Methodological Pathways for Circular Economy in Energy and Environmental Studies: A Structured Review Toward Sustainable Development

The circular economy (CE) hasbecome a major focus in energy and environmental (E&E) research, as ithelps advance sustainable development, improve resource efficiency andalleviate environmental pressure. Even so, the literature is still fragmented, particularlyin the CE themes it explores, the levels of analysis it adopts and the methodsused to measure CE progress. This systematic review examines 93 peer-reviewed articlesfrom the ScienceDirect database, published between 2009 and 2024 and classifiesthem by research field, data level, thematic focus and analytical method. Theresults show that CE application and implementation are the most frequentlystudied topics, while quantitative research (48%) and mixed methods (45%)appear at almost the same rate. Among quantitative approaches, structuralequation modelling and bibliometric analysis are the most widely used methods,while surveys and interviews are most common in mixed-method studies. Drawingon the resource-based view, resource-based theory/natural-resource- based viewand institutional theory, the review points to a clear methodological imbalance:macro-level benchmarking is relatively well developed, but firm-level circulartransformation remains insufficiently explored. The paper contributes byproposing a model-selection framework that connects research objectives,theory-method alignment, data level and managerial evidence needs acrosscapability development, business model innovation, governance, partnerships andperformance evaluation.