Islamic equities: a bibliometric review and future research direction (2000-2025)

Purpose This study aims to comprehensively analyse Islamic equities research by synthesising and reviewing previously published research to identify the gaps and provide future research direction. Several classifications are made, including analysing the most productive authors, the most influential journals, as well as collaborations between countries and highly cited articles. Design/methodology/approach This study includes queries such as “Islamic stocks”, “Islamic equity”, “Shariah-compliant stock” and “Shariah-compliant equity” as references in the “Article title, Abstract and Keywords” section, based on Scopus data from January 2000 to February 2025. The search found 560 English-written articles published by Scopus. Three different software programs, RStudio, VOSviewer and Excel, are used to analyse the data that depict, among others, the most impactful authors in the field, the top journals covering Islamic equities research, and the most cited document. Findings This study revealed an upward trend in the publication of Islamic equities from 2013 onwards, among Malaysia’s top ten affiliated institutions. Masih is the most impactful researcher, having 20 published articles. Malaysia is leading in citation count, followed by France and Tunisia. The Pacific Basin Finance Journal ranked highest in publication in this field, and collaboration between countries shows that Tunisia and Saudi Arabia have major collaborations, followed by collaborations among authors from Malaysia, the United Kingdom, Pakistan, Australia and Bangladesh. A thematic map and bibliographic coupling of the results of Islamic equity articles were also included in this paper. Research limitations/implications This study excludes non-Scopus sources and research produced outside of traditional publishing and distribution channels. Originality/value This comprehensive paper examines current research in Islamic equities. The findings of this research benefit practitioners and researchers who wish to research Islamic equities. This paper also discusses the societal and economic impact by providing a comprehensive overview of Islamic equity research trends, identifying knowledge gaps and proposing future research directions that support inclusive financial practices, ethical investing and evidence-based policy development across various jurisdictions.