Sharia Fintech Research Trends Bibliometric Analysis, Scientific Publications in 2017-2025

Electronic Journal of Education, Social Economics and Technology Vol. 6, No. 2, (2025), pp. 1~11, Article ID: 890 ISSN 2723-6250 (online) DOI: https://doi.org/10.33122/ejeset.v6i2.890 Research Article Sharia Fintech Research Trends Bibliometric Analysis, Scientific Publications in 2017-2025 Maimuna*, & Firman Setiawan Department of Sharia Economics, Universitas Trunojoyo, Madura, Indonesia, 69162 *Author Correspondent: | Phone: +6281932750702 ABSTRACT This study uses a bibliometric analysis of the publication trends of Islamic fintech from 2017 to 2025. The purpose of this study is to observe the development of publications on sharia fintech and find future research avenues and opportunities. The results of the data obtained were analyzed using quantitative-descriptive methods through the Publish or Perish application, Microsoft Excel, and VOSviewer after being collected from Google Scholar using the keyword "sharia fintech". The results show that the number of publications increased from 2017 to reaching its peak in 2023, but experienced a drastic decline in 2024 and 2025. Through bibliometric analysis, topic mapping found five main clusters: Islamic banking services, the development of sharia-based digital crowdfunding, post-COVID-19 digital transformation, and the integration or incorporation of sharia principles and technologies such as blockchain and artificial intelligence (AI). The results of the visualization of trends regarding sharia fintech have undergone a change from the pandemic to the development of halal technology and sharia business models. This research makes an important contribution in enriching our understanding of the direction and gaps of research that are still open in the future. This study enhances our understanding of the progress of Islamic fintech and encourages collaboration between academics, regulators, and industry players to create innovative, inclusive digital solutions to develop Islamic fintech that is in accordance with Islamic principles and meets the needs of modern society. Keywords: Sharia Fintech; Bibliometrics; Publications; VOSviewer; Research Opportunities 1. INTRODUCTION Fintech is a form of business that uses advanced software and technology that focuses on financial services to facilitate online transactions. The Financial Technology (fintech) industry has become very popular in financial services in the digital age at this time (Mention, 2019). The merger of technology and financial systems is known as fintech, which emerged in Indonesia and resulted in various financial services applications such as means of payment, money storage, and loans (Eskandari, 2020). According to (Ilman, Noviskandariani, & Nurjihadi, 2019) Sharia Fintech is a financial technology and innovation based on sharia values to facilitate transactions and investments. Indonesian people can now make financial transactions online faster and easier thanks to this fintech. Islamic and conventional financial technology (fintech) are not much different, as they both aim to provide better financial services. The difference between the two lies in the financing contract that requires startups to follow Islamic law. This is an important part of the emergence of sharia fintech. (Aziz, 2020) The Government of Indonesia has listed Sharia Fintech in response to the Fatwa of the National Sharia Council of the Indonesian Ulema Council (DSN-MUI) Number 117/DSN MUI/II/2018 concerning Information Technology-Based Financing Services based on Sharia Principles (Susilawati, Sulaiman, Abduh, Prasetyo, & Athoillah, 2021) In addition, sharia fintech is subject to other rules. Among them is the Financial Services Authority Regulation (POJK) 77 of 2016 concerning Information Technology-Based Money Lending Services. (Sugiarto & Disemadi, 2020) The Indonesian people already know the presence of fintech, or financial technology. The emergence of fintech startups, both conventional and sharia, shows significant fintech developments in Indonesia. The fatwa issued by the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) states that sharia fintech is carried out in accordance with Islamic law, so that the agreements used during the transaction process are based on Islamic law. The contract concept used for all sharia fintech transactions includes mudharabah contracts and musharakah contracts (Aulia, Yustiardhi, & Permatasari, 2020) Islamic fintech has presented new financial products and services that are in line with sharia principles, enabling the fulfillment of previously unmet financial needs, this development also brings new challenges. One of them is in terms of Page 1 of 11 Maimuna Electronic Journal of Education, Social Economic and Technology, Vol. 6, No. 2, (2025), pp.1~11, Article ID: 890 legal regulations. Like the financial industry in general, Islamic fintech must also be regulated to ensure market stability, integrity, and fairness (Muryanto, Kharisma, & Ciptorukmi Nugraheni, 2022) Islamic fintech has revolutionized the way Islamic financial institutions operate by adopting digital technology to improve operational efficiency. The application of this technology enables process automation, reduced operational costs, and increased service speed (Kesuma, Budiartha, & Wesna, 2021) In recent years, academic research on Islamic fintech in Indonesia has increased along with the development of the industry (Abdo, 2025) Although the sharia fintech industry in scientific article publishing has experienced rapid growth over the past decade, Google Scholar search results show that most of the previous research is still thematic, normative, and tends to be descriptive (Alipal, Lee, Koshy, Abdullah, & Idris, 2021). Previous research has only addressed general topics such as the role of fintech in financial inclusion, regulatory issues, and its impact on MSMEs, without creating a comprehensive scientific map (Haryanto, 2025). To date, there has been no research that systematically describes year-to-year trends in Islamic fintech publications, categorizes key research themes or clusters, and identifies the most contributing authors based on the number of publications and citations (Qudah et al., 2023). In addition, the structure of inter-topic relationships, and opportunities for future research trends have not been demonstrated using bibliometric approaches with the support of analytical tools such as VOSviewer and publish or perish. from this research presents a novelty by conducting a bibliometric analysis of sharia fintech scientific publications in Indonesia from 2017 to 2025 (Chen, 2017). This analysis shows the dynamics and direction of research and emphasizes research gaps that have not been widely researched as the basis for future research development (Chong, Heng, Lim, Navaratnam, & Neoh, 2021). Therefore, this study aims to provide an understanding and overview of the topic trends and research opportunities in the field of sharia fintech, by using a bibliometric approach to anal (...truncated)