform a variety of roles in poverty alleviation, including acting as “resource
linkers,” “project participants,” and “group enablers” for disadvantaged communities (Yang et al., 2021).
Their involvement addresses systemic inefficiencies in state-led poverty reduction frameworks and miti-
gates market exclusion tendencies (Smith, 2012). By 2020, the Chinese government declared the eradi-
cation of extreme poverty, a historic milestone in global poverty reduction that garnered international
recognition (Deng et al., 2022). Social organizations played a pivotal role in this achievement, with their
contributions receiving widespread societal acknowledgment and institutional reinforcement. Their pov-
erty alleviation efforts predominantly operate through two modalities: the “relief-based” approach,
focused on direct material assistance, and the “developmental” approach, which prioritizes capacity-building
through vocational training and sustainable industrial cultivation (Liu et al., 2020).
China’s experience offers valuable lessons for global poverty governance. At the macro level, the
establishment of a government-led synergistic mechanism integrating state, social organizations, and
market forces has proven effective in addressing institutional fragmentation within poverty governance
systems (Zhuang et al., 2015). Secondly, transforming “blood transfusion-style” aid into “hematopoietic”
development, supported by enhanced policy interventions in industry, education, and healthcare, demon-
strates particular relevance for developing countries. This approach integrates tax incentives to mobilize
private sector participation while institutionalizing poverty alleviation outcomes within local governance
evaluation frameworks, thereby ensuring accountability and scalability in resource-constrained contexts.
At the micro level, China’s implementation of targeted poverty alleviation strategies emphasizes differen-
tiated management while ensuring poor groups and decision-making autonomy among beneficiaries
(Tang, 2022). This methodology addresses the limitations of externally imposed interventions character-
istic of conventional social organization-led projects. Secondly, China uses big data and blockchain tech-
nology to establish a dynamic poverty registration system to achieve accurate identification of the poor
and transparent allocation of resources (Fang & Zhang, 2021). These Chinese practices provide develop-
ing countries with actionable frameworks to customize their poverty reduction strategies to fit their spe-
cific socioeconomic contexts. At the same time, these practices serve as a model for developed countries
to strengthen their own achievements in poverty alleviation.
The Web of Science (WOS) covers almost all of the world’s most comprehensive and authoritative
scientific literature. China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) is the largest continuously updated
Chinese academic literature. Meanwhile, China’s unprecedented poverty alleviation scale (lifting 800
million out of poverty since 1978) has generated distinct institutional innovations rarely documented
in Western literature (Ravallion, 2022), and the research included in CNKI also systematically reflects
the social organizations’ poverty alleviation with Chinese characteristics, it effectively supplements the
English-language databases. Despite growing scholarly interest in the role of social organizations in
poverty alleviation, most existing research tends to focus on isolated themes, such as models, poli-
cies, and mechanisms rather than providing a comprehensive overview of how the field has evolved
COGENT SOCIAL SCIENCES 3
(Hu, 2020). To address this research gap, we conducted a systematic review of 588 articles from WOS
and CNKI spanning 1997 (the inception of social organization-led poverty alleviation studies) to 2023,
integrating bibliometric analysis with content review methodologies. We comprehensively analyze the
relevant literature on poverty alleviation by social organization from each of these sources, conduct
a network analysis of their annual publication count, subject distribution, highly cited studies, research
institutions, literature keywords, and key research platforms, research institutions, subjects, and
research hotspots in the field, and compare the literature in the two databases. Finally, based on
these results, we further explore the frontiers and potential development trends of poverty alleviation
by social organization research, enabling scholars, practitioners, and governments to better under-
stand the related research development and providing useful reference for subsequent research.
This study makes three significant contributions: (1) it provides the first systematic comparison of
Chinese and global scholarship on social organizations’ poverty alleviation roles, bridging a critical knowl-
edge gap; (2) this study integrates Chinese literature from CNKI, thereby enriching the existing English
database and highlighting the current research status of poverty alleviation by Chinese social organiza-
tions;(3) this research provides recommendations for future research and policy.
The structure of this article is as follows: section 2 details the data collection process and analytical
approaches. Section 3 presents the bibliometric indicators and knowledge maps based on WOS data,
followed by a similar analysis of CNKI data in section 4. Section 5 researches trends, institutions, hotpots,
and methodologies across both databases. Section 6 provides future research recommendations and
states limitations of this research, while section 7 summarizes key findings and contributions.
2. Research methods
2.1. Search strategy
Peer-reviewed journal articles typically meet higher quality benchmarks than book chapters, conference
proceedings, and research reports (Ritz etal., 2016). Consequently, this study exclusively analyzes journal
publications, excluding non-scholarly materials such as advertisements, book reviews, and biographi-
cal works.
Web of Science (WOS): A globally recognized interdisciplinary citation index covering natural sciences,
social sciences, and humanities (Yao et al., 2014). The Boolean search formula combined key terms:
TS=(“NGO poverty alleviation” OR “NGO anti-poverty” OR “NGO poverty reduction”), restricted to articles
indexed in the Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI). This yielded 346 English-language publications across
all available years.
China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI): China’s largest and continuously updated academic
resource database, includes numerous high-quality studies and significant discussions on poverty allevi-
ation by social organizations. Search terms included “poverty alleviation by social organization”, “NGO
anti-poverty”, and “grassroots organization poverty relief”, filtered to articles in the Chinese Social Sciences
Citation Index (CSSCI). Data collection was concluded on 28 April 2023, resulting in 319 Chinese-language
publications.
2.2. Screening process
Based on the literature retrieved through the search, some documents may not be relevant to the
research topic of this study. Consequently, we established exclusion criteria for further screening and
removed literature unrelated to poverty alleviation by social organizations to determine the basis of the
review. The detailed structure and inclusion/exclusion conditions of the screening process are illustrated
in Figure 1. This process includes: (1) Eliminating document types and duplicates such as advertisements,
book reviews, topic guides, and biographies. (2) Reading titles, abstracts, and keywords to eliminate doc-
uments that do not match the research topic. (3) Individually reading the full text and eliminating doc-
uments that do not align with the research topic. After this rigorous screening process, we selected 305
English and 283 Chinese documents, resulting in a total of 588 papers for this study.
4 B. SUN ETAL.
2.3. Methods and tools
CiteSpace, a knowledge mapping software developed by Dr. Chaomei Chen at Drexel University, enables
analytical reasoning through bibliometric data mining and visual interactivity, supporting systematic
exploration of research domains (Zhu & Hua, 2017). This study employed CiteSpace (Version 6.3.R3) to
visualize year distribution, disciplinary trends, author collaborations, major research institutions and their
collaborations, keyword co-occurrences, emerging terms, and timezone maps. Complementary analyses
using Microsoft Office Excel 2021 included temporal trend quantification and cross-disciplinary pattern
identification. Author and institutional collaboration networks were mapped to assess research engage-
ment at micro (individual), meso (organizational), and macro (national) levels. Keyword co-occurrence
analysis identified emerging terms and conceptual linkages, while timezone mapping traced the evolu-
tion of research priorities in poverty alleviation by social organization (Zhao & Xu, 2010).
3. Analysis of literature from WOS
3.1. Overview of poverty alleviation by social organizations studies from WOS
Bibliometric analysis of WOS publications reveals distinct patterns in research output and international
collaboration. According to the data related to the number of national and regional publications, the
distribution of national publications from high to low, as depicted in Figure 2 (top 10), indicates that the
literature in the field of social organization poverty alleviation research is predominantly concentrated in
countries such as the United States, England, and China. Notably, the United States leads with the high-
est number of publications, totaling 83, followed by England with 51 publications and China with 36.
The distribution of publications within the context of social organizations’ poverty alleviation spans
eight developed countries (USA, England, Australia, Canada, Netherlands, Sweden, Spain, and Germany)
and six developing countries (China, South Africa, Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, and Malaysia). It is worth
noting that international organizations like the International Red Cross (LRCS), Oxford Committee for
Famine Relief (OXFAM), World Vision, and CARE International have long been pivotal in the global fight
against poverty. Furthermore, social organizations within these developing countries, such as Pmshika
and Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee (BARC) in Bangladesh, the National Slum Dwellers
Federation, the Society for the Promotion of Regional Resource Centers (SPARC) in India, and the United
Association of China (UNA), also play a significant role in the cause of poverty alleviation.
Figure 1. Literature screening ow chart.
COGENT SOCIAL SCIENCES 5
Figure 3 depicts the mapping of national cooperation in the field of social organizations’ poverty
alleviation research, elucidating the dissemination of this research across various countries. The nodes
symbolize individual countries, with their size indicating the volume of papers originating from each
nation. Node size corresponds to publication volume, while connection thickness reflects collaboration
intensity. The purple node ring represents the key nodes in the network, the thicker the purple ring is,
the higher betweenness centralities the node has. As shown in Figure 3, the purple ring has six nodes,
including the USA, England, Australia, South Africa, India, and Germany. These six countries play a key
role in the social organization poverty alleviation research cooperation network.
Figure 4 illustrates the publication trends of research on poverty alleviation by social organizations
within the WOS. Figure 4 shows that the first study on poverty alleviation by social organizations by WOS
was published in 1998, and the overall publication volume showed a fluctuating upward trend with slight
fluctuations. During the period from 1998 to 2007, the field was less extensively explored, resulting in a
modest number of publications. However, beginning in 2008, there was a marked surge in scholarly
Figure 2. Distribution map of the number of published papers by country (Top 10).
Figure 3. Atlas of country-regional cooperation.
Figure 4. Annual distribution of the studies on poverty alleviation by social organizations from WOS.
6 B. SUN ETAL.
interest, culminating in a sustained increase in research literature. It is pertinent to note that the observed
decline in publication numbers in 2023 is attributable to the data collection period extending only up to
28 April 2023. Consequently, it is anticipated that more papers will be published later in the year.
Social organizations’ poverty alleviation research intersects multiple disciplines, as evidenced by the-
matic distributions in Web of Science (WOS) literature (Table 1). Development Studies (12.71%),
Environmental Studies (12.71%), and Economics (10.17%) constitute the dominant fields. Development
studies prioritize evaluating organizational efficacy, including success factors (Porter, 2003), policy impacts,
and cross-sector collaboration challenges (Bastiaensen et al., 2005; Florini & Pauli, 2018). Environmental
studies emphasize technical and institutional interventions to address resource scarcity (Brown et al.,
2011), climate adaptation (Unerman & O’Dwyer, 2010), and sustainable tourism models that balance pov-
erty reduction with ecological preservation (Kennedy & Dornan, 2009). Economic research examines
market-based strategies, such as enterprise–NGO partnerships in tourism (Hoque et al., 2022) and indus-
trial development initiatives (Kolk & Van Tulder, 2006). Complementary contributions emerge from
Environmental Sciences, Business, Urban Planning, and Social Sciences, reflecting the field’s interdisciplin-
ary nature.
Table 2 highlights seminal studies in this domain. Appadurai (2001) analyzes Mumbai’s grassroots
organizations (SPARC, National Slum Dwellers Federation) as agents of participatory democracy, demon-
strating how localized NGOs mediate global forces to empower marginalized communities. Haushofer
and Shapiro (2016) quantifies the socioeconomic impacts of cash transfers in rural Kenya, revealing sig-
nificant improvements in household well-being. Ferraro et al. (2015), the most cited work, propose par-
ticipatory frameworks integrating multivocal stakeholder engagement to address poverty-climate nexuses.
Collectively, these studies underscore the dual focus on structural empowerment and health equity in
poverty alleviation scholarship.
3.2. Quantitative analysis of the studies on poverty alleviation by social organizations from WOS
3.2.1. Research institutions analysis
Based on the analysis of relevant data from the WOS, we have derived the bar chart illustrating the
number of articles published by the top 10 global research institutions, as shown in Figure 5. The
University of London published the most papers.
Table 1. Topic distribution of studies on poverty alleviation by social organi-
zations from WOS (Top 10).
No Topic Quantity Proportion
1Development Studies 45 12.71%
2Environmental Studies 45 12.71%
3 Economics 36 10.17%
4Environmental Sciences 32 9.04%
5 Business 28 7.91%
6Green Sustainable Science Technology 19 5.37%
7Regional Urban Planning 17 4.80%
8Social Issues 17 4.80%
9Social Sciences Interdisciplinary 17 4.80%
10 Management 16 4.52%
11 Public Environmental Occupational Health 16 4.52%
Table 2. Top 5 most highly cited studies on poverty alleviation by social organizations from WOS.
No Topic Author Journal Citation count Year
1Tackling Grand Challenges Pragmatically: Robust Action
Revisited
FerraroF Organization studies 462 2015
2Deep Democracy: urban governmentality and the horizon of
politics
AppaduraiA Environment and
urbanization
377 2001
3The Short-term Impact of Unconditional Cash Transfers to the
Poor: Experimental Evidence from Kenya
HaushoferJ The Quarterly Journal of
Economics
315 2016
4Impact at the ‘bottom of the pyramid: The role of social
capital in capability development and community
empowerment
AnsariS Journal of Management
Studies
271 2012
5Health inequalities and the health of the poor: What do we
know? What can we do?
Gwatkin D R Bulletin of the World Health
Organization
262 2000
COGENT SOCIAL SCIENCES 7
Figure 6 maps institutional collaborations derived from CiteSpace analysis, identifying universities and
research centers in the United States, United Kingdom, South Africa, and China as primary contributors.
The diagram contains 345 nodes and 373 links, with a network density of 0.0063. This sparse connectiv-
ity reflects limited transnational partnerships, with most collaborations occurring domestically. U.S. and
U.K. institutions dominate scholarly output, though no centralized hub emerges, indicating fragmented
global research efforts.
3.2.2. Core author analysis
To further delve into the influential authors within the field of social organization poverty alleviation
research and their impact within WOS, this study utilized CiteSpace techniques to produce two illustra-
tive figures. Figure 7 depicts the collaborative associations among authors, while Figure 8 illustrates the
co-citation patterns among these authors. The size of each node in these figures corresponds to the
number of papers published, and the larger the node, the higher the frequency. For instance, in Figure
7, the most significant node represents Chu Vien, who has authored numerous papers. The connections
between nodes signify the extent of collaborative efforts between authors, the thicker the line, the stron-
ger the cooperation relationship. Figure 7 displays slender and scattered lines, suggesting that most
authors engage in independent academic research with limited collaborative ties. Additionally, several
Figure 5. Top 10 institutions for frequently published studies on poverty alleviation by social organizations from WOS.
Figure 6. Cluster view of the research institutions publishing literature on poverty alleviation by social organizations
from WOS.
8 B. SUN ETAL.
compact, isolated sub-networks are evident within the entire network, indicating a tendency for authors
to collaborate within smaller clusters, but communication between teams is not close.
In Figure 8, the focus shifts to the author’s co-citation analysis. Each node represents an author, while
the link connecting two nodes signifies their co-citation relationship. The size of the nodes reflects the
author’s citation count, and the distance separating two nodes corresponds to the co-citation frequency.
The smaller the distance between two nodes, the higher the author’s co citation frequency and the
closer the research direction. The top 10 authors with the most frequent co-citations are listed in Table 3.
Table 3 data indicates that the World Bank exerts the most pronounced influence, as its reports, pol-
icies, programs, and data are cited by numerous scholars. Additionally, many NGOs have formed collab-
orative partnerships with the World Bank in their poverty-fighting endeavors (Fox & Gershman, 2000).
Similarly, policy reports issued by the United Nations have been cited by many scholars. Amartya Sen is
Figure 7. Author cooperation map from WOS.
Figure 8. Author co-citation analysis map from WOS.
COGENT SOCIAL SCIENCES 9
the most co-cited author, followed by Elinor Ostrom. These authors serve as pivotal nodes within the
evolution of theoretical development, playing an essential role in advancing the field’s overarching
theories.
3.2.3. Research hotspots and trend analysis
Research hotspots represent the most dynamic and consequential themes within a scholarly domain,
identifiable through keyword co-occurrence and temporal analysis (Chen & Shang, 2023). Keywords are
extracted from the content of a paper. When a keyword appears twice or more, it is called keyword
co-occurrence. Therefore, CiteSpace was used with Keyword as the node type to obtain the co-occurrence
graph of keywords (Figure 9). Among them, the size of the circle represents the frequency of the key-
word, and the higher the frequency, the larger the circle. The top ten keywords identified include: pov-
erty alleviation (65 occurrences, centrality 0.48), poverty (28 occurrences, centrality 0.2), poverty reduction
(23 occurrences, centrality 0.08), governance (17 occurrences, centrality 0.08), impact (16 occurrences,
centrality 0.06), management (15 occurrences, centrality 0.06), business (14 occurrences, centrality 0.1),
community (11 occurrences, centrality 0.11), policy (11 occurrences, centrality 0.03), and corporate social
responsibility (10 occurrences, centrality 0.04). These keywords provide rich perspectives for research on
poverty alleviation by social organizations.
Time zone chart is the temporal dimension of the evolution of literature knowledge, which can com-
prehensively and clearly reflect the changes and mutual influences of literature (Figure 10) (Chen, 2006).
The vertical position of each keyword indicates the year of its first appearance. Analyzing the nodes in
the time zone diagram allows for insights into research trends and hotspots. Based on the high-frequency
keywords from Figure 9, it can be seen that research on social organizations’ poverty alleviation has
Table 3. Author co-citation list.
Ranking Counts Centrality Authors Year
1 78 0.19 World Bank 2000
2 21 0.11 Amartya Sen 2012
3 15 0.04 Elinor Ostrom 2015
4 14 0.01 United Nations 2013
5 13 0.01 Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations 2013
6 12 0.09 Naila Kabeer 2012
7 10 0.01 John Ward Creswell 2020
8 10 0.01 World Health Organization 2012
9 10 0.03 Anthony Bebbington 2003
10 10 0.11 Arun Agrawal 2008
Figure 9. Co-occurrence analysis of WOS keywords.
10 B. SUN ETAL.
evolved through five stages, which will be discussed below in conjunction with representative literature
from this period.
Stage 1 (2000–2004): Initial government-led research on poverty alleviation by social organizations. In
this phase (Figure 10), key terms include poverty alleviation, poverty growth, governance, developing
countries, aid effectiveness, and decentralization. Amid globalization, collaboration becomes vital, as no
single organization, sector, nation-state, or multilateral entity can achieve success alone. NGOs must
expand beyond their current organizational boundaries and establish new partnerships with the public
and private sectors, as well as other NGOs (Lindenberg, 2001). Therefore, most of the research focuses
on poverty alleviation by social organizations under the leadership of the government, highlighting the
government’s primary role. However, the government’s dominant position as regulator often marginalizes
social organizations, resulting in weak autonomy and limited legitimacy for these organizations (Craig &
Porter, 2003). Proposed tripartite frameworks positioned governments as policy drivers, enterprises as
market enablers, and NGOs as implementation partners, advocating decentralized governance and cor-
porate social responsibility to amplify poverty alleviation efficacy (Heap, 2000; Winston, 2002). Additionally,
the poor can also rely on their own resources to escape poverty, with credit programs emerging as a
notable strategy.
Stage 2 (2005–2009): This phase marked a pivotal shift toward environmental dimensions of poverty
alleviation, with keyword clusters (climate change, biodiversity, energy poverty) underscoring the inter-
play between ecological crises and socioeconomic vulnerability. 2005 is a landmark year for climate
change and for development. The 2005 Hyogo and Kyoto frameworks catalyzed global action to address
climate-driven poverty, particularly in regions like the Horn of Africa, where agroecological fragility exac-
erbated droughts and food insecurity (Pouliotte et al., 2009; Yamin et al., 2005). Consequently, research
focuses on climate change and its connection to African poverty. These phase studies also highlighted
energy poverty as a critical barrier, with reliance on biomass fuels perpetuating health risks and environ-
mental degradation (Sagar, 2005). Scholars suggest that social organizations establish “energy poverty
alleviation” funds, community self-help (or civil society alliances), and microcredit models to address pov-
erty caused by climate change (Brook et al., 2008). Furthermore, the link between biodiversity conserva-
tion and poverty reduction is widely debated, focusing on the environmental protection NGOs,
accountability, impact on local community residents, and biodiversity conservation (Roe, 2008).
Stage 3 (2010–2014): This phase witnessed a paradigm shift toward market-driven strategies. During
this period, research focused on impact, business, empowerment, entrepreneurship, sustainable
Figure 10. Time zone analysis of WOS keywords.
COGENT SOCIAL SCIENCES 11
development, and strategy. In this period, the study on dismantling systemic barriers to market access
for low-income populations, positioning them as both producers and consumers (McKague & Oliver,
2012). Grameen Bank and its founder, Muhammad Yunus, pioneered microenterprises internationally,
enabling the poor to invest borrowed funds in small businesses and break debt cycles (Mahmuda etal.,
2014). Since then, academic discourse on microfinance has proliferated, with social organizations playing
critical roles in offering credit or savings programs for poverty relief, enterprise development, and inno-
vation (Baruah, 2010). Concurrently, Prahalad’s (2005) book, The Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid,
highlights viewing the poor as entrepreneurs and consumers, gaining attention for BOP entrepreneur-
ship. Scholars have proposed that BOP entrepreneurship can most effectively reduce poverty if large
enterprises develop cost-effective products that are loved by BOP consumers and improve their quality
of life.
Stage 4 (2015–2019): This phase marked a transition toward comprehensive exploration of poverty
alleviation by social organizations. This stage is characterized by keywords such as organizations, perfor-
mance, agriculture, gender, health, mental health, and climate change adaptation, which underscored the
multidimensionality of deprivation. Research expanded beyond economic metrics to assess intersecting
vulnerabilities, including mental health (Mills, 2018), gendered resource access (Karkee & Comfort, 2016),
and agrarian inefficiencies (Shrestha et al., 2016). Quantitative methodologies gained prominence, with
studies employing data envelopment analysis to evaluate NGO-driven agricultural programs (Shrestha
etal., 2016) and stochastic frontier models to measure technical efficiency in development projects (Avea
et al., 2016). Concurrently, scholars regard sustainability as a key factor in judging the success of poverty
alleviation measures. It also proposed a method of combining field surveys with institutional data to test
the effectiveness of poverty alleviation (Wu & Si, 2018). The health problems of the poor (including men-
tal health) are also a focus of this stage. Many developing countries have incorporated preferential med-
ical policies and social and psychological assistance into their poverty alleviation systems (Hung & Lau,
2019; Karkee & Comfort, 2016).
Stage 5 (2019–present): Notable keywords during this period include health, innovation, vulnera-
bility, rights, and attitudes. Poverty is an ever-evolving phenomenon, individuals experiencing pov-
erty today might escape it through government or societal interventions. Conversely, individuals not
currently facing poverty might risk falling into it due to factors such as illness, natural disasters, and
other unforeseen events (Tigre, 2019). This highlights the need for poverty research to adopt a dual
approach—incorporating retrospective assessments of poverty status and dynamic predictions about
the potential for rural households to slide into poverty. Poverty vulnerability has emerged as a
dynamic and forward-looking indicator of household well-being, gaining prominence (Zhang et al.,
2023). Meanwhile, social organizations are pioneering new digital approaches to address poverty.
Certain experts suggest that integrating Internet tools such as online finance, e-commerce, digital
access, and inclusive financial systems could significantly boost non-agricultural income for impov-
erished farmers, ultimately reducing poverty and its vulnerability. However, divergent perspectives
exist among scholars. Some argue that poor people’s different cognition, blind investment in the
Internet, and the monopoly of the Internet industry lead to little effect in poverty alleviation (Zhang
et al., 2022).
The distribution of emergence keywords reflects the frequency, intensity, and starting and ending
years of the keywords in the research field. Emergence keywords can somewhat reflect research trends,
hotspots, and cutting-edge issues.
Illustrated in Figure 11 are the top 20 keywords that have undergone the most pronounced citation
surges from 1998 to 2023. Notably, “impact” takes the foremost position, with a surging intensity of 3.67.
Its lifespan spans 12 years (2012–2023), indicative of the transformative juncture in poverty alleviation
research, highlighting the role of social organizations’ influence on poverty amelioration—a notable
research pivot in recent years. Furthermore, other keywords exhibit substantial emergent intensities:
health (2.69), vulnerability (2.59), poverty reduction (2.19), and ecosystem services (2.16). Long life cycle
emergent words include developing countries, community participation, ecosystem services, conserva-
tion, and poverty reduction. In recent years, keywords such as climate change adaptation, agriculture,
sustainable development, and attitudes have been increasingly prominent, signifying their heightened
emergence.
12 B. SUN ETAL.
4. Analysis of the literature from CNKI
4.1. Overview of poverty alleviation by social organizations studies from CNKI
CKNI’s first paper on social organizations’ poverty alleviation was published in 1997. Gong Zhen’s work,
“Poverty Causing Factors and Poverty Eradication Strategies in Poor Areas,” outlined key aspects of pov-
erty alleviation (Gong, 1997). Figure 12 illustrates a surge in research on poverty alleviation by social
organizations between 2014 and 2017, peaking during those years. In 2014, the General Office of the
State Council released “Opinions on Further Mobilizing All Aspects of Society to Participate in Poverty
Alleviation and Development,” aiming at creating a comprehensive pattern of poverty alleviation. This
policy, from a top-level design perspective, delineated the roles of social organizations and refined mech-
anisms and policies, becoming a guiding document in the field of social poverty alleviation in China. The
2017 Circular from the Leading Group of Poverty Alleviation and Development of the State Council
emphasized dynamic assessments and reward mechanisms in social organizations’ performance, integral
to poverty alleviation. However, post-2017, the number of published studies decreased annually, with 25
in 2018 and just nine by 2022, contrasting with the steady expansion of research in the WOS database.
Table 4 displays the disciplinary distribution of CNKI studies on poverty alleviation by social organiza-
tions. Among the 283 Chinese studies, 51.59% focus on Agricultural Economics, 29.09% on administrative
sciences, and 11.31% on economic system reform.
Table 5 highlights the top five cited studies. Two define social organizations in China (Wang, 2001;
Wang & Jia), two explore their link to government and public services (Han, 2009), and one focuses on
Figure 11. WOS keyword emergence map.
COGENT SOCIAL SCIENCES 13
their role in targeted poverty alleviation, studying effective implementation in terms of precise identifi-
cation, management, assessment, as well as benefit linkage and social mobilization (Zhuang etal., 2015).
These studies are all theoretical research, and most of China’s research on poverty alleviation by social
organizations adopts a macro perspective.
4.2. Quantitative analysis of CKNI’s poverty alleviation studies by social organizations
4.2.1. Research institutions analysis
Figure 13 illustrates cooperation among institutions studying poverty alleviation by social organizations.
The top five institutions are China Agricultural University, Huazhong Normal University, Guangxi University,
Tsinghua University, and Peking University. The figure has 273 nodes, 113 links, and a network density
of 0.003. Each institution’s centrality is 0, indicating dispersed research strength without aggregation.
Inter-institutional links are limited. This indicates that academic exchanges between institutions need to
be strengthened.
4.2.2. Core author analysis
In Figure 14, Chinese authors in social organizations’ poverty alleviation research show dispersion. Xu
Yuanyuan (Central South University) leads in publications, followed by Zuo Ting (China Agricultural
Figure 12. Annual distribution of the studies from CNKI.
Table 4. Topic distribution of studies on poverty alleviation by social organizations from CNKI (Top 10).
No Topic Quantity Proportion
1Agricultural Economics 146 51.59%
2Administrative Sciences and State Administration 71 25.09%
3Economic System Reform and Drafting 32 11.31%
4 Finance 24 8.48%
5Chinese and International Politics 19 6.71%
6Sociology and Statistics 19 6.71%
7 Investment 17 6.01%
8Political Parties and Mass Organizations 17 6.01%
9Finance and Taxation 10 3.53%
10 Macroeconomic Management and Sustainable
Development
7 2.47%
Table 5. Top 5 most highly cited studies on poverty alleviation by social organizations from CNKI.
No Topic Author Journal Citation Count Year
1Analysis of the development of NGOs in China Wang M Management World 1169 2002
2Analysis of the mode of participation of Chinese
civil organizations in public service purchase
Wang M Journal of the Party School of the
Zhejiang Provincial Committee of
the Communist Party of China
907 2008
3A comparison of current models of NGO
participation in government purchase of
services in China
Han JK Economic and Social System
Comparison
520 2009
4Research on the logic of the behavior and
mechanism of the role of targeted poverty
alleviation subjects
Zhuang TH Guangxi Ethnic Studies 423 2015
5Non-governmental public sector in China Wang M Chinese Administration 219 2001
14 B. SUN ETAL.
University), Lu Hanwen (Central China Normal University), Wang Ming (Tsinghua University), and Xiang
Deping (Huazhong University of Science and Technology). They have a significant influence in research-
ing poverty alleviation by social organizations. The node connection indicates that the two authors col-
laborated on the research, and the thick line represents a solid cooperative relationship. Figure 14 shows
that the lines are thin and scattered without forming a complex network of relationships, indicating that
there are few academic connections between the authors. Most of the author collaborations are con-
ducted within each team, with less cross-unit collaboration. Examples include Xu and Zou (2010)
“Administrative State” and “Invisible Society” and Zuo et al.’s (2010) “New Features of Rural Poverty and
Anti-Poverty in China in the New Century.” These collaborations often involve teacher-student or collegial
relationships.
Figure 13. Cluster view of the research institutions publishing literature on poverty alleviation by social organizations
from CKNI.
Figure 14. Author cooperation map from CNKI.
COGENT SOCIAL SCIENCES 15
4.2.3. Research hotspots and trend analysis
Figure 15 is a co-occurrence analysis of CNKI keywords. In CNKI, ‘targeted poverty alleviation’ is the most
frequent keyword (58 times) with high relevance (cardinality: 0.57). It can be seen that how to imple-
ment precise identification and assistance for poverty alleviation targets is the most concerning issue for
the Chinese government and scholars. Other significant keywords regarding poverty alleviation by social
organizations include social organizations (36, 0.35), poverty alleviation (23, 0.23), poverty governance
(18, 0.12), social poverty alleviation (14, 0.15), grassroots organizations (13, 0.1), government (11, 0.07),
poverty development (10, 0.08), rural poverty alleviation (10, 0.07), and microfinance (9, 0.05).
Using the keyword co-occurrence graph, we conducted a keyword time zone graph analysis to display
the historical changes of cutting-edge keywords (Figure 16). To clearly illustrate the evolution of research
on poverty alleviation by Chinese social organizations, we combined the keywords from each period
with a literature review. This division yields four distinct stages.
Stage 1 (1997–2002): Emergence of poverty alleviation by social organizations research. At this stage,
the publications in core journals were relatively small, and the keywords were relatively single, and the
keywords were relatively simple, mainly including absolute poverty, poverty alleviation, microcredit, pov-
erty alleviation and development, and grassroots organizations. Indicating that only a small number of
people in the industry, academia, and government departments began to pay attention to poverty alle-
viation by social organizations during this period. The 2001 Rural Poverty Alleviation and Development
Outline marked a policy inflection point, formalizing government–social organization partnerships to
address rural deprivation (Zhan, 2003). Focusing on survival, technology, education, the Happiness
Project, population, cooperation, culture, in-kind aid, and the environment (Wang, 2001). Microfinance is
also a hot topic, with Sun Tianqi advocating that the government should coordinate with social organi-
zations to establish an organizational system and incentive mechanism that can adapt to the market
(Sun, 2001).
Stage 2 (2003–2008): The research field of poverty alleviation by social organizations is gradually
expanding, and diversification is emerging. Keywords such as poverty governance, rural poverty allevia-
tion, government-led, advantages, and institutional change began to appear. From the actual situation,
most of China’s poor groups live in rural areas, making rural areas the main battlefield for China’s poverty
alleviation efforts. As the government’s efforts alone proved insufficient to address the complexities of
rural deprivation, social organizations emerged as critical actors, bridging gaps in resource allocation and
service delivery (Zhan, 2003). The national agenda to build a new socialist countryside catalyzed scholarly
interest in the unique governance advantages of social organizations, including their efficiency,
Figure 15. Co-occurrence analysis of CNKI keywords.
16 B. SUN ETAL.
sensitivity to local needs, and alignment with public interest goals (Xie & Gu, 2007). Research during this
period highlighted the dual role of social organizations: fostering self-development among rural popula-
tions and introducing innovative, community-driven solutions to poverty (Wu & Deng, 2006). These stud-
ies underscored the necessity of integrating social organization into broader poverty alleviation
frameworks, not merely as implementers but as partners in shaping sustainable rural development.
Stage 3 (2009–2014): Further expansion and steady diversification of poverty alleviation research by
social organizations. The research on social organization poverty alleviation further expanded, centering
on cooperative models, systems, and mechanisms. With the continuous growth of social organizations in
China, they have become partners in the government’s poverty alleviation. In poverty alleviation models,
there are government–social organization cooperation, social organization–social organization coopera-
tion, and social enterprises. Innovations in project management, regional adaptation, and internal gover-
nance by social organizations not only enhanced poverty alleviation outcomes but also garnered state
endorsement (Kuang, 2010). The paths of cooperation in poverty alleviation could be categorized into
top-down and bottom-up approaches. The former mainly involved the government’s policy system, pov-
erty alleviation fund system, and regulation and management of social organizations. The latter included
service-oriented and participatory poverty alleviation strategies, including charitable assistance, empow-
erment, and job development (Chen, 2012). The government’s procurement of poverty alleviation ser-
vices from social organizations emerged as a critical research focus, reflecting a shift toward power-sharing
models that balanced state authority with societal agency (Guo, 2012). However, institutional obstacles
persisted due to the influence of conventional political and economic systems. Some social organizations,
deeply rooted in official backgrounds, relied heavily on state resources to maintain operations, creating
a “shelter-dependency” dynamic that hindered their flexibility and innovation in poverty alleviation efforts
(Cai, 2013).
Stage 4 (2015–Present): Social organizations’ poverty alleviation research erupts, rapidly diversifying. In
this stage, the subject search has yielded an increased number of core journal papers and a richer
vocabulary of keywords. These include keywords such as targeted poverty alleviation, practical dilemma,
relative poverty, collaborative governance, and education poverty alleviation. The introduction of tar-
geted poverty alleviation by General Secretary Xi Jinping in 2013 aimed to offset the decline in eco-
nomic poverty reduction effects. Since then, targeted poverty alleviation has become the main way of
poverty alleviation in China (Peng, 2017). Targeted poverty alleviation requires precise identification of
poverty alleviation targets, precise allocation of poverty alleviation resources, and dynamic precision in
Figure 16. Time zone analysis of CNKI keywords.
COGENT SOCIAL SCIENCES 17
poverty alleviation management. In this context, social organizations face heightened expectations and
require policy improvements, capacity building, and innovative mechanisms to enhance the efficiency
and level of their participation in targeted poverty alleviation (Huang & Wei, 2017). Polycentric gover-
nance and pluralistic collaboration theories suggest frameworks for social organizations’ poverty allevia-
tion, implying that the involvement of emerging entities inevitably interacts with conventional
administrative bodies. On this basis, Chinese scholars have explored interactive explanatory frameworks
from the state and societal perspectives, concentrating on generating some common issues (Xiang & Lin,
2017). Zhuang Tianhui has established a five-in-one poverty governance model of “government-market-so-
cial organization-community-the poor.” This model emphasizes the government’s leading role and focuses
on tapping into market potential (Zhuang et al., 2015). Through market regulation and extensive social
participation, resources can be reasonably allocated to enhance the abilities of impoverished people.
Meanwhile, in terms of the l dilemmas faced by social organizations’ poverty alleviation, scholars agree
that these organizations face internal challenges, including limitations in resource integration, hierarchical
management structures, insufficient personnel motivation, and diminished credibility (Qiu, 2021).
Consequently, social organizations should seek synergies with the government in poverty alleviation and
unleash their inherent capabilities. The government should expedite legal enhancements for social orga-
nizations and empower them (Tang, 2022). In addition, linking poverty alleviation by social organizations
with rural revitalization has also been an academic hotspot in recent years.
Twenty emerging words were obtained from keyword analysis of Chinese literature on poverty allevi-
ation by social organizations (see Figure 17).
The ten most prominent keywords, ranked by frequency, are: precise poverty alleviation (8.14), rural
poverty alleviation (4.66), poverty alleviation (3.69), microfinance (3.66), civil organizations (2.53), rural
revitalization (2.38), government (2.14), poverty alleviation and development (1.89), social organizations
(1.85), and social poverty alleviation (1.54). Chronologically, terms that emerged before 2006 include vol-
untarism, microcredit, poverty alleviation and development, poverty alleviation, civil organizations, gov-
ernment, and international experience. From 2006 to 2012, “rural poverty alleviation” was the sole
emergent term. Following 2012, new terms emerged, such as social capital, social organizations, gover-
nance, precise poverty alleviation, social poverty alleviation, cooperation, precise poverty alleviation, pov-
erty eradication, action logic, rural revitalization education and poverty alleviation, and multi-faceted
linkage. The degree and timing of the emergence of these keywords suggest that social organizations’
poverty alleviation research in China closely follows national policies and has a clear policy orientation.
From the perspective of the period of influence of emergent words, “government” spans a decade, “social
organizations” spans nine years, and “poverty alleviation” spans eight years, and other terms have shorter
cycles, generally within 2 to 5 years.
5. Comparative analysis of the literature from WOS and CNKI
This section provides a comparative analysis of research on poverty alleviation by social organizations
between the WOS and the CNKI. The comparison covers historical development, research trends, leading
institutions, key topics, and methodologies.
The literature on poverty alleviation by social organization research in the WOS first appeared in 1998
and then gradually increased until 2008, when it attracted widespread attention from international schol-
ars. In 1997, the literature on social organization poverty alleviation research first appeared in the CNKI,
but it did not cause a sensation in the Chinese academic community. Until 2014, when policy-driven
collaborative governance demands became a catalyst for academic engagement, triggering a surge in
related publications. However, CNKI’s research output entered a sustained decline post-2017, coinciding
with China’s strategic transition from absolute poverty eradication to rural revitalization priorities, as evi-
denced by thematic shifts in CNKI’s keyword time-zone analysis (Figure 16). Conversely, WOS literature
expanded thematically during this period, reflecting growing global scholarly emphasis on ecological
sustainability, economic inclusivity, and multidimensional poverty alleviation frameworks.
The two databases differ in research direction: WOS literature emphasizes primarily on development,
environmental issues, and economic studies, while over 80% of CNKI literature is concentrated in agricul-
tural economics, administrative sciences, state administration, economic system reform, finance,
18 B. SUN ETAL.
sociology, and statistics. The sustained Chinese emphasis on agricultural reform versus the global focus
on climate change adaptation stems from distinct institutional logic. China’s state-led poverty gover-
nance prioritizes food security and rural industrialization, as codified in the ‘Rural Revitalization Strategic
Plan (2018–2022)’. In contrast, WOS scholarship reflects the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), par-
ticularly Goal 13 (Climate Action), driven by transnational NGOs and multilateral agencies like the World
Bank. This divergence is further amplified by China’s unique ‘ecological civilization’ discourse, which inte-
grates environmental protection with poverty alleviation through programs like ‘Green Rural Revival’. In
contrast, global studies often frame climate adaptation as a standalone imperative.
Regarding geographic distribution, the United States leads in WOS publications, with studies from the
US, UK, and South Africa showing the highest international impact, evidenced by their centrality values
(0.51, 0.33, and 0.13, respectively). Leading contributors to WOS and CNKI include major universities and
research institutions, with the University of London prominent in WOS output and influence, and China
Agricultural University and Huazhong Normal University leading in CNKI. WOS research shows more col-
laborative efforts, underscoring a potential need for greater international and inter-institutional coopera-
tion within CNKI. Notable authors include Chu Vien, Gutberlet Jutta, Bunders Joske F. G. internationally,
and Xu Yuanyuan, Zuo Ting, and Wang Ming from China.
Regarding methodologies, both WOS and CNKI studies employ qualitative and quantitative approaches,
with a dominance of qualitative methods. Many scholars analyze social organization-led poverty allevia-
tion through case studies, focusing on models, mechanisms, and multi-stakeholder interactions. For
Figure 17. CNKI keyword emergence map.
COGENT SOCIAL SCIENCES 19
instance, Peng (2019) explored collaboration mechanisms within the Chuangke project, while Hoque
(2022) examined the interaction between NGOs, tourism, and indigenous communities. Researchers like
Xu and Tu (2019) analyzed social organizations’ advantages in poverty alleviation, focusing on their
non-profit nature, professionalism, equity, and resource efficiency. Hu (2020) used content analysis to
examine policy tools, and Cai (2021) applied Nvivo software to explore policy changes affecting Chinese
social organizations. Quantitative studies focus on performance assessment and influencing factors, with
Batool et al. (2023) used Analytic Hierarchy Process to prioritize NGOs in mitigating energy poverty bar-
riers, Ahsan Ullah and Routray (2007) employed a T-test to assess NGO performance in Bangladesh, and
Xu (2022) applied logistic and Tobit regression analyses to explore social organizations’ role in overcom-
ing government and market failures.
The focus areas in WOS and CNKI studies also differ. In WOS, the keyword time zone graph reveals
“poverty alleviation” as the largest node since its introduction in 2000, with early research centering on
“climate change,” “community participation,” “ecosystem services,” and “policy.” These high-frequency key-
words have established a foundational framework and significantly influenced subsequent studies, with
recent literature expanding to include “empowerment,” “entrepreneurship,” and “sustainable development.”
In contrast, CNKI introduced “precision poverty alleviation” in 2014, followed by keywords like “rural pov-
erty alleviation,” “social poverty alleviation,” “government,” and “social capital.” China’s poverty alleviation
efforts predominantly target rural areas, with policy updates fueling academic interest. Research is grad-
ually shifting toward rural revitalization, reflecting the evolution of poverty alleviation strategies in
Chinese social organizations.
Both WOS and CNKI emphasize the importance of collaboration among government, social organi-
zations, enterprises, and individuals. Governance strategies focus on standardized management, capac-
ity building, technology-driven governance, enhanced training systems, and strengthened social
responsibility. However, national and societal perspectives remain central to governance. Scholars gen-
erally advocate the establishment of resource-sharing mechanisms and negotiation platforms in social
organizations’ poverty alleviation (Guo et al., 2022). Overall, WOS research tends to emphasize ecolog-
ical, environmental, and market-driven approaches or sustainable development in poverty alleviation,
while CNKI research is more focused on strategic and policy-oriented approaches to social organization
poverty alleviation.
6. Discussions
6.1. Focus of future research
The persistent and multidimensional nature of poverty highlights the sustained relevance of research on
poverty alleviation by social organizations. Current research priorities in the WOS include climate change
adaptation, agriculture, sustainable development, and attitudes toward sustainable development.
Conversely, the CNKI emphasizes rural revitalization, targeted poverty alleviation, diversified linkage, and
educational poverty alleviation. Based on these distinct focal areas, we propose the following directions
for future research:
1. Promoting interdisciplinary integration: Bridging core disciplines such as economics and manage-
ment with elds outside traditional social science. According to Pandey et al. (2022), cross-national,
cross-disciplinary and cross-eld cooperation can bring innovative and ecient solutions to sustain-
able development issues such as poverty and the environment. Therefore, it is necessary to promote
cooperation and in-depth exchanges among scholars and institutions in various countries to jointly
explore research on poverty alleviation.
2. Strengthening multi-stakeholder cooperation: Eective poverty alleviation by social organizations
often involves collaboration between the government and the market. However, most studies exam-
ine the relationship between the state and social organizations at a surface level. Future research
should delve into optimizing multi-stakeholder cooperation mechanisms tailored to dierent national
contexts, enhancing social organizations’ poverty alleviation performance, and clarifying underlying
motivations and dynamics.
20 B. SUN ETAL.
3. Empowering impoverished individuals: Recognizing impoverished individuals as active agents rather
than passive beneciaries is essential. Future research should examine strategies for social organiza-
tions to enhance transparency, encourage community engagement, and build capacities that address
the structural causes of poverty, moving beyond basic aid to long-term empowerment (Wang &
Zhang, 2021).
4. Exploring inter-organizational relationships: Although some scholars have noticed the relationship
between social organizations and enterprises (Guo etal., 2022), the relationship between social orga-
nizations and social organizations is basically a blank spot in the research on social organizations’
poverty alleviation. Future studies should focus on partnerships between domestic and international
social organizations, with an emphasis on fostering sustainable cooperation strategies.
5. Advancing Theoretical Foundation: The analysis of typical cases of poverty alleviation by social orga-
nizations constitutes a signicant portion of the existing literature, both in the WOS and the CNKI
(Amofah & Agyare, 2022; Peng et al., 2019). However, theoretical research still lags behind practical
research. It is reasonable to predict that future research on poverty alleviation by social organizations
will continue to rely primarily on empirical methods, but how to use a variety of analytical tools to
expand the existing single case study method is a space that needs to be explored. Utilizing meth-
ods such as qualitative comparative analysis for smaller datasets and quantitative approaches for
larger datasets could enhance the scientic rigor and generalizability of the ndings.
6.2. Limitations
This study has several limitations. First, literature samples were selected exclusively from WOS and CNKI,
leaving out sources like Scopus. This omission may impact the econometric analysis and visualization
results. Second, although the search strategy focused themes related to social organizations and poverty
alleviation, some relevant literature may have been unintentionally excluded. Third, the research tools
and methods were restricted to CiteSpace version 6.3.R3, which limits the ability to integrate other ana-
lytical tools. Future research should aim to improve the comprehensiveness and accuracy of literature
selection and enhance the technical and scientific rigor of software applications.
7. Conclusions
This study presents a systematic bibliometric examination of 588 articles, comprising 305 from WOS and
283 from CNKI, focusing on the poverty alleviation efforts of social organizations. It examines the current
state, historical development, and potential research trends regarding poverty alleviation by these orga-
nizations. We conducted a comprehensive analysis of the relevant articles in WOS and CNKI, detailing
their annual publication volume, subject distribution, highly cited research, involved institutions, authors,
keywords, and research hotspots. Additionally, we performed a comparative analysis of the two data-
bases. Based on our findings, we further explored future research directions in the field of poverty alle-
viation by social organizations.
This study makes four significant contributions. First, we utilized the PRISMA flowchart, expanding its
traditional application in medicine to the social sciences—a novel approach, particularly within the
Chinese context, with the potential for broader adoption. Second, while previous literature reviews in
databases like WOS and CNKI often focus on fields such as education, industry, energy, and tourism,
there is a notable absence of systematic reviews focusing on poverty alleviation by social organizations.
This study fills that gap. Third, although quantitative analyses of literature based on WOS using tools like
Citespace and VOSviewer are common, research from CNKI has often been neglected. We address this
by integrating literature from both databases for a comparative analysis. Finally, this study adopts a
mixed method approach that combines quantitative bibliometric analysis and qualitative content review.
The bibliometric analysis provides a knowledge map of the literature on poverty alleviation by social
organizations, while representative articles are examined in detail through content review. Together,
these factors enhance the comprehensiveness and thoroughness of the study.
COGENT SOCIAL SCIENCES 21
Authors’ contributions
Conceptualization, B.S. and Y.C.; methodology, B.S.; software, B.S.; validation, Y.C.; formal analysis, B.S.; investigation,
Y.C.; resources, B.S. and Y.C.; data curation, B.S. and Y.C.; writing—original draft preparation, B.S.; writing—review and
editing, Y.C.; visualization, B.S.; supervision, Y.W.; project administration, B.S. All authors have read and agreed to the
published version of the manuscript.
CRediT: Binbin Sun: Data curation, Formal analysis, Investigation, Methodology, Project administration, Software,
Writing – original draft; Chin Yee Whah: Conceptualization, Project administration, Supervision, Visualization, Writing
– review & editing; Yankai Wang: Supervision.
Disclosure statement
No potential conict of interest was reported by the author(s).
Funding
No funding received.
About the authors
Binbin Sun born in 1995 in Shihezi, Xinjiang, China. She is currently working toward the Ph.D.
degree in Social Science with the School of Social Science, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Penang,
Malaysia. Her research interests include social science, public policy and poverty alleviation.
Chin Yee Whah is a professor of Social Science at School of Social Science in Universiti Sains
Malaysia, Penang, Malaysia. His research interests include Chinese business, state and economy and
ethnicity and enterprise development.
Yankai Wang is a PhD student of Town and Country Planning at School of Architecture in South
China University of Technology, Guangzhou, China. His research interests include urban and regional studies and
urban issues.
ORCID
Binbin Sun http://orcid.org/0009-0005-8230-2145
Yankai Wang http://orcid.org/0000-0002-8628-6833
Data availability statement
Data availability is not applicable to this article as no new data were created or analyzed in this study.
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