We have explored the history of the field of capillary electrophoresis using bibliometric methods. The analysis shows that 416 prolific researchers are connected in a single, large, co-authorship... Show moreWe have explored the history of the field of capillary electrophoresis using bibliometric methods. The analysis shows that 416 prolific researchers are connected in a single, large, co-authorship network based on publications on capillary electrophoresis between 1980 and 2021, with a few pioneers having remained active throughout much of this time period. Looking at research topics revealed electro-chemistry, sensors, nanotechnology and metabolomics as 'hot' topics, with fundamental method development being more 'mature', and reveal that capillary electrophoresis technology have matured over a 30-year time period, with research efforts moving from separations to quantitative measurements to biomedical applications. The citation patterns showed the strongest coupling between journals of similar scope. Interactive versions of the bibliometric network visualizations are available on-line at https://tinyurl.com/2z7q7wcx (researcher co-authorship network), https://tinyurl.com/2jmhsgxx (research topic network) and https://tinyurl.com/2lnfzzgn (journal bibliographic coupling citation network).(c) 2022 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Show less