Mapping Islamic financial technology publications through bibliometric analysis: A study on the Scopus database

Purpose — This study aims to analyse research trends in Islamic fintech through Co-Authorship, Co-Citation, and Cluster Analysis. Method — This study uses bibliometric analysis techniques on the Scopus database assisted by VOSviewer and Microsoft Excel tools. A total of 220 documents were found to contain the keywords Islamic AND Fintech in the title, abstract, and keywords in the research until July 16, 2023. Result — The study results show that Islamic Fintech is becoming an interesting topic for researchers from various countries, especially Malaysia, Bahrain and Indonesia, which contribute a significant number of publications. The results of the Co-Authorship analysis show that Hassan, M.K. is the author with the highest collaboration of articles, which also indicates the productivity of article publication in Islamic Fintech. Contribution — This research is the first to examine Islamic fintech research trends in the Scopus database. The findings from this study can be important information for developing future research directions to advance this field sustainably.


INTRODUCTION
The development of fintech in the world has become one of the most critical trends in the financial industry in recent years (Rusydiana, 2018).Technological innovations adapted to modern financial needs have changed how people interact with financial services and brought many benefits to society globally (Allam, 2020).The development of Financial Technology (Fintech) refers to a revolution in the financial industry driven by digital technology to provide more efficient, innovative and inclusive financial services (Hakim & Irawan, 2019).
Fintech stands for financial technology, referring to using digital technology to provide innovative, efficient financial services and increase profitability (Chwah et al., 2018).Fintech has developed rapidly in recent years (Tambunan et al., 2021), changing the way people interact with the financial system and providing financial solutions that are more inclusive and accessible (Kukreja, Bahl, & Gupta, 2020).Fintech is believed to be able to reach the broader community because it only requires access to the internet network and a smartphone (Azman et al., 2020).
The Islamic finance industry has experienced significant development in recent years (Mansyur & Ali, 2022).This rapid development results from the increasing need for financial technology services based on Sharia rules, giving rise to Sharia-based fintech services (Purwatini, Athief, & Waharini, 2020).The presence of Islamic fintech provides Muslim communities with great opportunities for Islamic financial services in a more accessible, cheaper, and more efficient way for financial services such as financing, payments, and investments that are aligned with the objectives of Islamic law (Sofyan et al., 2022).According to data from DinarStandard & Elipses (2022), Indonesia is a country with the number of Islamic Fintech Companies Globally reaching 20%, followed by the UK with 15%, and the UAE with 14%.Meanwhile, in terms of market value, Bibliometric analysis using VOSviewer has several types of analysis.The first is Co-Authorship Visualization.In bibliometric research, one of the crucial aspects is analysing collaboration patterns between authors or institutions.Through VOSviewer, the co-authoring network will be visualised, showing the most significant collaborations.Second is Cluster Analysis.VOSviewer enables cluster analysis to identify groups of publications that are related to each other based on specific keywords, topics, or concepts.This helps delineate a more focused area of research.Third is Citations and Literature.Bibliometric research can also involve the analysis of citations and literature to identify the most influential research in the Islamic Fintech domain.Key findings will be identified and interpreted, such as research trends, the most exciting topics, and the most influential authors on Islamic Fintech.The results of the analysis will then give rise to implications and recommendations.The impact of these findings will be evaluated and related to the Islamic Fintech context.Recommendations can also be made for further research or development in this area.

Summary of research sample
Table 1 summarises the general information of the documents to be analysed.The July 16, 2023 search results showed 220 published papers in the Scopus database.In general, the majority of publications found were Articles (98), followed by Book Chapters (73), Conference Papers (21), and Books (18).Meanwhile, several documents were found in the Scopus Database, such as the results of the Review (6), Conference Review (3), and finally, the Editorial with one article.
Analysis of the fields of study from publications related to fintech also shows varied results.The two main areas in Islamic fintech research are business, management, accounting, economics, econometrics, and finance, with 138 and 132, respectively.Meanwhile, other fields such as social science studies, computer science, arts and humanities were found to have sufficient results.Fintech review publications in recent years show a significant growth in the number of publications over a certain period.In 2017, there were only three publications related to fintech studies.Since then, however, the number of publications has experienced a rapid and consistent increase.In 2018, the number of publications increased to 18 and grew to 22 in 2019.
More rapid growth occurred in 2020, where the number of publications reached 31, and in 2021 the number reached 44.The growth trend will continue in 2022 when there are 67 publications related to fintech studies.The latest data for 2023 shows that the number of publications is 35.The total number of publications on fintech studies over these seven years is 220, indicating a growing interest and concern in research and exploration of fintech.This increase in the number of publications reflects the importance of the topic of fintech in the development of the financial industry and the role of technology in changing the way people interact with financial services.These studies can cover various aspects of fintech, such as digital payments, blockchain, insurtech, robo-advisors, and digital investment.Bahraini universities significantly contribute to the number of research publications on Islamic Fintech, especially the University of Bahrain and Kingdom University.There are also good contributions from universities in Malaysia and Indonesia, such as the International Islamic University Malaysia, International Center for Education in Islamic Finance, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Universiti Utara Malaysia and Universitas Airlangga.The fact that the University of New Orleans from outside the Southeast Asia region is also in the top ranking demonstrates the global interest and collaboration in Islamic Fintech research.

Citation analysis
The development trend of citations shows a significant increase from 2019 to 2022 but will decrease in 2023.The number of quotations before 2019 only reached four times in articles reviewing Islamic Fintech in the Scopus Database.It then increased gradually from 2020 until its peak in 2022 with 594 citations.This indicates that Islamic Fintech is getting more and more attention and acceptance in the academic world and research, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic.Even though in 2023, the citation trend has decreased to 475 citations, this is understandable as a result of the number of publications in 2023 which have not been fully accumulated in the Scopus database at the time this data was collected, so there is still potential for an increase to occur until the end of the year.4 shows that five articles written by Rabbani, M.R. are included in the top ten citations category; this shows the significant impact of Islamic Fintech writings produced by Rabbani, M.R. from Bahrain University.On the other hand, Hudaefi (2020) is the only solo writer with a relatively high number of citations, as many as 32.The results of the Co-Authorship analysis were conducted with a minimum threshold of 2 articles from an author, leaving only 57 people to be analysed.From further examination, it was found that only 30 authors had a relationship with one another.

In table 4. Information is summarised on the ten articles with the most citations until
The value of the total link strength indicates that the greater the value, the higher the collaborative network formed.Hassan, M.K is the author with the highest total link strength score, reaching 39.This means that the articles published by Hassan, M.K have quite a lot of collaborative publications.Raza Rabbani, M and Rabbani, M.R are the same person but have different author names.The total link strength owned by Raza Rabbani, M has a reasonably high value, as many as 26 and 23 links.This is supported by many publications that make it possible to have an extensive collaboration network.

Discussion
This article attempts to map research related to Islamic Fintech and provides a metadata visualisation of various studies from the Scopus database.Two hundred twenty documents relevant to the search keywords Islamic AND fintech OR Islamic AND financial AND technology were observed using the VOSviewer application until July 16, 2023.The types of publications that researchers published were Articles (98) and Book Chapters (73) published since 2017 on the Scopus database.Research on Islamic Fintech also shows a significant increase, especially during the pandemic period, namely 2019-2022, which published 165 documents along with a significant increase in the number of citations.This signals a growing interest and concern in fintech research and exploration.This increase in the number of publications reflects the importance of the topic of fintech in the development of the financial industry and the role of technology in changing the way people interact with financial services.
Muslim-majority countries such as Malaysia, Bahrain, and Indonesia have the highest number of publications related to Islamic fintech studies in the Scopus database.Even so, authors from the United States and the United Kingdom also contributed to publications that were large, with a total of 47 documents.Hassan, M.K. and Rabbani, M. R. are the two authors with the most publications in Islamic Fintech studies, which also have the highest citation scores in the field of Islamic Fintech studies in the Scopus database.The collaborative article between Hassan, M.K., Rabbani, M.R., Mohd.Ali, M.A., with the title "Challenges for the Islamic Finance and Banking in the post-COVID Era and the Role of Fintech", is the article with the most citations of 75 references.

Cluster analysis
Cluster 1: Bibliometric Analysis, Bitcoin, Blockchain, Cryptocurrency, Financial Technology, Global Financial Crisis, Islamic Finances, Smart Contracts, Islamic Finance.Overall, the analysis of keyword relationships in research on Islamic Fintech highlights the role of financial technology (Fintech) and the application of Islamic principles in the Islamic finance industry.The use of blockchain, cryptocurrency, and smart contracts is a critical aspect in developing innovative and sustainable Islamic finance solutions.As part of Fintech, Islamic Fintech has excellent potential to bring about positive changes in the global financial industry by combining advanced technology with Islamic ethical principles.
Cluster 2: Crowdfunding, Indonesia, Islamic Financial Technology, Islamic Fintech, P2P Lending, Sharia Compliance, SMEs.The keywords in Cluster 2 show the relationship between Islamic Financial Technology, Sharia Compliance, and SMEs, as well as types of fintech in the form of Crowdfunding and P2P Lending, indicating the importance of using technology in the development of Islamic financial products and services, especially in supporting the growth of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) through crowdfunding and P2P loans.The success of Islamic Fintech is also highly dependent on adherence to Sharia principles, especially in the context of Indonesia as a potential market for Sharia-based financial innovation.Cluster 4: Finance, Financial Inclusion, Fintech, Islamic, and Shariah.Cluster 4 reflects the link between finance and financial inclusion in an effort to provide financial access and services to more people.Fintech has catalysed financial inclusion by providing innovative and easily accessible financial services for marginalised groups.Within the scope of Islamic finance, Sharia principles are an essential basis for ensuring financial products and services comply with Islamic rules.Thus, these keywords reflect crucial aspects in the study and development of finance, especially in financial inclusion and Islamic finance.
Cluster 5: Artificial Intelligence, Banking, Conventional Banks, Investments, and Islamic Banks.Keyword analysis in Cluster 5 shows the relationship between Artificial Intelligence, Banking, Conventional Banking, Islamic banking, and Investment.AI and financial institutions are the main elements explored in this research.
Cluster 6: Innovation, Technology.In Islamic Fintech research, keyword analysis of the keywords "innovation" and "technology" shows that the development of innovative Sharia-based financial solutions is highly dependent on the application of modern technology.Innovation in Islamic Fintech is driven by using the latest financial technologies to create more efficient, inclusive services compliant with Sharia principles.

CONCLUSION
Bibliometric analysis research in Islamic Fintech provides valuable insights into trends and developments in this field.The study results show that Islamic Fintech is becoming an increasingly interesting topic for researchers from various countries, especially Malaysia, Bahrain and Indonesia, which contribute a significant number of publications.Articles with the highest number of citations highlight essential issues in Islamic Fintech, such as the role of fintech in dealing with the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the application of financial technology and blockchain in the Islamic finance industry, and the factors influencing the adoption of fintech in the context of Islamic finance.In addition, the author's university affiliations, which frequently appear in this study, indicate the active contribution of various higher education institutions in developing knowledge about Islamic Fintech.This reflects the importance of collaboration between academics and practitioners in dealing with challenges and opportunities in Islamic Fintech.
This bibliometric analysis provides a clear view of the development of Islamic Fintech.It guides researchers to identify relevant research trends and areas that need more attention.The results can contribute to a deeper understanding of the potential and applications of technology in the Islamic finance industry, thereby driving the development of better innovative solutions that comply with Sharia principles.

Figure. 1
Figure. 1 Publication by year

Figure. 2
Figure. 2 Publication by countries July 25, 2023.Articles from Hassan, Rabbani, & Ali (2020) is the article with the most citations, with 75.In second place are articles written by Syed, et al. (2020) received a total of 63 citations.Meanwhile, in third place, a collaborative article between Rabbani, Khan, & Thalassinos (2020) Abdurrahman Mansyur Journal of Enterprise and Development (JED), Vol. 6, No. 1, 2024 JED | 18 and Rabbani, et al. (2021) both have a total of 52 citations.Table

Cluster 3 :
COVID-19, Islamic Banking, Islamic Economics, Islamic Social Finance, Malaysia, Social Finance, Zakat.Analysis of keyword relationships in research on Islamic Fintech in Cluster 3 highlights the importance of understanding the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Islamic banking and the role of Islamic Economics and Islamic Social Finance in the development of the Islamic financial system.In Malaysia, Islamic Fintech has a strategic role in dealing with the Abdurrahman Mansyur Journal of Enterprise and Development (JED), Vol. 6, No. 1, 2024 JED | 22 financial challenges caused by the pandemic.In contrast, zakat and other social financial instruments are essential in developing Islamic Social Finance for people's welfare.

Table . 1
Research sample

Table 2 .
Article published by authors

Table 3 .
Number of articles published by affiliations

Table 5 .
Most collaborative authors