Bitcoin in the Scientific Literature – A Bibliometric Study

Abstract

Since 2012, there has been growing interest in bitcoin scientific research from different fields, including computer science and engineering, economics, business and finance, law and regulatory. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate bitcoin literature based on the structures and networks of science, as a first step in the research of this new phenomenon. Analysing the growing scientific literature on bitcoin published between 2012 and 2019, we provided useful insights on academic research in this field regarding publication year, type and category, authors, journals and citations. The source of the 887 documents which support the study was Web of Science Core Collection. Using VOSviewer software we have designed bibliometric maps based on text and bibliographic data. Our study provides a knowledge area map that identifies and evaluates the links between authors and countries distribution, the conceptual structure of the field, the structure and connections of most cited papers and journals. Resuming our findings, we note a concentration of the interest on some keywords (bitcoin, cryptocurrency, blockchain) and on some influential authors (with more than 100 citations per article). As a pure expression of digital economy, the research on bitcoin as an economic concept counts only 33.5% from the total contributions in the field.

The Ascent of Bitcoin: Bibliometric Analysis of Bitcoin Research

“…They observe that paper citations are very concentrated and only 58 out of the 1162 papers in their sample account for 50% of all citations in the literature (Merediz-Solà and Bariviera 2019). The last of the papers with regards to the bibliometric study of Bitcoin research is Ramona et al (2019). In the paper, the authors try to analyze the growing scientific literature on Bitcoin published between 2012 and 2019 using the Web of Science Core Collection.…”

“…The sample they use in the paper includes 911 documents in total. They also provide a knowledge area map that identifies and evaluates the links between authors and countries distribution, the conceptual structure of the field, the structure and connections of most cited papers and journals (Ramona et al 2019). However, Bitcoin is not the only subject of bibliometric studies when it comes to cryptocurrencies.…”

Who Is Contributing to Academic Research on Blockchain Oracles? A Bibliometric Analysis

“…Appropriate extraction variables (displayed in table 3) had to be identified to extract as much value as possible from the selected sample. Despite the fact that this is the first bibliometric analysis on blockchain oracles, since the aim of bibliometric analyses is relatively homogeneous, it is arguable that extraction variables could be taken from similar papers investigating other literature [23], [57], [58]. The year of publication is considered to place the literature in a specific timeframe, while the type of element will show the most usual outlet for those publications.…”

O mercado de criptomoedas no Brasil e os investidores: a caminho de um novo patamar?

“…O livrorazão distribuído e digital fundado junto com o dinheiro programável, alcançou fama capaz de superar todos P a g e | 18 Revista Brasileira de Administração Científica v.12 -n.2  Abr a Jun 2021 os seus objetivos iniciais e ganhar vida própria. Ramona et al (2019) demonstram que a literatura sobre bitcoins está concentrada em torno de três campos principais: ciências da computação (54,1%); economia, negócios e finanças (33,5%); engenharia (12,7%).…”