A bibliometric study of publications in the Spell and Scopus databases on electronic government and municipalities

Abstract

The term "Electronic Government" may refer more strictly to the use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) by governments, but in a broader sense, it is related to increased efficiency in government agencies, resulting in better delivery of information, services, and greater transparency. Although Electronic Government projects have been underway in Brazil since the 2000s, in municipal public administration, there is still a significant need for innovation through ICTs, especially considering that it is at the municipal level that the most direct contact with citizens occurs through local public services. This study aimed to investigate how scientific publications on Electronic Government, from 2019 to 2023, address the relationship between this theme and the municipal context, as well as to identify trends and gaps in the scientific production related to this topic. To achieve this, an analysis of the scientific production on Electronic Government with an emphasis on municipalities was conducted using the Spell and Scopus databases. The results indicate that, in Spell, only 2.6% of the 75 documents and, in Scopus, only 4.5% of the 525 documents are related to municipalities. It is concluded that, in the analyzed time frame, although there is a significant amount of research on Electronic Government, there still exists an incipiency in these studies when related to municipalities. The research highlights the relevance of the topic, underscores the theoretical gap in municipal studies on the implementation of Electronic Government practices, and suggests future investigations with additional data sources and longer periods.