Applications of Blockchain Technology to Higher Education Arena: A Bibliometric Analysis

Carlos Reis-Marques,Miguel De Castro Neto,Ronnie Figueiredo

doi:10.3390/ejihpe11040101

Abstract

Research related to blockchain is rapidly gaining importance in the higher education. This opportunity collaborates with a proposal for a review of papers on the main blockchain topic. The bibliometric analysis included 61 peer-reviewed articles published in the Scopus database during the period of 2016 to 2021. This paper offers the identification of gaps in the literature enabling studies on the subject in higher education. The article identifies the main applications of blockchain technology in higher education around the world, as well as suggests future investigations. For further scientific investigation, we propose the operationalization of each of the researched approaches, especially combining the blockchain relationship, artificial intelligence, digital innovation, digital maturity, and customer experience in higher education.

Highlights

The global evolution has transformed the industrial era into the connected era, with smart products, especially in contemporary organizations [1]
The objective of our study is to identify the main applications used in the “blockchain technology in higher education” in order to contribute to the literature in this field of study
The contributions of this study are to collaborate with the gap of scientific works that offer bibliometric analysis in this domain

Summary

Introduction

The global evolution has transformed the industrial era into the connected era, with smart products, especially in contemporary organizations [1]. The advent of the Bitcoin system brought another boom on the Internet, enabling the development of applications in various economic sectors using Blockchain systems [2]. In this context, blockchain is a technology applied in various businesses, originating in cryptocurrency, and developed in higher education [3]. With the growth in the number of international students in the world, and the advance of document forgery, blockchain technology is offered as a secure way to carry out digital transactions [5]. Recent studies reveal that there is a growing number of counterfeit educational certificates produced by dishonest candidates for higher education around the world [6]

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