CONSUMER SECURITY AND PRIVACY IN THE METAVERSE: A BIBLIOMETRIC ANALYSIS

Abstract

The metaverse, one of today’s most groundbreaking innovations, offers important opportunities for our future in many areas. However, these opportunities bring with them some critical threats. Security and privacy in the metaverse are among the most current threats that researchers focus on. Current studies that comprehensively analyze existing studies and develop solution suggestions for service providers and consumers in line with these analyses are pretty fragmented. Therefore, this study aims to provide a more concrete view and combine fragmented literature by using bibliometric techniques on security and privacy research in the metaverse in the WOS and SCOPUS databases. In addition, this study assesses the effects of the existing literature and offers a series of suggestions regarding measures that can be taken to protect consumer privacy and security. In the study, 86 studies published in 64 different sources between 2018 and 2024 are analyzed in terms of scientific performance with different bibliometric techniques. According to the prominent findings of the study, it is understood that the highest number of scientific publications were published in 2023; each publication received an average of 17 citations; single-author studies constitute 25% of all studies; and the most publications were published in the Journal of Metaverse. It is thought that the results revealed in this study and the suggested coping strategies regarding privacy and security will contribute to future studies. However, our proposed strategies for addressing privacy and security threats in the metaverse will provide guidance to service providers and consumers.