34th Annual Conference of the International Group for Lean Construction (IGLC 34) - Singapore, Singapore - 2026

https://doi.org/10.24928/2026/0132

33 Years of Lean Construction Research: Community Evolution and Authorship Patterns

Paul Christian John1, Bernard Sun2, Atle Engebø3, Ola Lædre4, Shervin Haghsheno5 & Frode Drevland6

1PhD Student, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Karlsruhe, Germany, [email protected], orcid.org/0009-0005-0648-9331
2Student, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Karlsruhe, Germany, [email protected], www.orcid.org/0009-0003-8624-7927
3Researcher, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), Trondheim, Norway, [email protected], orcid.org/0000-0002-5293-0176
4Professor, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), Trondheim, Norway, [email protected], orcid.org/0000-0003-4604-8299
5Professor, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Karlsruhe, Germany, [email protected], orcid.org/0000-0002-0602-6370
6Associate Professor, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), Trondheim, Norway, [email protected], orcid.org/0000-0002-4596-1564

Abstract

This paper presents a quantitative analysis of Lean Construction (LC) research contributions at the International Group for Lean Construction (IGLC) conferences over a 33-year period (1993–2025). Based on a dataset of 2,413 conference papers and 2,846 authors, the study examines authorship patterns, collaboration structures, and the involvement of students in order to describe how participation in the IGLC community has evolved. The results show that IGLC has developed into a well-established and still expanding research community, with sustained publication activity averaging over 100 papers per year. A relatively small but persistent core of authors (15%) accounts for over 86% of all papers, indicating a strong concentration of research output. At the same time, the number of contributing authors has continued to increase, while the size of the recurring core has remained comparatively stable. Collaboration has intensified steadily, reflected in a rise in the average number of authors per paper to more than 3.5. Also, student involvement is substantial: PhD students contribute to one-third to one-half of annual publications, with Bachelor/Master students also increasingly represented. Overall, the study provides a descriptive baseline of authorship and participation patterns at IGLC, supporting further reflection on the structure and evolution of LC research.

Keywords

Research, publications, core authors, students, community.

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Reference in APA 7th edition format:

John, P. C., Sun, B., Engebø, A., Lædre, O., Haghsheno, S. & Drevland, F.. (2026). 33 Years of Lean Construction Research: Community Evolution and Authorship Patterns. In Hamzeh, F., Poshdar, M., & Garcia-Lopez,, N. P. (Eds.), Proceedings of the 34th Annual Conference of the International Group for Lean Construction (IGLC 34) (pp. 968–979). https://doi.org/10.24928/2026/0132

Shortened reference for use in IGLC papers:

John, P. C., Sun, B., Engebø, A., Lædre, O., Haghsheno, S. & Drevland, F.. (2026). 33 Years of Lean Construction Research: Community Evolution and Authorship Patterns. IGLC34. https://doi.org/10.24928/2026/0132

 

Founded in 1993, the IGLC is an international network of researchers from practice and academia in architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) who feel that the practice, education, and research of the AEC industry have to be radically renewed in order to respond to the global challenges ahead.

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