Purpose Halal food (HF) has received significant attention from scholars and practitioners. However, no studies have explored the distinct role played by HF literature as part of knowledge diffusion. Given the increasing number of scholarly outputs, this study aims to examine the HF development over the past decades comprehensively, including emerging topics and knowledge transmission paths and structure. Design/methodology/approach This study conducted a keyword co-occurrence network analysis and main path analysis (MPA). The MPA included four types of main paths to trace the historical formation of HF based on 253 articles extracted from the Web of Science database. Findings The findings show that: HF research revolves around several dimensions, including HF safety and trust, halal certification, HF supply chain management and attitudes towards HF purchasing, and the focus of HF research has shifted from the business perspective to the consumer perspective. In recent years, there has been a trend to explore how blockchains can benefit HF supply chains by improving traceability, transparency and consumer trust in HF. Originality/value This study addresses the need to examine the knowledge diffusion paths in the HF domain. This study offers a framework to investigate the knowledge dissemination and structure, helping researchers deal with hundreds of articles effectively and increasing their understanding of the past, present and future research trends in the HF domain.

The circular economy (CE) field has recently attracted significant interest from academics and practitioners. CE represents a departure from the linear economy, which is characterised by unsustainable resource production and consumption. The growing number of publications necessitates a comprehensive analysis of this field. This is the first systematic examination of the knowledge base and knowledge diffusion pathways in the CE domain. We analyse a Web of Science dataset containing 5431 articles published between 1970 and 2020. To create a comprehensive review of the CE domain, we conducted a keyword co-occurrence network analysis. We examined four distinct types of main paths using the main path analysis (MPA) technique: forward, backward, global, and key-route. According to the analyses, CE research focuses on six primary research themes: CE and sustainability, bioeconomy, CE practices, lifecycle assessment and industrial symbiosis, construction activities, and waste management. In addition, the MPA demonstrates that the CE literature has recently focused on Industry 4.0 technologies and their contribution to CE. This is the first attempt to depict the genealogy of CE research so that scholars can comprehend the domain's evolutionary structure, identify hot topics, and capture the history, development status, and potential future directions of CE research.