A BIBLIOMETRIC ANALYSIS OF BLOCKCHAIN TECHNOLOGY AND VIRTUAL REALITY IN ENHANCING ACADEMIC INTEGRITY: FOCUS ON DIGITAL ASSESSMENT TOOLS IN THE EDUCATION SECTOR

Abstract

This paper performs a bibliometric review of blockchain technology and virtual reality (VR) in the education industry, and how the two particular technologies can improve academic honesty by utilizing digital assessment instruments. It will provide an overview of the existing research field, reveal its major trends, and will indicate gaps in knowledge in the newly developing field. This study employs bibliometric analysis technique to examine research articles, conference proceedings, and book chapters downloaded via the Scopus database. The relevant publications were retrieved using keywords, including "blockchain technology," "virtual reality," "academic integrity," and "digital assessment tools" and the education sector. Analysis will be done using co-citation, co-authorship, and key words co-occurrence to determine influential authors, Institution, journals, and themes emerging. The review demonstrates that the desire to implement blockchain technology and VR in education, namely, in improving academic integrity, is gaining interest. Blockchain tech is mainly researched in the area of safe credentialing and transparent recording, whereas VR is researched in terms of immersive and trustworthy assessment activities. The digital assessment tools can become a crucial domain where blockchain and VR are related to enhance academic integrity. The study shows the most prominent contributors, collaboration networks, and high-impact publications advancing the research in this area. The bibliometric results are informative to the researchers, educationists, and policymakers. The scholars can find the under researched gaps, including the combination of blockchain and VR with adaptive assessment systems. Investors can use the insights to inform funding and policy formulation to encourage educational technologies innovation. The presented bibliometric analysis gives a clear picture of the research scape of blockchain technology, VR, and digital assessment tools in education. It points to the overlapping nature of all these technologies towards ensuring academic integrity and provides a starting point to subsequent studies and implementations.