Purpose This study aims to map the major research constituents and trends for the Journal of Business and Industrial Marketing (JBIM) during its 34-year history (1986–2019). It also identifies JBIM’s thematic structure and the key factors affecting the impact of its articles. Design/methodology/approach The Scopus database is used to identify the bibliographic data of JBIM. The most prolific authors, institutions and countries in the journal are analyzed through weighted distributions of articles. The thematic structure of the journal is evaluated by means of bibliographic coupling analysis. The study also examines the factors influencing citations of JBIM articles through regression modeling. Findings JBIM publishes contributions from around the world, though the most prolific contributors are affiliated with the USA, UK and Finland. Thematic analysis divided JBIM articles into five major themes. Citation analysis reveals that article age, special issue appearance, number of author keywords and number of references are prominent factors explaining an article’s impact. Research limitations/implications This study uses data from the Scopus database, and limitations of the database have implications for the findings. Originality/value This is the first comprehensive study to identify the thematic structure and the factors affecting citations of JBIM articles.
