Mapping the global research landscape of virtual violence: a bibliometric analysis (2016–2025)

The primary aim of this study is to analyze the global research output on digital violence based on bibliographic records retrieved from the Scopus database for the period 2016–2025. Microsoft Excel and the latest version of VOSviewer were used for data analysis and visualization. After removing duplicate records, a total of 3,064 publications were selected for the final analysis. To examine publication trends, influential articles, highest cited countries, and keyword co-occurrence networks. The findings reveal a steady increase in research output, average 306.4 publications per year, with rapid growth after 2020, reflecting increasing scholarly attention to cyberbullying, cybercrime, deepfakes, and AI-driven digital violence. Citation analysis identified “Cultural Backlash: Trump, Brexit, and Authoritarian Populisms” (2,993 citations) as the most influential publication. The United States (790 publications) ranked first in research productivity, followed by the United Kingdom (350) and Australia (275). Keyword co-occurrence analysis generated 7 thematic clusters from 675 author keywords, highlighted “crime” (450 occurrences; 1,614 link strength) as the dominant research themes. The study provides a comprehensive overview of the intellectual structure and emerging trends in digital violence research, offering valuable directions for future interdisciplinary investigations and policy development in social science and other subjects.