Title: Mapping the metaverse: a bibliometric analysis of collaboration, impact and trends

Authors: Mohit Kumar; Pravin Kumar Agrawal; Supriya Agrawal; Vibha Kushwaha

Addresses: School of Business Management, Chhatrapati Shahu Ji Maharaj University, Kanpur, India ' School of Business Management, Chhatrapati Shahu Ji Maharaj University, Kanpur, India ' Amity University, Lucknow, 226010, India ' School of Business Management, Chhatrapati Shahu Ji Maharaj University, Kanpur, India

Abstract: The study attempts to carry out an in-depth analysis of the contributions made in domain of metaverse research during the period 2010-2023, to identify influential nodes, prominent trends, and contribution to the research community. A bibliometric analysis was conducted on 2,818 documents including articles, book chapters and conference proceedings. Data sources were utilised to identify effect of citations, collaboration networks, and publication patterns in the metaverse research community. Metaverse publications have increased exponentially after 2020 highlighting rising research interest. The increasing impact of metaverse research is identified through the increasing number of citations per article. The co-citation network identifies interlinks that prevail among researchers and identifies influential nodes in the research community. China is the top contributor to metaverse research in affiliations and country-wise research. The findings are of huge importance to researchers and institutes who are involved in researching the new metaverse research community and starting new research collaborations.

Keywords: metaverse; bibliometric analysis; collaboration; citation impact; research trends.

DOI: 10.1504/IJLC.2025.148008

International Journal of Learning and Change, 2025 Vol.17 No.3, pp.281 - 296

Received: 13 Feb 2025
Accepted: 23 Apr 2025
Published online: 13 Aug 2025 *

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