Exploring the Landscape of Curriculum Quality Management in Higher Education

Abstract

This study aimed to map global publication trends, intellectual structures, and thematic orientations in research on curriculum quality management in higher education, using data retrieved from the Scopus database from the earliest publications up to 2025. A descriptive bibliometric approach was employed using Biblioshiny and VOSviewer to analyze 525 selected documents, including journal articles, conference proceedings, and review papers. The findings revealed a steady increase in publication activity over the past two decades, with a notable peak in 2024, indicating growing global attention to curriculum quality in higher education. The distribution of publication sources reflected the field’s interdisciplinary nature, with strong contributions from engineering and health professions education. At the institutional level, the University of California and McGill University emerged as leading contributors, while the United States, Australia, and the United Kingdom dominated publication output. An analysis of highly cited publications showed that influential studies mainly originated from professional education, particularly medical, and health professions education, and emphasized competency-based training, curriculum evaluation, and quality improvement. The thematic analysis identified several core research areas, including curriculum development and accreditation, professional education and clinical training, learning outcome–based evaluation, and institutional strategies for curriculum improvement. Emerging topics such as curriculum mapping, simulation-based learning, and mentoring systems indicated a shift toward more evidence-based and practice-oriented approaches to curriculum quality management.