Digital transformation: A systematic literature review

•This paper examines intellectual structure of the DT research.•Bibliometric methods were conducted to analyze 865 papers published from 2000 to 2020.•The main path analysis revealed the three development stages.•Seven research themes were identified and grouped into three levels. Digital transformation (DT) has emerged as an important phenomenon in the discipline of business and management. The purpose of this paper is to examine intellectual structure of DT research. We conducted a variety of bibliometric and visual analysis methods on DT research published in the 20-year period of 2000–2020. A total of 865 papers from Web of Science were selected for our analysis. Our main path analysis identified 12 important papers in this field, and revealed the three development stages of DT research: the embryonic stage, the development stage, and the thriving stage. We also identified influential countries, institutions, and journals in DT research, and seven research themes including digital business strategy, strategic action field, digital technology, agile digital transformation, digital enterprise architecture, DT of manufacturing, and DT of consulting services. This paper is one of the first studies to examine the knowledge structure of DT research by using citation/co-citation analysis methods. Recommendations for future research directions in DT are provided based on our findings.