Doctoral dissertations in logistics and supply chain-related areas: 2005–2009

The purpose of this article is to examine the output of logistics and supply chain-related dissertation research during the period, 2005–2009, and compare that output with earlier published dissertations from 1970 to 2004. Doctoral students and faculty members can identify emerging areas of research based on the year-by-year trends in topical coverage. Qualitative research analysis of 609 doctoral dissertations published by Dissertation Abstracts International over a 5-year period (2005–2009) was performed. Results suggest that future prospects for additional dissertations being published in logistics and supply chain-related areas are excellent. Many dissertations are emanated from colleges of engineering and business. The prominent research methodologies employed by doctoral students are modeling, simulation, and empirical quantitative methods. More colleges/universities are graduating doctoral students in these areas. Some shift is occurring with respect to the specific colleges/universities that are leading the way in terms of generating the largest number of logistics and supply chain graduates.