The design of compliant mechanisms is a multidisciplinary field that integrates structural optimization, kinematics, and materials science to develop systems capable of generating motion through elastic deformation. Over the past six decades, research on compliant mechanisms has grown quickly, encompassing applications ranging from micro- and nano-manipulation to soft robotics and precision engineering. This study presents a comprehensive historical and thematic overview of compliant mechanism design methods through a bibliometric analysis conducted in accordance with the PRISMA methodology. A bias reduction method is proposed for bibliometric analysis, and its limitations are discussed. A total of 10,425 documents published between 1966 and 2025 were retrieved from the Scopus database, revealing an average annual growth rate of 10.35%. The analysis was performed using the Bibliometrix and VOSviewer software packages to conduct performance analysis and science mapping, enabling the identification of influential authors, key publications, and emerging research clusters. The performance analysis results allow, among other things, the identification of the most cited authors and works, which, in turn, facilitates faster identification of the original authors and ideas that gave rise to subsequent thematic branches. Science mapping identified dominant thematic fields underlying past, present, and future trends in compliant mechanisms and their applications. A reader beginning their exploration of the field of compliance mechanisms will find in this work a guide refined by statistical methods, free from the personal bias of its authors. On the other hand, those seeking to understand thematic trends in the field of compliant mechanisms, as well as niche research opportunities, can use the networks and tables generated to explore new possibilities.
