Non-fungible tokens (NFTs): A bibliometric and systematic review, current streams, developments, and directions for future research

Abstract

As bibliometric analysis has become very popular in various academic fields, this paper reviews the literature on Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs). NFTs are tradeable rights that can be used to acquire ownership of digital assets such as music, videos, and images (Dowling, 2022b). They became the first blockchain technology application to achieve clear public prominence in early 2021 and were widely used in blockchain research because of their significant contributions. This study reviews 150 documents on NFTs by using VOSviewer and identifies three major clusters: (1) blockchain, (2) cryptocurrency, and (3) digital art. In addition, this study provides an overview of how the literature on NFTs has developed over time, as well as a summary of the most cited authors, documents, countries, organizations, journal sources, and reference papers. Moreover, the results reveal that Finance Research Letters is the top journal that publishes documents on NFTs and the United States is the most active country in research on NFTs reflecting their important contributions to this research topic. The findings of this study present future research directions in the field of NFTs.