Cyberbullying and bystanders: A bibliometric analysis

Abstract

The negative effects of cyberbullying are broad and have become a global problem, affecting people of multiple age groups and identities. Despite the growing body of research on cyberbullying, especially on bystanders and interventions, instances of ignored cyberbullying victimization still persist. This phenomenon suggests greater examination of current bystander research, and this literature therefore maps and analyses the research contributions in this field and identifies future lines of research. The research findings are based on an examination of academic publications listed in Web of Science in the period 2007–2024 which were mapped using the preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses technique and bibliometric software (VOSviewer and the R software package Biblioshiny). (1) Analysis of the data reveals the current distribution of published research findings in the field, identifying the most impactful journal as Computers in Human Behavior, the core author as Vandebosch, the most prolific affiliation as University of Antwerp, and the most prolific country as the USA. (2) Analysis of the data reveals collaboration patterns between authors and countries, showing same affiliation co-authors to predominate and a lack of collaboration between countries. (3) Analysis of the data parses research trends in bystander intervention behavior research and proposes the directions of future research should focus on examining multiple social media platforms and school-based coping strategies in cyberbullying. The content analysis of relevant articles conducted by this study should provide valuable clues for those researching or intending to enter this field of study, as well as help to raise the emphasis on such research in academia.