Addressing sustainability during and post-COVID-19 pandemic crisis: a literature review and bibliometric analysis to explore the future avenues

Purpose This paper aims to identify the current research trends in sustainability through an extensive literature review and propose future research agenda under the ambit of the ongoing coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Specifically, the present study aims to uncover the current state of the literature and thereby develop an understanding of how the pandemic has impacted the dimensions of sustainability. Design/methodology/approach To achieve the objective, the authors adopted a five-step literature review process, combined with bibliometric and network analysis. The authors also considered news articles and reports of international organizations to comprehensively achieve the research objective. Findings The study results show how the pandemic has impacted the social, economic and environmental dimensions of sustainability. The results also highlight the list of authors, countries and institutions that have proactively worked towards eliminating the disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Research limitations/implications The study provides an in-depth understanding of the scholarly contributions to the field of sustainability since the COVID-19 outbreak. The study is useful for policymakers and businesses interested in understanding how the pandemic has impacted the dimensions of sustainability and possible mitigation strategies. Furthermore, the study also provides future research directions in the intersection of pandemic and sustainability dimensions. Specific research questions (RQs) are also proposed to help future research. Originality/value To the best of the authors' knowledge, this study is a pioneer attempt to provide a comprehensive understanding of the existing and rapidly growing literature on COVID-19 and its relationship with the various dimensions of sustainability.