Global dynamics in research on cybersecurity in E-commerce: a theory-driven bibliometrics investigation

The cybersecurity risks associated with E-commerce have arisen as a substantial field of inquiry as E-commerce continues to shift global commerce. However, previous bibliometric studies provided typical descriptive overviews, indicating a limited attention had been given to structural dynamics and intellectual evolution of research on cybersecurity in E-commerce. Therefore, this study aims to conduct a theory driven bibliometric analysis of 1,555 Scopus-indexed publications for the period of 2000–2023, driven by innovation diffusion theory, resource dependence theory, cumulative advantage theory, and field evolution theory. Using a set of clearly defined research queries, the study investigates four important issues: (i) geographical shift in research on cybersecurity in E-commerce from developed to developing economies, (ii) growth in research collaboration and networking, (iii) increase in research on cybersecurity and E-commerce in terms of prolific authors, leading institutions, and (iv) swing in research theme from general cybersecurity issues to a more specialized research cluster. This study employed a combination of online tools including VOS viewer, the fractional method and Publish or Perish to conduct bibliometric analyses. The results demonstrate substantial structural changes in research on cybersecurity in E-commerce during the past two decades. It was found that leadership in research output shifted significantly towards Asia after 2015; transnational co-authorship and collaboration increased substantially; citation networks were becoming more tightly centralized around the same core group of major institutions; .and Keyword analysis confirms a clear transition from foundational concepts of cybersecurity to more specific technical clusters. The study findings have insightful and practical implications for the advancement of cybersecurity issues in E-commerce landscape around the world.