Evolution Of Halal Research: A Bibliometric For 1996 – 2020

The purpose of this review was to examine the evolution of halal research across various sectors in the last two decades, identify research gaps, and explore future research directions. This study employed the Scopus database to identify articles with the term “halal” within the publication year of 1996 to 2020. Bibliometric and network analyses were performed on 1770 articles using VOSviewer software 1.6.13. Citation metrics were generated using Publish and Perish v7 software. Halal research themes encompassed different disciplines. Halal authentication was found to be the largest cluster among a total of 10 clusters. Emerging research areas include halal cosmetics, halal food supply chains, and halal tourism. Islamic finance and banking were found to be relevant in the halal ecosystem. Untapped areas include modest fashion, halal media and recreation, halal curriculum, halal science, and interrelationship between halal practice and Islamic faith. Responding to the COVID-19 pandemic, technologies surrounding digitisation and the Internet of Things are foreseen to be re-emerging hot areas. This study covers comprehensive halal research topics, including banking and financial aspects. A summary of recent bibliometric studies on halal is included in the discussion. The study also accentuates the keyword analysis that has enabled the identification of mature, emerging, and untapped clusters of halal research. The evolution of halal research was mapped to the Islamic economic sectors of the Global Islamic Economy Report to provide cogent arguments on the halal research landscape.