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An assessment of blockchain An assessment

of blockchain
academia and news development

developments: a bibliometric
and text-mining analysis
Chien-Wen Shen Received 12 October 2022
Revised 16 May 2023
Department of Business Administration, National Central University, 11 September 2023
Taoyuan City, Taiwan, and Accepted 15 September 2023

Phung Phi Tran

Faculty of Business Administration, Ton Duc Thang University,
Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

Abstract
Purpose – This study aims to provide a more complete picture of blockchain development by combining
numerous methodologies with diverse data sources, such as academic papers and news articles. This study
displays the developmental status of each subject based on the interrelationships of each topic cluster by
analyzing high-frequency keywords extracted from the collected data. Moreover, applying above
methodologies will help understanding top research topics, authors, venues, institutes and countries. The
differences of blockchain research and new are identified.
Design/methodology/approach – To identify and find blockchain development linkages, researchers have
used search terms such as co-occurrence, bibliographic coupling, co-citation and co-authorship to help us
understand the top research topics, authors, venues, institutes and countries. This study also used text mining
analysis to identify blockchain articles’ primary concepts and semantic structures.
Findings – The findings show the fundamental topics based on each topic cluster’s links. While “technology”,
“transaction”, “privacy and security”, “environment” and “consensus” were most strongly associated with
blockchain in research, “platform”, “big data and cloud”, “network”, “healthcare and business” and
“authentication” were closely tied to blockchain news. This article classifies blockchain principles into five
patterns: hardware and infrastructure, data, networking, applications and consensus. These statistics helped
the authors comprehend the top research topics, authors, venues, publication institutes and countries.
Research limitations/implications – Since Web of Science (WoS) and LexisNexis Academic data are used,
the study has few sources. Others advise merging foreign datasets. WoS is one of the world’s largest and most-
used databases for assessing scientific papers.
Originality/value – This study has several uses and benefits. First, key concept discoveries can help
academics understand blockchain research trends so they can prioritize research initiatives. Second,
bibliographic coupling links academic papers on blockchain. It helps information seekers search and classify
the material. Co-citation analysis results can help researchers identify potential partners and leaders in their
field. The network’s key organizations or countries should be proactive in discovering, proposing and creating
new relationships with other organizations or countries, especially those from the journal network’s border, to
make the overall network more integrated and linked. Prominent members help recruit new authors to
organizations or countries and link them to the co-authorship network. This study also used concept-linking
analysis to identify blockchain articles’ primary concepts and semantic structures. This may lead to new
authors developing research ideas or subjects in primary disciplines of inquiry.
Keywords Trend, Co-authorship, Blockchain, Text mining, Co-citation, Co-occurrence
Paper type Research paper

Library Hi Tech
This research was funded by the National Science and Technology Council [grant number: MOST 111- © Emerald Publishing Limited
0737-8831
2410-H-008–015]. DOI 10.1108/LHT-10-2022-0473
LHT 1. Introduction
Blockchain technology, a hot domain for technological innovations, consists of consensus
mechanisms, peer-to-peer transmission and distributed data storage (Yuan and Wang, 2018).
Many sectors have benefitted from this field of technology, including financial services
(Kowalski et al., 2021), supply chain (Dutta et al., 2020), libraries (Abid, 2021; Jha et al., 2023a, b;
Oyelude, 2022), education (Jha et al., 2023a, b; Saeidnia and Lund, 2023), smart city (Chang and
Abdel Basset, 2022; Ullah and Al-Turjman, 2023), enterprise (Choo et al., 2020) where their
operating models and 33 have replaced their current operating model with one based on
blockchain technology (Liu, 2019). More than 1,100 new healthcare, energy,
telecommunications, aviation, real estate, retail and supply chain management enterprises
use blockchain-based business models (Andre Dutra and Welpe, 2018; Hasan et al., 2021). In
addition, global expenditures on blockchain solutions have increased from $1.5 bn in 2018 to
$11.7 bn in 2022 (Liu, 2019). Therefore, blockchain technology is considered the “next
generation of the Internet” as a result, according to Shermin (2017). Other practitioners and
academics emphasize it (Holotiuk et al., 2019).
Furthermore, the rapid evolution of blockchain technology over the past decade has left
several study gaps and recommendations in the academic community (Dabbagh et al., 2019).
Numerous scholars have previously conducted extensive studies on blockchain studies, but
most studies began with a single perspective, such as on its evolution (Dabbagh et al., 2019;
Firdaus et al., 2019), on fundamental theories (Schmidt and Wagner, 2019) and its
performance (Akram et al., 2020; Dabbagh et al., 2019; Geneiatakis et al., 2020; Wu et al., 2019a,
b). Others used the bibliometric methods to standardize the quantity and quality of
publications to gain an understanding of blockchain-related applications trends, such as
smart contracts (Ante, 2021; Yalcin and Daim, 2021; Alam et al., 2022), banking services
(Arjun and Suprabha, 2020), library service (Abid, 2021; Frederick, 2019) in the food and
agriculture industry (Niknejad et al., 2021) and in supply chain management (Moosavi et al.,
2021). Most of this research was restricted to narrow application areas or brief periods. As a
direct approach, we performed an essential bibliometrics study utilizing academic databases
from Scopus and Web of Science (WoS) to understand developments in blockchain
technology (Dabbagh et al., 2019; Firdaus et al., 2019; Miau and Yang, 2018).
This study aims to provide a detailed overview of developments in blockchain technology
using various methodologies, such as network modeling and text mining, on diverse data
sources, such as academic papers and news articles. We investigated high-quality academic
research on a blockchain using research papers, essential topics, keyword co-occurrence,
bibliographic coupling, co-citation and co-authorship analysis. This study examines scientific
themes and identifies direct textual connections between keywords and the co-occurrence in
network modeling (Sedighi, 2016). Second, this research study also delves into the developmental
status of each subject by analyzing high-frequency keywords extracted from collected data and
interrelating each topic cluster. The study also employs bibliographic coupling on a blockchain
research test population to identify significant connections between scholarly papers. This study
sheds light on using bibliographic coupling in the context of information gathered, which could
contribute to the development of experimental science in blockchain research. Additionally,
the study analyzes co-citations (Boyack and Klavans, 2010) to identify, track and show the
intellectual structure of an academic subject (Jeong et al., 2014). This study employed co-citation
analysis to exhibit the scholarly proficiency of knowledge researchers in the domain of
blockchain research topics. Co-authorship analysis was utilized to distinguish the most
distinguished articles and papers with the most significant number of collaborative publications
and to grasp the collaboration network of a country or organization, which provides significant
insights into their contribution to the research output of publications. The approach also offered
a deeper understanding of dynamic blockchain data, enabling businesses and decision-makers
to adopt pertinent goals and solve specific gaps based on the findings of this study.
 While the research papers present theoretical advancements in blockchain, the news articles An assessment
offer ideas around the trending topics and provide immediate insight into real-world blockchain of blockchain
applications (Widenhouse, 2021). More papers need to be comparing various aspects of
blockchain-related research and news. Hence, this study additionally examines the co-occurrence
development
of critical themes and keywords from high-quality blockchain news articles and identifies major
patterns and semantic structures associated with essential topics in blockchain news. By
analyzing blockchain-related news from the LexisNexis database, this research allows us to
understand blockchain developments and identify frequently updated public notions.
After analyzing numerous research subjects and news developments, we used the data to
establish a keyword co-occurrence network connection between blockchain research and news.
Our study employed network modeling to identify the research and news developments associated
with each subject cluster, thereby shedding light on the correlation between each problem.

2. Literature review
2.1 Blockchain and its applications
In 2008, a convergence of blockchain, computer programming and other technological concepts
led to the creation of cryptocurrencies–a type of encrypted electronic currency devoid of a
central repository or single governing authority. It is important to underscore that blockchain
was just one of several technologies leveraged in the development of cryptocurrencies.
Characteristics of blockchain include decentralization, transparency, open source, autonomy,
immutability and anonymity (Niranjanamurthy et al., 2019). First, blockchain is decentralized;
thus, data is stored, updated and saved across multiple platforms (Rathore et al., 2019). End-to-
end encryption enables clients to transfer files securely via a decentralized network, preventing
data failures caused by centralized restrictions. Second, each node can update a blockchain’s
data record, which makes it transparent and reliable (Venkatesh et al., 2020). Reducing the
number of intermediaries increases supply chain transparency. Third, most blockchain
systems are open to the public, allowing everybody to research and develop blockchain
applications (Canidio, 2018). Due to the consensus base, any node in a blockchain can safely
send or change data. One person must have faith in the entire system before anybody else may
intervene. Samsung and IBM collaborated on a proof of concept to enhance the autonomy of
decentralized IoT devices, using blockchain to interconnect devices to improve their autonomy
(van Lier, 2019). Once recorded, a blockchain transaction is immutable. Companies attract
customers that look for reliability and honesty (Zheng et al., 2017). The distributed structure of
blockchain eliminates single points of failure (Campanile et al., 2021). Once smart contracts are
stored on the blockchain; miners can execute them automatically (Estevam et al., 2021).
Blockchain overcomes the node-to-node trust issue, allowing for anonymous transport and data
exchange. In vehicle ad hoc networks (VANETS), an anonymous blockchain reputation system
called Bars for Trust Management prohibits deceptive communications and tracing, protecting
the privacy of the vehicles (Lu et al., 2018). Besides, blockchain also improves the speed,
security, usability and privacy of numerous applications (Bodkhe et al., 2020).
Numerous researchers have analyzed the blockchain literature in various industries, such
as energy, technology, manufacturing (Ammi et al., 2021; Lone and Naaz, 2021), healthcare
(Esposito et al., 2018; Weiner, 2019; Hasan et al., 2021), supply chain/logistics (Dutta et al.,
2020; Moosavi et al., 2021) and agriculture (Bu and Wang, 2019; Choo et al., 2020; Kowalski
et al., 2021; Niknejad et al., 2021).
Blockchain gives the microgrid networks decentralized energy transaction options
(Di Silvestre et al., 2018) that could improve energy management (Noor et al., 2018), integrate
energy transaction mechanisms (Zhao et al., 2018), enhance peer-to-peer energy trading between
microgrids and multidimensional willingness (Wang et al., 2018a, b) and could resolve a few
issues with solar energy as well (Themistocleous et al., 2018a, b).
LHT In the manufacturing industry, we can look at how blockchain can solve the challenges of
creating and updating product-specific technical guides. All companies must provide
updated technical records, a time-consuming and paper-intensive task (Alladi et al., 2019).
The technical publication can be generated on the blockchain and made accessible to users to
overcome the need for version updates or publication loss, significantly improving the
industry’s efficiency.
Data confidentiality, data integrity and data availability are among the security concerns
raised by the design and administration of cloud federation. A blockchain-based architecture
secures cloud federation member communication with the required access control
mechanisms (Azbeg et al., 2022). Azaria et al. (2016) used blockchain to develop a
decentralized MedRec paradigm for EHR data management. Thanks to blockchain, MedRec
ensures health data’s confidentiality, veracity and traceability wherever it resides. Yang et al.
(2019) utilized elliptic curve encryption to build a blockchain-based technique for batch
verification at VANETs. The authors conducted security research to demonstrate that
VANETs can withstand existing attacks, that is, to the blockchain-based architecture. Ma
et al. (2018) developed TrustedBaaS, a consortium blockchain-based BaaS platform, to utilize
blockchain features (traceability and tamper-proof data trust). TrustedBaaS, a hyper ledger
fabric-based application platform, developed an application for automotive information
management and transaction settlement. Hasankhani et al. (2021) illustrated how blockchain
technology might control decentralized energy and perform data transactions via
decentralized networks. In addition, they highlighted the advantages and disadvantages of
blockchain applications in Singapore for applications in intelligent contracts, demand
response and energy, among others. Kumar et al. (2021) proposed Internet-of-Forensics (IoF)
to characterize the next-generation computer system for blockchain, in which crimes
committed by humans, autonomous security operations, cyber-forensic analysts and custody
chain evidence are recorded and analyzed.
In the healthcare industry, blockchain technology holds the potential to secure and
decentralize systems by serving as data gatekeepers or eliminating single points of failure
(Ozercan et al., 2018). It, in turn, could enhance the protection of digital smart contracts,
biomedical database searches and blockchain-based notarization services (Kleinaki et al.,
2018). The Healthcare Data Gateway was proposed by Yue et al. (2016), in which patients can
share and manage information over a secure link. It handles patient data without involving a
third party, reduces overall data consumption and simplifies data management and storage.
Oncologists and palliative care units, which produce large amounts of multimedia data and
transactional records, can use this gateway to share data for real-time decision support.
Additionally, they implemented blockchain-based data analytics to gain a more
comprehensive understanding of the patient’s previous activities and records, thus
enabling a physician to study the patient’s information via a secure in–home monitoring
device. Peng et al. (2020) presented a blockchain-based system for the vaccine production.
The authors created a two-tiered blockchain that combines vaccine manufacturers’ private
and public data to enforce manufacturing records’ on-time submission without privacy
breaches. The authors proposed using a timing-based method that reduced the redundant
blockchain data stored for vaccines. According to Koufopoulou et al. (2018) and Radanovi
c
and Liki
c (2018), innovative contract blockchain applications can also be used to store
statistical analysis plans and analytical code or medical data originating management (2018).
Esmaeilzadeh and Mirzaei (2019) examined the utility of blockchain in healthcare from the
consumer’s perspective. The authors developed a Web-based experiment that employed
various information exchange scenarios. It addressed privacy, trust, incompetence and lack
of integrity, unwillingness to provide information and desire to opt-in that varied among
patients’ perceptions of various exchange systems. Cheng et al. (2020) presented a network
model for Medical Cyber-Physical Systems (MCPS) using blockchain technology.
The blockchain-based MCPS communicated medical treatment data during authentication An assessment
and met security standards. Lima et al. (2021) utilized a blockchain-based technique to of blockchain
establish a reusable, decentralized and de-identified collection of Tuberculosis research data
while enhancing transparency, accountability, accessibility and authenticity. The authors
development
created a permission blockchain network.
In the supply chain industry, the data accessibility and immutability blockchain provides
enhanced supply chain transparency, dependability and efficiency (Perboli et al., 2018). Lin
et al. (2019) contrasted Electronic Product Code Information Services (EPCIS) based on
blockchain food traceability management with conventional methods. There are on-chain
and off-chain system models. The blockchain is utilized to keep traceability data on-chain.
In contrast, most other data is saved off-chain via EPC codes, thus reducing data explosion.
Mondal et al. (2019) presented a blockchain-RFID architecture for supply chain management
and food safety. They developed a revolutionary consensus mechanism known as Proof of
Origin (PoO) to assure cybersecurity and avoid unnecessary blockchain transactions,
reducing the cost of blockchain adoption. Logistics management remains tough despite
technological developments. Blockchain innovation streamlined complex and fragmented
operations by logging transactions, monitoring resources and constructing a transparent and


efficient system for processing all logistic records (Alvarez-D
ıaz et al., 2017). Blockchain
technology can enhance supply chain product management’s transparency, traceability and
security. Toyoda et al. (2017) introduce a product ownership management system (POMS)
that enables buyers to reject counterfeit commodities with cloned RFID tags. One smart
contract authenticates product ownership by managing manufacturer information, while the
other handles product information. Using drones, Fern
andez-Caram
es et al. (2018) presented
a blockchain-based system for product tracing. This technology is five times faster than a
human operator at supply chain warehousing when the drone acts as a blockchain client and
creates blocks when the blockchain is offline in the warehouse.
The agriculture industry, it depends on external elements (climate, crop quality) and
complex supply chains, which blockchain technology might be used to bring transparency
(Yiannas, 2018). The ability of blockchain to monitor products from the farm to the store
provides customers with security and control. Small farmers with fewer assets can access the
same information as large farms, reaching broader markets (Caro et al., 2018). The research
suggested and developed AgriBlockIoT to improve the traceability of the food supply chain.
This technique combines IoT and blockchain information. In another paper, Lucena et al.
(2018) use the Hyperledger blockchain to monitor quality assurance, in which grain quality
profiles are generated and disseminated using conventional processes for quality assurance.
A Brazilian Grain Exporter Network may seek a Blockchain-based certification, which would
increase the price of non-GMO soy by 15%.
The rapid expansion of blockchain has propelled the digital economy in e-commerce and
retail (Qureshi and Xiong, 2018), especially since transaction execution and settlement can be
confirmed without a significant third party, blockchain (Cai, 2018; Cs
oka and Jean-Jacques
Herings, 2017) and during the height of the excitement, Hawlitschek et al. (2018) evaluated
trustless systems utilizing blockchain-based technologies. How can these contradictory ideas
be reconciled? Can blockchain technology solve the trust problem in the digital economy? Due
to the difficulty of deploying trustless solutions in sharing economy situations, blockchain
technology may replace existing platform providers. Milian et al. (2019) identified blockchain
and security as the most delicate concerns in the digital shift of fintech. A comprehensive
literature review was conducted to understand its impact on fintech and identify new
opportunities. The outcomes indicate numerous innovative applications for fintech and
similar financial institutions. Trabucchi et al. (2020) investigated how blockchain reshapes
two-sided platforms using an inductive approach. Case studies were used to investigate this
unusual phenomenon and the researcher renamed “platform provider” to “service provider.”
LHT Using “tokens” is essential for generating externalities between the two parties. Giglio (2021)
investigated whether patent owners used citation networks and technology trajectories to
make purchases. According to a study, international patent acquisitions promote innovation
and knowledge. Policymakers and managers anticipated foreign patents based on the age
and citations of existing patents. Dierksmeier and Seele (2018) created a framework for honest
cryptocurrency conversations to illustrate blockchain technology’s impact on financial
transactions. The blockchain can give tourists authenticated IDs, a standardized review
system and impartial Internet reviews. According to Ferreira et al. (2018), all blockchain
principles are utilized to create context-aware apps such as Bitcoin wallets. Bitcoin wallet is a
hygroscopic Android and iOS application developed with Ionic and Angular. A proof of
concept supports using a blockchain to trade student lunch tickets.
Fintech and the blockchain are of interest to leaders in financial technology. Chang et al.
(2020) utilized the theory of planned behavior to emphasize the impact and development of
fintech and blockchain in the financial industry. Knowledge concealment was triggered by
behavioral, emotional and cognitive testing. The writers also discussed how financial
services might adapt to blockchain technology and how information sharing could be better
regulated. They compared the platform to theory-based and research-based healthcare
implementation. The consensus of the three groups regarding blockchain was largely
favorable, particularly in regulating the exchange of patients’ health data. A platform’s
planning, building and operation enable clinicians and patients to construct treatment
regimens and monitor progress. Lone and Naaz (2021) analyzed peer-reviewed literature
regarding using Blockchain intelligent contracts to secure the Internet and the Internet of
Things (IoT). The paper examined blockchain-based innovative Internet and IoT security
contracts.

2.2 Blockchain development analysis

Previous research uses surveys, bibliometrics and systematic approaches to comprehend
blockchain research trends and hot topics. Sicilia and Visvizi (2019) evaluated the policymaking
applications of blockchain technology using OECD data sources. The OECD’s evidence-based
policy planning and recommendations may benefit from blockchain technology. Ferrer-Sapena
and Sanchez-Perez (2019) provided an up-to-date summary of blockchain-based projects for
administrating scientific and technological documents. The majority of technical assistance
supplied new tools that may alter the technology of scientific documentation. Casino et al. (2019)
investigated the current status of blockchain technology and its deployment through
a comprehensive literature review and content analysis. The authors discuss blockchain
applications in the supply chain, enterprise, healthcare, IT, privacy and data processing, as well
as important topics, trends and emerging research domains literature. Arjun and Suprabha
(2020) used scientometrics to investigate blockchain technology and banking issues. A wider
framework that synthesizes numerous issues is proposed to further existing initiatives. Lohmer
and Lasch (2020) analyzed an expert interview to determine blockchain” ‘s industrial potential
and acceptance obstacles. The report predicted IoT growth, disintermediation, new business
models such as tokenization and short- and long-term connections. The technology may
enhance intelligent contract security and public and commercial procurement interoperability.
Utilizing bibliometric and network analysis, Moosavi et al. (2021) evaluated blockchain for
supply chain management. In previous works on supply chain management, crucial authors,
research and collaborative patterns should have been addressed. Numerous studies show
blockchain could improve supply chain efficiency, transparency, traceability and data security.
Yalcin and Daim (2021) revealed the intellectual basis for blockchain research. The authors
analyzed 4,502 research papers from a scientific database to comprehend the present concerns,
challenges and opportunities associated with blockchain technology from intellectual property
and social structure perspectives. Ante (2021) used co-citation analysis to examine 468 smart An assessment
contract publications and their 20,188 references. Six study areas and high-impact publications of blockchain
are highlighted, including technological underpinnings, open-ended networks, smart contracts
for the Internet of Things, standardization, verification, security, disrupting present processes
development
and industries, potentials and difficulties and the law. Niknejad et al. (2021) created a visual map
of bibliographic information on food and agricultural studies using R and VOS. Using
traceability, transaction, IoT, safety and the food supply chain, the network view map divides
food and agricultural research into three divisions. Y.-M. Y.-M. Guo et al. (2021) analyzed 3,826
papers between 2013 and 2020 using CiteSpace and VOSviewer to comprehend blockchain
technology and the present research concentration. Publication patterns and classifications
may highlight fields and trends in blockchain research.

3. Methodology
3.1 Bibliometric analysis
The bibliometric analysis compiles blockchain-related papers and articles from scholarly and
journalistic outlets between 2016 and 2020, using the WoS database. WoS was selected as it is
the most widely used database for analyzing scientific papers and is globally recognized (van
Nunen et al., 2018). The analysis included 3,841 blockchain-related publications from the Social
Sciences Citation Index (SSCI) and Science Citation Index Expanded (SCIE), comprising 22
papers in 2016, 100 in 2017, 369 in 2018, 1,082 in 2019 and 2,268 in 2020. Additionally, this study
collected 36,364 newspaper articles from 2016 to 2020 from significant international media
outlets using LexisNexis® Academic & Library Solutions. Figure 1 illustrates the descriptive
data of blockchain-related articles over five years, showcasing a yearly growth in blockchain
concepts. By comparing studies and news articles from 2016 to 2020, it is observed that, on
average, 768 research papers and 7,272 news articles are published annually. The bibliometric
analysis consists of two primary stages. The first involves generic descriptive statistical data,
while the second employs VOSviewer software for mapping and cluster analysis.
A bibliometric analysis of the journals and news articles included many details such as the
year of publication, authors, affiliations, title, abstract, source journal, subject categories and
references, to name a few. Using bibliometric indicators, we can examine the scholarly
activity from several angles. Many popular classification types serve a particular purpose in
the process (Galvez et al., 2018). A sample classification would include (1) Relational

14000
12,509
12000

10000
9,619

8000
Research
6,615
6000 News
5,420
4000
2,201
2268
2000
369 Figure 1.
22 100 1082 Number of research
0
2016 2017 2018 2019 2020
and news from 2016
to 2020
Source(s): Figure by authors
LHT indicators and (2) Indicators of productivity, visibility, effect and collaboration (Callon
et al., 1991).
A few bibliometric techniques used in this research to indicate publication activity are
keyword co-occurrence as a sophisticated data analytical tool, mapping and clustering
techniques and complementary analyses of full-text content. Keyword co-occurrence analysis
shows the changes and stability in blockchain-related keywords by counting and assessing the
co-occurrences of phrases in different sections of the articles (Callon et al., 1991). Additionally,
we performed a keyword co-occurrence analysis, enabling us to track the development of the
literature and highlight possible areas for further study. Since the words are extracted from the
author keywords, publication titles and the complete text, we use network analysis to identify
developing subject areas and keyword clusters (Fahimnia et al., 2015). Using relational
indicators, we also examined the cooperation network between various nations and institutions.
We also used bibliographic coupling for combining technical and scientific papers,
facilitating scientific information provision and document retrieval (Jarneving, 2007). A rough
outline of the function of the indexing technique based on countable indicators and references is
mentioned (Kessler, 1960). A later study defined bibliographic coupling as “a single reference
shared by two texts” (Kessler, 1962).
Finally, we applied co-citation analysis as a tool for mapping subject-matter specializations.
We created a method based on quantitative analysis of content words associated with articles.
This method identifies the instances in which one or more articles independently cite two other
articles. (Shiau et al., 2017). Co-citation analysis generally involves the following steps: (1)
Identifying a set of reference papers, (2) Calculating the similarity between pairs of
reference papers using co-citation counts, (3) Calculating co-citation clusters of reference
papers using similarity values, (4) Fractionally assigning current (or research front) papers.

3.2 Text mining

Text mining was used to process massive amounts of text data to extract “high-quality”
information that can be applied in specific situations (Liu et al., 2014). It includes linguistic,
statistical and machine-learning techniques that can be used in the final stages of analysis,
visualization (via maps, graphs and mind maps) and machine-learning integration with
structured data in a database or repository. The challenge of using unstructured text was
organizing and formatting it for future qualitative and quantitative analyses.
There are several steps in this analysis. The researchers began by filtering and categorizing
research documents from 2016 to 2020 into a CSV file. They then utilized RapidMiner software
to input the data. They chose the Tab option to display all keywords in a row. Once the data was
imported, the researchers repeated the process for the remaining years. After importing the
data, the group dragged and dropped the data file for a specific year into the Process pane and
followed a series of commands, including Nominal to Text: Select Attributes and Extract Topics
from Data (LDA). The group modified the number of topics and top words per topic entry in the
Extract Topics from Data (LDA) command. However, it preserved their selections in the
Parameters pane for the Nominal to Text and Select Attributes statements.

4. Results and discussions

4.1 Blockchain development in research
4.1.1 Keyword co-occurrences. The illustrated network map can distinguish frequently
occurring keywords within color-coded clusters, such as red, blue, green, yellow, or purple.
VOSviewer is utilized for network analysis and automatically distributes clusters to network
nodes. A cluster refers to a group of interconnected nodes, with each node assigned to a
specific cluster. A resolution parameter determines the number of clusters. Over 3,800 papers
underwent co-occurrence analysis to identify the core intellectual topics covered by existing An assessment
research. Figure 2 showcases a selection of the author’s keywords. Based on modularity- of blockchain
based clustering, the most common keywords from 2016 to 2020, including “scheme”, “IoT”,
“miner”, “supply chain” and “cryptocurrency” are classified into five significant clusters.
development
In the red cluster, the keyword “IoT” holds significant importance with a frequency of 157
and eigencentrality of 1.00, and it appears alongside other relevant keywords like “device”
and “node.” The utilization of cloud data centers for storing data highlights the significance of
blockchain in enhancing cybersecurity, safeguarding privacy and securing IoT, as stated in
Kshetri’s 2017 research. Rathee et al. (2019) suggest that all IoT devices and vehicles are
registered on the blockchain network.
Furthermore, the green cluster, with approximately 26% of the keywords in the model, is
associated with the term “scheme.” This cluster connects various relevant keywords like
“cloud,” “access control,” and “patent.” The keywords “scheme” and “protocol” in the green
cluster are related to attribute-based encryption, which highlights how blockchain and
distributed database technology can protect sensitive healthcare data, as mentioned in R
software from Guo et al.’s (2018) research. A study by Gao et al. (2018) devised a secure
method of cryptocurrency utilizing post-quantum blockchain, which can effectively
withstand quantum computing attacks. This approach was aimed at resolving the short
lattice integer solution problem.
The researchers also discovered a significant association between the keywords
“industry,” “supply chain,” and “innovation” in the blue cluster. These findings align with
earlier research by Gausdal et al. (2018), who identified the key drivers of digital innovation
and the obstacles, such as the limited adoption of blockchain technology in the Norwegian
maritime industry’s supply chain.
The yellow clusters, which comprise 20% of the keywords in the model, represent
blockchain-based Bitcoin in the financial industry. “Transaction” and “bitcoin” are the most
frequent keywords. According to the analysis of “transaction” data from “bitcoin” accounts,
bitcoin is predominantly used as a speculative “investment” but not as an alternative
“currency” or medium of exchange (Baur et al., 2018). The keywords “miner”, “consensus
protocol” and “mining” in one of the purple clusters account for nearly 13% of all keywords.
The purple cluster shows the probability of encountering blockchain-based “consensus
protocol” problems, demonstrating that Unity’s hybrid “consensus” makes selfish mining
impractical because “attackers” may miss a PoS block (Wu et al., 2019a, b).
4.1.2 Bibliographic coupling. Based on our analysis of the final dataset, which included
3,841 papers, the employment of blockchain technology in management and related areas is a

Figure 2.
Keyword co-
occurrences of research
in 2016–2020
LHT relatively new development. This conclusion is supported by the fact that these papers were
published across only 300 publications from 2016 to 2020. Stats indicate that computer
science (51.9%), business and economics (9%) and engineering (7%) sectors created
noteworthy blockchain applications. However, it appears that the increase in the use of
blockchain by other sectors, such as energy, food science and technology (0.7%), and
environmental science (0.9%), was a recent phenomenon, albeit at a lower intensity (refer to
Figure 3).
Bibliographic coupling refers to the degree to which two articles are interconnected since
they quote the same article. This section evaluates the bibliographic coupling of ranked
authors, nations and institutions based on their total link strength (TLS). TLS evaluates the
strength of existing linkages between a researcher or article and other researchers and
articles (Vallaster et al., 2019). In each analysis, a particular criterion was applied to ensure
that the data contained was valid. The bibliographical link with the author’s analytical unit is
represented in the first column (refer to Table 1). The top ten authors’ articles are shown in
around 10% of the magazine. Intriguingly, Jong Hyuk Park (SeoulTech) and Choo,
Kim-Kwang Raymond (The University of Texas at San Antonio) were among the top ten
most prolific authors three times between 2017–2019, 2018 and 2020, respectively.
In addition, those listed twice in the top authors have strong connections between their
bibliographies cited in the 3,841 articles: He, Debiao (Wuhan University), Zhang, Yan
(University of Oslo), Du, Xiaojiang (Temple University), Guizani, Mohsen (Qatar University)
and Yu, F. Richard (Carleton University, Ottawa). They enjoy rich research profiles in the field
of blockchain research. Examining the coupling strengths between institutions and countries
shows that the authors from wealthy countries such as China, the United States, Germany
and England have contributed significantly. Nonetheless, certain developing countries, such
as India and Pakistan, significantly contribute to the discussion around blockchain
application in management.
In 2016, the top three institutions were Aalto University, Lappeenranta Technology
University and Sogang University; the University of Michigan, the University of
Pennsylvania and Clemson University in 2017; The Beijing University of Posts and
Telecommunications, Wuhan University and The University of Texas at San Antonio topped
in 2018; Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications, Shanghai Jiao Tong University
and University of Electronic Science and Technology in 2019 and 2020; The Beijing

Computer Science 1993

Business & Economics 346
Engineering 287
Chemistry 198
Science & Technology 186
AutomaƟon & Control Systems 90
TelecommunicaƟons 83
Health Care Sciences & Services 72
Energy & Fuels 67
Government & Law 50
MathemaƟcs 43
Environmental Sciences & Ecology 36
Figure 3. Food Science & Technology 30
Subject areas involving
blockchain 0 200 400 600 800 1000 1200 1400 1600 1800 2000
Source(s): Figure by authors
Year Top 10 authors Top 10 countries Top 10 organizations
An assessment
of blockchain
2016 Scheuermann, Bjoern Finland Aalto University
Tschorsch, Flirian Germany Lappeenranta Technology University
development
Choi, Sujin South Korea Sogang University
Ko, Deokyoon England Humboldt University of Berlin
Park, Sooyong China University of Liverpool
Smolander, Kari Australia Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University
Yli-huumo, Jesse South Africa Avaya University
Jiang, Wei USA Columbia University
Jin, Dawei Luxembourg IIT
Li, Mingqqiang Austria University of Luxembourg
2017 Si, Xue-ming USA University of Michigan
Xu, Mi-xue China University of Pennsylvania
Yuan, Chao Germany Clemson University
Risius, Marten England IT University of Copenhagen
Park, Jong Hyuk Denmark Nanyang Technological University
Ross, Omri Italy University of Cambridge
Kshetri, Nir Canada The University of California San Diego
Lee, on-hyouk France University of North Carolina Greensboro
Nordrum, Amy Australia The University of North Carolina
Peck, Morgen e South Korea University of Copenhagen
2018 Sun, Yiru China Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications
Wang, Licheng USA Wuhan University
Zhou, Lijing England The University of Texas at San Antonio
Choo, Kim-Kwang Australia Xidian University
Raymond
He, Debiao Singapore University of the Chinese Academy of Sciences
Gao, Feng South Africa The University of British Columbia
Shen, Meng Germany The University of Hong Kong
Park, Jong Hyuk Canada Beijing Institute of Technology
Sharma, Pradip Kumar Spain Imperial College London
Zhu, Liehuang Italy University of Electronic Science and Technology of
China
2019 Zheng, Zibin China Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications
Chen, Wuhui USA Shanghai Jiao Tong University
Zhang, Yan Australia University of Electronic Science and Technology of
China
Du, Xiaojiang England Sun Yat-sen University
Guizani, Mohsen South Korea University of the Chinese Academy of Sciences
Niyato, Dusit Canada CSIRO
Yu, F. Richard India Xidian University
Choo, Kim-Kwang Spain The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
Raymond
Salah, Khaled Italy Guangdong University of Technology
Park, Jong Hyuk Pakistan University of the Chinese Academy of Sciences
2020 Kumar, Neeraj China Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications
Tanwar, Sudeep USA University of Electronic Science and Technology of
China
Choo, Kim-Kwang India King Saud University
Raymond
Guizani, Mohsen England University of the Chinese Academy of Sciences
He, Debiao Australia The University of Texas at San Antonio
Salah, Khaled South Korea Beijing Institute of Technology
Du, Xiaojiang Canada Xidian University
Jayaraman, Raja Saudi Arabbia Asia University Table 1.
Yu, F. Richard Italy Qatar University Bibliographic coupling
Zhang, Yan Taiwan The Hong Kong Polytechnic University results of research from
Source(s): Table by authors 2016 to 2020
LHT University of Posts and Telecommunications consistently ranked first as the institute with
the most number of citations.
4.1.3 Co-citation analysis according to cited authors. Co-citation analyses were used to
monitor the evolution of our topic of study (Fahimnia et al., 2015). At a resolution of 1.0, the
most prominent co-citation clusters were identified (refer to Figure 4). Co-citation analysis is a
commonly used technique that involves utilizing the co-citation clustering results to allocate
modern publications or research articles to the relevant co-citation cluster. Nakamoto, S.
(Utsunomiya University) and Buterin, V. (Lomonosov Moscow State University) are two
green-cluster writers who work closely together (University of Rijeka). The most prolific
authors in the blue cluster are Kshetri, N (The University of North Carolina, Greensboro,
United States) and M. Swan (Purdue University), among others. Yue, X (Huaqiao University)
and Mettler, M (Boydak Strategy Consulting AG, Freienbach) emerge as significant
contributors in the yellow cluster. The contributors in the red cluster were Christidis, K (North
Carolina State University), Sharma, PK (Seoul National University of Science and
Technology) and Zhang, Y (University of Oslo).
4.1.4 Co-citation analysis according to the cited source. The study analyzes the evolution of
this research in two-year intervals from 2016 to 2020. Table 2 and Figure 5 demonstrate that
blockchain research and academic interest in this topic have proliferated since 2016. This
analysis is restricted to the green clusters from 2016 to 2020, representing 30.16% of the
nodes in the co-citation research. In recent years, “IEEE Access” has published several highly
appreciated and frequently read articles that have significantly contributed to forming
research boundaries and intellectual structure in this field.
In the blue clusters, 23.3% of co-cited publications regarded the consequences of adopting
blockchain technology. “Lecture Notes in Computer Science” and “IEEE Security & Privacy”
ranked among the most cited contributions. In the red cluster, 21.19% of the articles discuss
the use of blockchain in various industries or processes. Upon analyzing the citations, it has
been observed that the International Journal of Production Research and the International
Journal of Information Management have played a vital role in enhancing the credibility of
the published content. Other influential organizations in the purple cluster are “Apply
Energy” and “IEEE Transactions on Smart Grid,” which account for 17.15% of co-cited

Figure 4.
Co-citation analysis
according to cited
authors from 2016
to 2020
 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020
An assessment
of blockchain
1 IEEE Business And IEEE Access IEEE Access IEEE Access development
Communications Information
Surveys and Systems
Tutorials Engineering
2 Plos One Computer Sensors IEEE Internet Of Sensors
Things Journal
3 IEEE Access IEEE Future Generation Future Generation Future
Communication Computer Systems Computer System Generation
Magazine Computer
Systems
4 Peer-To-Peer IEEE Access Journal of Medical Applied Sciences- IEEE
Networking and Systems Based Transaction on
Applications Industrial
Informatics
5 Performance Symmetry–Basel Sustainability IEEE IEEE
Evaluation Communications Transaction on
Survey and Vehicular
Tutorials Technology
6 Security and Technological Energies IEEE Transactions IEEE Internet
Communication Forecasting & on Industrial Of Things
Networks Social Change Informatics Journal
7 IT Professional Computer Law International Sensors Electronics
and Security Journal of
Review Distributed Sensor
Networks
8 Journal of Medical IEEE Cloud Wireless Journal of Network IEEE Network
Systems Computing Communications & and Computer
Mobile Computing Applications
9 Mitochondrial Security and Royal Society Open Journal of Medical Sustainability
DNA Part A Communication Science Internet Research
Networks
10 New Scientist Technology Applied Energies Computers And Applied Table 2.
Review Industrial Sciences-Basel Publishing
Engineering contribution of top 10
Source(s): Table by authors journals in 2016–2020

Figure 5.
Co-citation analysis
according to cited
sources from 2016
to 2020
LHT papers. The yellow cluster shows that 8.2% of co-cited documents were from the top cited
publishers, including the Journal of Medical Systems and Procedia Computer Science.
4.1.5 Co-authorship analysis of the country. The structure of scholarly contributions to this
field was analyzed using co-authorship studies. The co-authorship research identified seven
main collaborative clusters. It examined the level of joint publications between countries,
which contributed significantly to this field (Caviggioli and Ughetto, 2019). The most
prominent and distinct co-authorship clusters are generated (refer to Figure 6) using a
resolution of 1.0. The network linkages were determined to deviate slightly from the results of
the coupling study. The network diagram for co-authorship by nations indicates three key
groupings. The countries with the most cited articles among the top ten were China, the
United States and South Korea, indicating that the authors researched contemporary and
globally essential topics. China (cluster in orange), the United States (cluster in purple), South
Korea (cluster in red), Canada (cluster in brown), Australia (cluster in light blue), Italy (cluster
in green) and England (cluster in blue) are the most influential nations according to node size
of Figure 6. These clusters also appear closely connected in the network, showing that papers
from these countries are cited more frequently.
4.1.6 Co-authorship analysis of the organization. The co-authorship analysis aims to better
understand the state of blockchain research in the context of specific institutions (refer to
Figure 7). The recognized institutions match the affiliations of widely cited publications, such
as Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications, University of Electronic Science and
Technology of China, etc. The red cluster includes organizations from Asia’s practitioner and
academic communities, including The University of Hong Kong and Korea University.
The most reputable organizations within the green cluster are the Beijing University of Posts
and Telecommunications, Xidian University and The University of British Columbia. In the
orange cluster, Nanyang Technology University and Zhejiang University publications were
in the lead. King Saud University and COMSATS University, Islamabad, are the leading
universities influenced by publications in the purple cluster. The University of Electronic
Science and Technology of China is one of the three most influential universities in the light
blue cluster. The Chinese Academy of Sciences is the most vigorous institute affiliated with
the National University of Defense Technology, as indicated in the pink cluster. From 2016 to

Figure 6.
Co-authorship analysis
of the country from
2016–2020
 An assessment
of blockchain
development

Figure 7.
Co-authorship analysis
of the organization
from 2016–2020

2020, the brown cluster, which includes the Guangdong University of Technology and the
University of Hong Kong, has been promoted for its high-impact universities.

4.2 Blockchain development in the news

Figure 8 demonstrates that the amount of blockchain-related news stories fluctuates dramatically
yearly. In 2016, the number of blockchain-related news articles exceeded 2000, which grew more
than twice in 2017 and peaked at 12,509 in 2018. The increasing number of blockchain-related
news articles from 2016 to 2018 indicates that blockchain knowledge continually evolves and
represents a new trend. In 2019, there were 9,619 news stories, 1.3 times less than the previous
year, and in 2020, there were just 6,615 news stories. This demonstrates that blockchain is no
longer a trending topic on news websites or that blockchain-related news has achieved saturation.
As depicted in Figure 9, the significant publishers suggest that “PR Newswire (US)” is the
primary source of the current news, with over 10,000 articles accounting for about 27.5% of

14000

12000

10000

8000

6000

4000

2000

0 Figure 8.
2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 The number of
Number of News 2201 5420 12509 9619 6615 blockchain news
stories from 2016–2020
Source(s): Figure by authors
LHT

Figure 9.
Diagram for the news
source

the total selected news articles. 16.4% came from “Business Wire (English).” The primary
publication, “Global banking news” (2,346 articles), published many constantly updated
articles. With 3.1%, 2.7% and 2.1% contributions from “Equitybites,” “Canada Newswire,”
and “Business Wire (German)”, respectively. These results indicate the desire to embrace
blockchain in various industries.
Network keyword co-occurrences in the news articles (see Figure 10) are organized into
nine color-based clusters. A high eigen-centrality score indicates that an item is closely
related to a group of articles, enabling the identification of the central topics in a diagram.
In Cluster 1 (orange), the word “market” has the highest frequency and connects to “cagr”
1,539 times. This term demonstrated the primary benefits of blockchain for several industries,
including “technavio” (Choudhury, 2018), “healthcare market” (BMO, 2018), “logistics” (Shiao,
2018), global “supply chain” (Selwood, 2017) and “fintech” (BMO, 2017). Cluster 2’s primary
keyword is “COVID,” which was connected to other phrases for discovery. Launch of the
COVID-19 tracking blockchain platform (Bureau, 2020), delivering the “blockchain revolution”
in healthcare to notice COVID-19 issues (Hanif and Iftikhar, 2020). Cluster 3, with the green

Figure 10.
Keyword co-
occurrences of news in
2016–2020
color, denoted the “case” platform for clearing and settling securities (CSE, 2018) or the big three An assessment
blockchain technologies at work in customer “projects (Chandrashekhar, 2019). The blue phrase of blockchain
in Cluster 4 with the “riot blockchain” keyword explores the blockchain ecosystem (Riot, 2019)
and the influence of the blockchain on investor relationships (Lemmens, 2018). The word
development
“bank” in Cluster 5 with 809 occurrences is associated with “bitcoin technology”. The London
stock exchange group has adopted the innovative “bitcoin technology,” as noted by
Handagama (2020). Ondiflo has completed a blockchain-based “pilot project” with BPX
energy, as mentioned by Roquefort-Villeneuve (2019). Eyers (2016a, b) reported that “CBA” is
experimenting with blockchain for financing while R3 CEV is discussing its platform
(Boonnoon, 2019; Framingham, 2020). and R3” s “Corda” blockchain platform were the key
terms in cluster 6 (purple color). Cluster 7, with the brown color, poses a significant threat to
“miner,” and is linked to “blockchain protocol,” “IoT device,” and “data integrity” with 97, 116
and 171 occurrences, respectively. The term “IBM” appears 630 times in the yellow cluster,
which is associated with “Microsoft” and “food safety” (Crosman, 2019). The pink phrases in
cluster 9 underline that the loyalty network, which is founded on blockchain technology, has
launched a restricted “token sale” (458 occurrences) (Qiibee, 2017). These terms also link to
“ICO” (320 times) to make blockchain-based payments through payFbit (PayFbit, 2020).

5. Discussion
Blockchain has a significant mind share both in the academic community and media. Blockchain
has helped researchers tackle challenges in several domains (Firdaus et al., 2019) and will continue
to do so. There are very few in-depth studies done on blockchain technology. This study used idea
linking and network modeling to uncover the semantic structures behind each “blockchain”
phrase. We used WoS and LexisNexis to find blockchain-related literature published between
2016 and 2020. Each piece of literature had its dataset. This research evaluates research
publications and news to identify the most productive authors, institutes, publishers and nations.
This research also visualizes a blockchain network using the term co-occurrences.
The findings show the fundamental topics based on each topic cluster” s links. While the study
had five clusters with the most frequent keywords “scheme”, “IoT”, “miner”, “supply chain” and
“cryptocurrency,” the news demonstrates the presence of major collaborative clusters with
keywords “market”, “COVID”, “project”, “investor”, “bank”, “blockchain solution”, “miner” and
“IBM”. Different network analysis perspectives help understand blockchain research. Jong
Hyuk Park (SeoulTech) and Choo, Kim-Kwang Raymond (UTSA) are among the top ten prolific
authors in 2017–2020. According to citation analysis, IEEE Access, Lecture Note in Computer
Science, Apply Energy, International Journal of Production Research and Journal of Medical
Systems are energetic publications, co-authorship analysis helps understand academic
contributions” structure. China, the USA and South Korea are among the top ten countries
contributing to this field’s most-cited papers. The research also recognizes the Beijing
University of Posts and Telecommunications, the University of Electronic Science and
Technology of China, the Guangdong University of Technology, King Saud University, Korea
University and Qatar University are top institutes in blockchain research trends.

2016 System Solution Ledger

2017 Application Payment
2018 Platform Project
2019 Data Table 3.
2020 Smart contract Consensus The similarity between
Source(s): Table by authors research and news
LHT The study also analyzes the parallels and distinctions among blockchain-related topics that
appear in research and news (see Table 3). In 2016, studies and press stories posited blockchain
technology as a “solution” for managing problems via a distributed “ledger” system (Das, 2016;
Underwood, 2016). In 2017, the application of blockchain-based hardware “payment” “application”
in the realm of connectivity was referenced in both studies and news articles (Giungato et al., 2017;
Yoo-Chul, 2017). In research and the news, the terms “platform” and “project” dominated in 2018
(Kyriakarakos and Papadakis, 2018 ). Blockchain possibilities for healthcare “data” management
were frequently cited in 2019 research and press (Dimitrov, 2019; Liji Thomas, 2019). While
research and news in 2020 pointed in the same way about prism analysis, this eliminates the
“consensus” obstacle for “smart contracts” (Kore, 2020; Wang et al., 2020).

2016 2017 2018 2019 2020

technology technology technology technology

system environment system

informaon data storage

transacon transacon transacon transacon

Research privacy community authencaon network privacy

security security data security security security

miner transparency

trust immutability consensus decentralizaon

decentralizaon

plaorm plaorm ledger technology plaorm plaorm

ledger system environment

big data big data data

cloud cloud

network network architecture network

News
applicaon project process healthcare applicaon

consorum consorum blockchain service ulizaon soluon

bitcoin bitcoin bitcoin process cryptocurrency

business

private authencaon
Table 4.
Difference between
research and news Source(s): Table by authors
This section outlines the striking differences in blockchain-related topics that appeared in An assessment
academia and news during our research period. The distinctions between the selected of blockchain
research and news articles through the use of several colors to emphasize the various patterns
of blockchain trends are illustrated in Table 4. The blockchain is composed of five layers: the
development
infrastructure layer (hardware), the networking layer (node discovery, information
transmission and verification), the consensus layer (proof of work, proof of stake), the data
layer (blocks, transactions) and the applications layer (smart contracts/apps). In this article,
these terms are color-coded as yellow, orange, green, blue and pink, respectively.
(1) The yellow cluster represents technology and infrastructure;
(2) The orange cluster depicts data concepts related to blocks and transactions;
(3) Blue represents the viewpoints of applications;
(4) Networking and security ideas are presented in green;
(5) Consensus-related ideas are in the pink cluster.
For example in 2020, news stories placed a significant emphasis on the “technology” aspect of
the blockchain platform. Numerous studies have explored the role of perceived privacy in
shaping security perceptions in mobile apps (Balapour et al., 2020). The prospect of a hyperactive
“network” capable of scalable and immediate blockchain transactions (Ordano, 2020) emerged as
one of the most intriguing subjects. Despite a plethora of research articles on “smart contracts,”
only a few studies in 2020 addressed their practical applications. However, reports indicated that
topics such as the “applications” of blockchain, its usage in “business,” and “solutions” that help
“enterprises” address challenges were popular. Interestingly, the 2020 research papers seldom
focused on “decentralization” unless it was in the context of enhancing “transparency” and
“accountability” in the procurement process (Kohler and Dimancesco, 2020).

6. Conclusions
This study conducted a comparative analysis of research and news in technology and security
over the last five years. Researchers initially centered their efforts on technology and security,
while news headlines were dominated by Bitcoin, consortiums and applications. Subsequently,
there was a marked increase in research on security and trust, while the media spotlight shifted
to big data, cloud computing, Bitcoin, platforms and projects. Later on, the research community
pivoted towards investigating the potential of blockchains for data storage, security,
immutability, authentication and environmental applications, while media coverage revolved
around ledger technology, blockchain services, Bitcoin, big data and cloud computing. In the
subsequent period, the research emphasis was on technology, transactions, networks and
consensus, while the media underscored the necessity for secure platforms to handle healthcare
data. Lastly, the research focus transitioned to privacy, security, decentralization and
transparency, while media reports spotlighted the adoption of blockchain applications for
enterprise solutions and cryptocurrency payments for businesses.
The findings of this research paper have wide-ranging applications. First, they offer
valuable insights into trends in blockchain research, which can help academics prioritize their
research activities more effectively. Second, the bibliographic coupling can streamline the
search and categorization of scholarly publications on blockchain. By analyzing co-citation
data, researchers can identify potential collaborators and leaders in the field. It is essential for
organizations or countries to proactively seek and foster new relationships, especially with
entities outside their existing network, to bolster inclusivity and connectivity. Esteemed
network members can assist organizations or countries in identifying new authors and
integrating them into the co-authorship network, leading to fresh research ideas and subjects
LHT in primary fields of study. Additionally, by comparing various academic and news topics,
academics can gain a better understanding of the limitations of their research topics and
realign them as necessary.
The present study is subject to certain limitations. While the collected data encompasses
most of the significant works on blockchain, the inclusivity of the WoS and LexisNexis
Academic databases leaves room for improvement, as some pivotal papers have been omitted.
Furthermore, our focus was exclusively on articles published in journals with an impact factor,
consequently narrowing down the pool of papers available for analysis. The selective nature of
the WoS database suggests that it may not encompass the entirety of blockchain-related papers.
Nonetheless, our research offers invaluable insights into the emerging trends and
significance of blockchain for both the scientific community and practical applications. We
advise integrating foreign datasets, given that the WoS is among the largest and most widely
utilized databases for evaluating scientific papers (van Nunen et al., 2018). Future research
could leverage the semantic analysis of our study to delve into the public’s emotional
quantification and perceptions of this subject (Anderson et al., 2011). Such an exploration
would deepen our understanding of the topics and warrants further investigation.

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Corresponding author
Phung Phi Tran can be contacted at: [email protected]

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