Islamic banking efficiency literature (2000–2020) : a bibliometric analysis and research front mapping

Purpose: This paper aims to present a citation-based bibliometric review of Islamic banking efficiency literature from 2000 until August 2020 for analyzing the content of the literature and mapping future research directions. Design/methodology/approach: Using bibliometric citation analysis, this study reviews and examines a total of 278 documents from Web of Science (WoS) indexed sources coupled with content analysis. Findings: The results identified that the growth of Islamic banking efficiency literature has begun to rise since 2008 with an annual growth rate of 12.5% while identifying the most influential aspects of Islamic banking efficiency literature in terms of topics, papers, authors and keywords. The outcomes of science mapping (i.e. co-citation network, bibliometric coupling and co-authorship network) reveal that there are three underlying research streams in Islamic banking efficiency literature: growth of Islamic banking efficiency literature, stability and genuineness of Islamic banking operations and the methods in Islamic banking efficiency literature. Originality/value: To the best of the knowledge, this is the first bibliometric review paper on Islamic banking efficiency literature. It successfully unveils the scientific mapping of published WoS documents with a future research agenda also proposed based on the review outcomes. These findings can be used in efficiency-related initiatives by managers or regulators for managing Islamic bank operations worldwide.