This paper presents a unique approach to translating a complex citation network into simple main paths. We apply this approach to explore the knowledge diffusion paths of corporate social responsibility (CSR) literature over the past 40 years. ISI Web of Science (WOS) is used as the data source for retrieving the CSR papers and their citation data. We then apply main path analysis to identify and visualize the local, global, and key‐route main paths. The local and global main paths identify those papers that play a key role in the knowledge diffusion of CSR. The key‐route main path clearly exhibits the divergence‐convergence pattern of CSR development. Although the divergence‐convergence pattern of a theory's development has been hinted at in previous literature, we propose the key‐route main path to systematically identify and exhibit it. This approach provides a useful method for researchers to figure out the development cycles of a target field. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.