Crimes in the Virtual World: A Bibliometric Analysis

The rapid expansion of digital technologies has transformed crime into new dimensions within virtual environments, making “crimes in the virtual world” a critical subject of scholarly investigation. Despite the growing number of studies, there remains a lack of comprehensive understanding of research patterns, collaboration networks, and thematic developments in this field. To address this gap, this study employs a bibliometric analysis to systematically examine existing literature and uncover knowledge structures. Data were collected using the Scopus database through an advanced search strategy, yielding a total of 1,068 documents relevant to the theme. The dataset was cleaned and harmonised using OpenRefine, followed by statistical and graphical analyses conducted through the Scopus Analyzer. Furthermore, VOSviewer software was employed to generate visualisation maps, including keyword co-occurrence networks, co-authorship collaborations, and thematic clusters. The findings reveal significant publication growth over the past decade, with notable contributions from leading countries such as India, the United States, and the United Kingdom. Keyword co-occurrence analysis highlighted dominant research foci on cybercrime, computer crime, cybersecurity, and digital forensics, while emerging topics such as artificial intelligence, blockchain, and machine learning suggest evolving interdisciplinary approaches. Co-authorship analysis demonstrated that research collaboration is concentrated among a few developed nations, although participation from emerging economies is steadily increasing. These results provide empirical evidence of the dynamic and interdisciplinary nature of virtual world crime research, emphasising both technological and socio-legal perspectives. In conclusion, this study enriches the body of knowledge by offering a structured overview of global research trends, identifying thematic strengths and gaps, and providing valuable insights for future scholarly directions, policymaking, and international collaboration in combating crimes in the virtual world.

crimes, cybercrimes, online, virtual

1. T. Gorrindo and J. E. Groves, “Crime and hate in virtual worlds: A new playground for the Id,” Harv. Rev. Psychiatry, vol. 18, no. 2, pp. 113–118, 2010, doi: 10.3109/10673221003683937. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

2. A. Guinchard, “Crime in virtual worlds: The limits of criminal law,” Int. Rev. Law, Comput. Technol., vol. 24, no. 2, pp. 175–182, 2010, doi: 10.1080/13600861003748284. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

3. E. Haber, “The Criminal Metaverse,” Indiana Law J., vol. 99, no. 3, pp. 843–891, 2024, [Online]. Available:https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85197465131&partnerID=40&md5=b5a2fa27e91eaf7f73fbfd95019b89cf [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

4. W. R. W. Rosli, S. Kamaruddin, A. M. Mohamad, N. N. M. Saufi, and Z. Hamin, “Governing Cyber Espionage Threats via the Integration of the Risk Society-Cyber Securitisation Theory,” in 3rd IEEE International Virtual Conference on Innovations in Power and Advanced Computing Technologies, i-PACT 2021, Universiti Teknologi, MARA, Faculty of Law, Selangor, Malaysia: Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc., 2021. doi: 10.1109/i-PACT52855.2021.9696812. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

5. C. Barbieri, I. Grattagliano, and R. Catanesi, “Crimes without a body: reflections on a case series of online crimes,” Forensic Sci. Res., vol. 8, no. 4, pp. 328–331, 2023, doi: 10.1093/fsr/owad035. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

6. M. Boskovic, G. Misev, and N. Putnik, Analyzing New Forms of Social Disorders in Modern Virtual Environments. 2023. doi: 10.4018/978-1-6684-5760-3. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

7. S. Lakhani, “Perspectives on Internet-Based Crimes,” in Criminal Psychology and the Criminal Justice System in India and Beyond, 2021, pp. 145–153. doi: 10.1007/978-981-16-4570-9_9. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

8. A. Bhardwaj, “Navigating the metaverse: Forecasting cybercrime in the new age of virtual reality,” in Forecasting Cyber Crimes in the Age of the Metaverse, 2023, pp. 33–65. doi: 10.4018/9798369302200.ch003. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

9. S. D. Keene, “Emerging threats: financial crime in the virtual world,” J. Money Laund. Control, vol. 15, no. 1, pp. 25–37, 2011, doi: 10.1108/13685201211194718. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

10. [10] N. C. Patterson and M. Hobbs, “A multidiscipline approach to governing virtual property theft in virtual worlds,” in IFIP Advances in Information and Communication Technology, 2010, pp. 161–171. doi: 10.1007/978-3-642-15479-9_15. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

11. C. Chambers, “Can you ever regulate the virtual world against economic crime?,” J. Int. Commer. Law Technol., vol. 7, no. 4, pp. 339–349, 2012, [Online]. Available: https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-84867182025&partnerID=40&md5=e3ead851846a4080b48a6b7d0093427c [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

12. H. X. Qin, Y. Wang, and P. Hui, “Identity, crimes, and law enforcement in the Metaverse,” Humanit. Soc. Sci. Commun., vol. 12, no. 1, 2025, doi: 10.1057/s41599-024-04266-w. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

13. G. C. López, A. D. de la Rosa Gómez, R. D. Figueroa, and X. D. Baca, “Virtual reality exposure for trauma and stress-related disorders for city violence crime victims,” in Technology, Rehabilitation and Empowerment of People with Special Needs, 2015, pp. 61–72. [Online]. Available: https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-84958597023&partnerID=40&md5=1ba19251d11b6f710d0af6fd5ec1238a [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

14. A. Palassis, C. P. Speelman, and J. A. Pooley, “An Exploration of the Psychological Impact of Hacking Victimization,” SAGE Open, vol. 11, no. 4, 2021, doi: 10.1177/21582440211061556. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

15. [15] R. V. D. S. Silva, H. S. Dias Moura, P. N. A. Betetti, F. L. D. Santos, and C. M. Fortuna, “Virtual Violence as a Contributing Factor to the Mental Health of Young People: A Scoping Review,” Can. J. Nurs. Res., 2025, doi: 10.1177/08445621251364528. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

16. [16] N. K. Singh, R. K. Ray, N. Silayach, D. P. Dash, and A. Singh, “Avatars at risk: Exploring public response to sexual violence in immersive digital spaces,” Comput. Human Behav., vol. 163, 2025, doi: 10.1016/j.chb.2024.108500. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

17. [17] R. Rice, “Augmented reality tools for enhanced forensics simulations and crime scene analysis,” in Working Through Synthetic Worlds, 2012, pp. 201–213. [Online]. Available: https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-84938073815&partnerID=40&md5=841c4316c34c9b3a5b27c4600ca51ddc [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

18. [18] J. L. Alves, I. B. Borges, and J. De Nadae, “Sustainability in complex projects of civil construction: Bibliometric and bibliographic review,” Gest. e Prod., vol. 28, no. 4, 2021, doi: 10.1590/1806-9649-2020v28e5389. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

19. D. S. Assyakur and E. M. Rosa, “Spiritual Leadership in Healthcare: A Bibliometric Analysis,” J. Aisyah J. Ilmu Kesehat., vol. 7, no. 2, 2022, doi: 10.30604/jika.v7i2.914. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

20. A. Verbeek, K. Debackere, M. Luwel, and E. Zimmermann, “Measuring progress and evolution in science and technology - I: The multiple uses of bibliometric indicators,” Int. J. Manag. Rev., vol. 4, no. 2, pp. 179–211, 2002, doi: 10.1111/1468-2370.00083. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

21. Y. C. J. Wu and T. Wu, “A decade of entrepreneurship education in the Asia Pacific for future directions in theory and practice,” 2017. doi: 10.1108/MD-05-2017-0518. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

22. B. Fahimnia, J. Sarkis, and H. Davarzani, “Green supply chain management: A review and bibliometric analysis,” 2015. doi: 10.1016/j.ijpe.2015.01.003. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

23. A. Al-Khoury et al., “Intellectual Capital History and Trends: A Bibliometric Analysis Using Scopus Database,” Sustain., vol. 14, no. 18, 2022, doi: 10.3390/su141811615. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

24. G. di Stefano, M. Peteraf, and G. Veronay, “Dynamic capabilities deconstructed: A bibliographic investigation into the origins, development, and future directions of the research domain,” Ind. Corp. Chang., vol. 19, no. 4, pp. 1187–1204, 2010, doi: 10.1093/icc/dtq027. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

25. G. P. Khiste and R. R. Paithankar, “Analysis of Bibliometric term in Scopus,” Int. Res. J., vol. 01, no. 32, pp. 78–83, 2017. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

26. N. J. van Eck and L. Waltman, “Software survey: VOSviewer, a computer program for bibliometric mapping,” Scientometrics, vol. 84, no. 2, pp. 523–538, 2010, doi: 10.1007/s11192-009-0146-3. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

27. N. J. van Eck and L. Waltman, “Citation-based clustering of publications using CitNetExplorer and VOSviewer,” Scientometrics, vol. 111, no. 2, pp. 1053–1070, 2017, doi: 10.1007/s11192-017-2300-7. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

28. F. P. Appio, F. Cesaroni, and A. Di Minin, “Visualizing the structure and bridges of the intellectual property management and strategy literature: a document co-citation analysis,” Scientometrics, vol. 101, no. 1, pp. 623–661, 2014, doi: 10.1007/s11192-014-1329-0. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

29. N. J. Van Eck and L. Waltman, “Bibliometric mapping of the computational intelligence field,” in International Journal of Uncertainty, Fuzziness and Knowldege-Based Systems, 2007, pp. 625–645. doi: 10.1142/S0218488507004911. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

30. ]H. S. Singh Lallie et al., “Cyber security in the age of COVID-19: A timeline and analysis of cyber-crime and cyber-attacks during the pandemic,” Comput. Secur., vol. 105, 2021, doi: 10.1016/j.cose.2021.102248. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

31. A. Hutchings and T. J. Holt, “A crime script analysis of the online stolen data market,” Br. J. Criminol., vol. 55, no. 3, pp. 596–614, 2015, doi: 10.1093/bjc/azu106. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

32. S. Brayne and A. Christin, “Technologies of Crime Prediction: The Reception of Algorithms in Policing and Criminal Courts,” Soc. Probl., vol. 68, no. 3, pp. 608–624, 2021, doi: 10.1093/socpro/spaa004. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

33. U. Buck, S. Naether, B. Räss, C. Jackowski, and M. J. Thali, “Accident or homicide - Virtual crime scene reconstruction using 3D methods,” Forensic Sci. Int., vol. 225, no. 1–3, pp. 75–84, 2013, doi: 10.1016/j.forsciint.2012.05.015. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

34. R. Broadhurst, P. Grabosky, M. Alazab, and S. Chon, “Organizations and cyber crime: An analysis of the nature of groups engaged in cyber crime,” Int. J. Cyber Criminol., vol. 8, no. 1, pp. 1–20, 2014, [Online]. Available: https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-84901820106&partnerID=40&md5=b28b5a91fa6e528515e3d480d1eb70df [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

35. D. Maimon and E. R. Louderback, “Cyber-Dependent Crimes: An Interdisciplinary Review,” Annu. Rev. Criminol., vol. 2, pp. 191–216, 2019, doi: 10.1146/annurev-criminol-032317-092057. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

• “Next-Generation Cybersecurity Through Blockchain and AI Synergy: A Paradigm Shift in Intelligent Threat Mitigation and Decentralised Security”
• Forensic Payroll Analytics for IPPIS: A Hybrid Anomaly-Detection Framework to Expose Payroll Fraud, Improve Data Governance, and Protect Employee Rights
• Factors Influencing Data Protection on Global Trade
• Development Of Artificial Intelligence-Based Model for Forensic Analysis of Cross-Platform Deepfakes
• Cyber Threats and Nigeria’s National Security: Assessing the Role of Regional Cooperation in West Africa