This study seeks to understand the evolution and distribution of online petition-related research. With an increase in online petition activities and participation, there is a need for a clearer understanding of the direction and focus of research in this area. This research was conducted using the bibliometric method to analyse 95 journal papers discovered in Scopus that are related to online petitions. Bibliometric analyses such as citation analysis, thematic evolution, and factorial analysis were performed using the Bibliometrix application. The key findings of this study indicate that the focus of petition research is shifting from technological and social media to participatory and collective aspects. The factorial analysis also uncovered two major clusters: Human and Social Factors and Technological and Country Factors. This study also observed an increase in the number of publications on online petitions, thereby demonstrating the significance of this subject in academic and societal discourse. This finding implies that researchers conducting studies on online petitions should consider both technological and social factors.
Lionardo et al. (2025) studied this question.