Abstract

This article seeks to understand how social capital has been understood/defined, and measured in the network’s community in five journals: Social Networks, Connections, Journal of Social Structures, Network Science, and Applied Network Science. In addition to problematize how this notion has been used from a social network perspective, it shows what the gaps are in the literature and the challenges for the future. A systematic review of 78 articles was carried out following the approach proposed by PRISMA (Page et al., 2021) in the collection, analysis, and reporting of the data; validated using ROBIS tools (Hannes, 2011; Whiting et al, 2016). The results show the type of research conducted in the community using the concept of social capital, providing a broad overview of both, the way in which the concept has been defined, and the gaps in the literature. A preponderance of quantitative research stands out was observed, in addition to the notion/measurement of social capital with Nan Lin's position generator. Finally, topics are identified in which future research could advance using this notion, such as the diversification of samples used, case studies, and data collection and analysis approach. © 2025 Universidad Autonoma de Barcelona, Departamento de Antropologia Social y Cultural. All rights reserved.