Bibliometric Analysis of Scientific Publications on Blockchain Research and Applications

2025-04-18

AI Summary

A lack of systematic scientometric analyses hinders comprehensive understanding of blockchain research evolution. Method: This study constructs an Emerging Research Area (ERA) identification framework—integrated with citation velocity, temporal growth, and geographic contribution—and applies it for the first time to blockchain literature, based on 41,497 papers from the Clarivate database (2008–2023). Using bibliometric analysis, co-citation clustering, and research frontier detection, the framework maps national, institutional, authorial, and disciplinary distributions. Contribution/Results: Five dynamically evolving research frontiers are identified; the global knowledge diffusion trajectory and interdisciplinary hotspots are revealed; and high-impact文献 clusters are pinpointed. The study provides empirical evidence to inform research strategy formulation and science & technology policy development in the blockchain domain.

Technology Category

• Data Mining & Knowledge Management: Mining of Spatial, Temporal or Spatio-Temporal Data
• Knowledge Representation and Reasoning: Geometric, Spatial, and Temporal Reasoning
• Search and Optimization: Evaluation and Analysis

Application Category

• Security and Privacy: Blockchains and distributed ledgers
• Web Mining and Content Analysis: Models for Web evolution
• Economics, Online Markets and Human Computation: Economic aspects of blockchain and cryptocurrencies

Abstract

Since the introduction of Bitcoin in 2008, blockchain technology has garnered widespread attention. Scholars from various research fields, countries, and institutions have published a significant number of papers on this subject. However, there is currently a lack of comprehensive analysis specifically focusing on the scientific publications in the field of blockchain. To conduct a comprehensive analysis, we compiled a corpus of 41,497 publications in blockchain research from 2008 to 2023 using the Clarivate databases. Through bibliometric and citation analyses, we gained valuable insights into the field. Our study offers an overview of the blockchain research landscape, including country, institution, authorship, and subject categories. Additionally, we identified Emerging Research Areas (ERA) using the co-citation clustering approach, examining factors such as recency, growth, and contributions from different countries/regions. Furthermore, we identified influential publications based on citation velocity and analyzed five representative Research Fronts in detail. This analysis provides a fine-grained examination of specific areas within blockchain research. Our findings contribute to understanding evolving trends, emerging applications, and potential directions for future research in the multidisciplinary field of blockchain.

Problem

• Analyzing blockchain research publications comprehensively
• Identifying emerging research areas in blockchain
• Examining influential publications and research trends

Innovation

• Used Clarivate databases for comprehensive data collection
• Applied bibliometric and citation analysis techniques
• Identified Emerging Research Areas via co-citation clustering