2026· International journal of research and scientific innovation· 0 citations
Abstract
Purpose: This study maps the development of research on continuing education and lifelong learning in rural settings from 2000 to 2025, focusing on publication growth, disciplinary patterns, influential institutions, geographical distribution, collaboration networks, and the intellectual structure of the field.
Design/methodology/approach: A quantitative bibliometric design was applied to English-language journal articles indexed in Scopus. Records were retrieved using a structured search of titles, abstracts, and keywords and analysed through Scopus analytical tools, Microsoft Excel, and VOSviewer. Performance analysis examined publication trends, subject areas, institutions, and countries, while science-mapping techniques assessed country co-authorship, author collaboration, and keyword co-occurrence.
Findings: Research output increased substantially, from 30 publications in 2000 to 122 in 2025, with especially rapid growth after 2020. Medicine and Social Sciences dominated the disciplinary landscape, followed by Nursing. The University of Toronto was the most productive institution, while the United States, Canada, Australia, and the United Kingdom accounted for most publications. International collaboration was extensive but uneven, with the United States, Australia, Canada, India, and several European countries acting as major hubs. The intellectual structure comprised five clusters centred on clinical continuing education, adult learning and community development, rural health workforce capacity, communication and palliative care, and maternal, newborn, and emergency-care education.
Research limitations/implications: The study was limited to English-language, Scopus-indexed journal articles and may therefore underrepresent non-English and locally published rural scholarship.
Originality/value: This study provides a comprehensive global mapping of rural continuing education and lifelong learning research across a 26-year period and integrates productivity, collaboration, and thematic analyses within a single framework.
This bibliometric study maps the development of research on women in STEM education using 348 Scopus-indexed, English-language, open-access publications spanning 2006-2025. Bibliographic records were retrieved on June 12, 2025, and analyzed using Biblioshiny through performance analysis, keyword co-occurrence, co-authorship, co-citation, thematic mapping, and historiographic analysis. The field recorded an annual growth rate of 14.45%, with publication output increasing markedly after 2015 and remaining high after 2020. PLOS ONE was the most productive source, followed by CBE-Life Sciences Education and Sustainability, while highly cited publications by Stoet and Geary and Dennehy and Dasgupta formed important intellectual foundations for research on gender disparities, mentoring, and institutional intervention. Collaboration was extensive: 313 of the 348 documents (89.9%) were multi-authored, and 97.8% of authors contributed to co-authored publications. However, 76% of the scholarly output originated from the Global North, indicating persistent geographical imbalance. Conceptual mapping identified a pedagogical cluster centered on education, gender, students, mathematics, and engineering, alongside a demographic and indexing cluster dominated by female, male, human, and adult. The analysis also revealed limited attention to technology education, intersectional perspectives, and Global South contexts. Overall, the literature is substantively aligned with SDGs 4 and 5 through its focus on equitable access, participation, retention, and institutional inclusion. The findings support more reciprocal North-South partnerships, context-sensitive intervention studies, and stronger integration of intersectional and technology-focused research.
A. Prakoso, Zain Fuadi Muhammad Roziqifath, M. Ghofur et al.· Jurnal Penelitian dan Pengka...· 0 citations
Lifelong learning has become an increasingly important function of higher education; however, research on its implementation remains fragmented across technologies, pedagogies, institutional arrangements, and learner contexts. This study maps the development and characteristics of lifelong learning practices in higher education from 2019 to 2024 using a two-phase design that combines bibliometric analysis with a systematic literature review. Following the PRISMA 2020 guidelines, an initial Scopus search identified 2,709 records. After predefined filters were applied, 285 documents were retained for bibliometric analysis using VOSviewer, while 23 studies that met the eligibility and quality criteria were included in the thematic synthesis. The bibliometric analysis revealed substantial growth in scholarly attention, with annual publication output increasing from 27 documents in 2019 to 94 in 2024. Research activity was geographically widespread but concentrated in several leading countries and institutions. Keyword networks positioned higher education and lifelong learning as central themes linked to adult education, self-directed learning, digital provision, employability, professional development, micro-credentials, and sustainability. The systematic review identified a shift from isolated continuing education activities towards broader lifelong learning ecosystems incorporating flexible and non-formal provision, digital and open learning, experiential curriculum design, staff development, alumni engagement, and intergenerational participation. Across these contexts, effective practices were associated with learner autonomy, authenticity, reflection, collaboration, digital competence, and institutional support. Explicit instructional models, however, remained uncommon, implementation was often fragmented, and the available evidence was constrained by short-term evaluations, inconsistent outcome measures, and the underrepresentation of marginalised learners. The study concludes that lifelong learning should be understood as a context-dependent institutional function whose effectiveness depends on the alignment of learner-centred pedagogy, purposeful technology use, inclusive access, coherent governance, and responsiveness to social and professional change.
Received: 16 March 2026 / Accepted: 27 July 2026 / Published: September 2026
Lubna Ahmed K. Ebrahim· Journal of Educational and S...· 0 citations
Background Transformative learning explains changes in pre-service teachers’ frames of reference, yet previous mapping studies have examined the theory broadly, within higher education, or in specific domains such as sustainability. This study maps the development, contributors, intellectual and conceptual structures, and thematic evolution of transformative learning research in pre-service teacher education. Methods Data were retrieved from Scopus on 29 July 2026 without restrictions on publication year or language. The search identified 237 documents; after excluding non-article records and ineligible articles, 112 journal articles were analysed. Performance analysis used Bibliometrix/Biblioshiny, while keyword co-occurrence and author co-citation networks were constructed with VOSviewer. Author, institution, country, and keyword metadata were normalised before analysis. Results The corpus comprised 112 articles published between 2001 and 2026 across 74 sources and authored by 246 researchers. Annual growth reached 8.67%, while international collaboration accounted for 13.39% of articles. The Journal of Transformative Education was the most productive source; Katrina Liu had the highest citation impact; and Queensland University of Technology was the most productive institution. The conceptual structure centred on transformative learning, teacher education, pre-service teachers, and critical reflection. Mezirow continued to dominate the intellectual structure, while recent themes shifted towards culturally responsive pedagogy, sustainability, online learning, assessment, and pedagogical competence. Data for 2026 include only publications indexed up to 29 July. Conclusions The field has grown more consistently since 2020, although productivity and collaboration remain dispersed. Mezirow’s theoretical foundation persists, while its application in pre-service teacher education increasingly connects professional identity, field experiences, diversity, and sustainability. Longitudinal, comparative, and non-Western studies are needed to determine whether perspective changes endure in teaching practice.
Haris Firmansyah, Wawan Darmawan, N. Suryana et al.· F1000Research· 0 citations
Scientific literacy has become a key competency in contemporary science education, particularly amid the post-pandemic landscape marked by accelerating digitalization, expanding access to information, and growing demand for evidence-based decision-making. Although literature on scientific literacy continues to expand, understanding of recent research developments remains limited. This study aims to examine research trends, intellectual structures, and emerging themes in scientific literacy research within educational contexts from 2022-2025. A bibliometric approach was adopted using data retrieved from the Scopus database through a systematic search and screening process guided by the PRISMA framework, with publications analyzed via Microsoft Excel and VOSviewer to assess publication growth, geographical and institutional contributions, citation performance, and keyword co-occurrence networks. The results indicate a substantial increase in publication output after 2023, with the United States, Indonesia, and China as leading contributors, reflecting the global scope of the field and disparities in national research capacities. Institutional analysis reveals broad participation across universities and research organizations, while citation and keyword analyses point to inquiry-based learning, scientific reasoning, critical thinking, and emerging themes including socioscientific issues and technology-enhanced education. These findings signal a shift toward competency-based frameworks emphasizing reasoning and evidence evaluation, informing curriculum development and future research.
This study examines the development of global school immersion program research over the past five decades by identifying publication trends, influential contributors, thematic evolution, and emerging research directions while deriving lessons for Malaysia’s multicultural educational context. A bibliometric analysis was conducted using 1,491 journal articles indexed in the Scopus database between 1976 and 2026. Performance analysis and science-mapping techniques were applied using Harzing’s Publish or Perish and VOSviewer to analyse publication patterns, citation performance, collaboration networks, and keyword co-occurrence relationships. The results reveal substantial growth in school immersion program research, particularly after 2015, indicating increasing global interest in immersion-based education. Research output is dominated by the United States and Canada, while bilingual education, language immersion, and intercultural learning remain the core themes. Keyword analysis shows a gradual expansion towards medical education, experiential learning, virtual reality, e-learning, and professional competency development. The findings suggest that immersion scholarship has evolved from a language-focused domain into a broader interdisciplinary field encompassing educational, behavioural, technological, and professional learning contexts. The study extends the conceptualisation of school immersion from language-focused learning towards a broader interdisciplinary conceptual framework integrating intercultural, behavioural, experiential, technological, and competency development dimensions. The findings provide insights for policymakers and educational institutions, particularly in Malaysia, to strengthen immersion-related planning, teacher preparation, intercultural learning, and technology-enhanced educational initiatives. This study offers one of the earliest comprehensive bibliometric analyses of school immersion program research, providing a structured understanding of its intellectual development, research gaps, and future directions.
Zarawahida Zakaria, Mohd Suffian Mohamed Esa· International journal of res...· 0 citations
Purpose This study aims to map global research trends, intellectual structures, and thematic developments in learning media development within geography education and closely related geospatial, geoscience, and environmental education contexts from 2015 to 2025.
Design/methods/approach – A bibliometric approach was employed using data retrieved from the Scopus database. Following a PRISMA-based screening process, 705 eligible articles were selected from 2,752 initial records. Data were analyzed using VOSviewer 1.6.20 and Microsoft Excel through publication trend analysis, bibliographic coupling, and keyword co-occurrence mapping.
Findings – The results indicate a substantial increase in publications after 2020, reflecting the accelerated digital transformation of education. Indonesia emerged as the leading contributor under the full-counting approach. Bibliographic coupling analysis revealed a transition from digital and contextual learning media toward AR/VR-based environments and AI-supported educational innovations. Keyword co-occurrence analysis identified dominant themes such as mobile learning, augmented reality, virtual reality, and sustainability, while artificial intelligence, digital literacy, and critical thinking emerged as weak-signal research themes identified through complementary descriptive keyword analysis.
Research implications/limitations – The study is limited to English-language open-access journal articles indexed in the Scopus database and therefore may not fully represent the broader literature.
Originality/value – This study provides a comprehensive bibliometric mapping of learning media development across geography education and related geospatial, geoscience, and environmental education domains, revealing its intellectual evolution, thematic structure, and emerging research frontiers.
N. Fitriani, Sugiyanto, S. B. Ajar· Information Technology Educa...· 0 citations
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