TRENDS AND PATTERNS IN HALAL RESEARCH: A 21-YEAR SCOPUS-BASED BIBLIOMETRIC ANALYSIS (2004–2025)

Abstract

A rapid increase in research interest in the halal area has occurred over the past 20 years; therefore, there is now a rapidly evolving yet disintegrated body of knowledge. As a result of this fragmentation, a controlled synthesis of the scattered findings will help to integrate the dispersed research into one central location and give context to how the halal research field has developed from an intellectual perspective. With this purpose in mind, this article provides a 21-year bibliometric analysis of halal research to develop a complete map of the halal research scientific landscape, identify prominent thematic clusters and outline future research directions. Seventy (n=70) journal articles found in the Scopus database between 2004-2025 were analyzed using VOSViewer, which includes performance analysis, co-authorship mapping and co-occurrence visualization of keywords. Using the co-occurrence analysis, five major themes have emerged from halal research: (1) halal awareness, religion and Muslim consumer orientation, (2) halal logistics and sustainable supply chain, (3) shariah compliance, certification and upcoming digital technologies (4) halal industry development and links to Islamic finance. Performance analysis results reveal that Yudi Fernando is the most influential contributor, and the Journal of Islamic Marketing is the most frequently published source of halal research. This systematic review creates an integrated intellectual roadmap for scholars to identify conceptual relations, research gaps and emerging frontier concepts for halal. Future research areas are particularly the development of halal governance models through the application of digital technologies (e.g., blockchain, AI) and cross-national borders.