Pattern detection in cloud computing: Bibliometric mapping of publications in the field from past to present

Abstract

The use of cloud computing has become widespread with the rapid development of technology. In this context, it is important to make a bibliometric analysis to identify developments in cloud computing research and to guide future research. For bibliometric analysis of cloud computing research, this study examines 48692 studies scanned in the Web of Science database as of July 2021, without year and index limits. VOSviewer software was used for bibliometric analysis. Bibliometric analysis showed that the research in the field of cloud computing increased exponentially until 2016, but after 2016, the research decreased and turned to more specific areas. China, USA, and India, respectively, are the countries that contributed the most to the cloud computing literature. According to the keyword co-occurrence analysis, the prominent keywords are fog computing, mobile cloud computing, data security, and trust. In addition, edge computing and blockchain stand out as trending topics in recent years. Future Generation Computer Systems and IEEE Access are the journals that contribute the most to the field. Taken as a whole, the findings of the study describe the field in general and provide important, enlightening, and stimulating information for researchers who are or will be interested in cloud computing.