Blockchain-based Payment Systems: A Bibliometric & Network Analysis

Abstract: Blockchain is a shared, immutable ledger that has attracted the attention of researchers and practitioners across innumerable sectors, with its implications for modernizing payment systems having the possibility of inciting a digital revolution. In the scope of this study, 1,511 publications were obtained from Scopus to conduct a systematic review of the research space through bibliometric and network analyses. The main aim of this study was to determine key authors, significant studies, and collaboration patterns, to reveal the distributions and impacts of publications in the blockchain-based payments area between 2019 and 2022. The results indicate that the Khalifa University of Science and Technology is the most influential journal, while the most cited author is Salah, K. Additionally, the National Natural Science Foundation of China has sponsored most academic documents, with the US emerging as the most impactful country. This study has also found that blockchain-based payments literature congregated in 5 disciplines. These areas are computer science, engineering, decision science, mathematics, and business. A co-authorship analysis also networks relations between nations, authors, and organizations globally, creating unique clusters that maximize research productivity. In summary, this study designs an analytical map of the research landscape, which can guide future research.