DIGITAL LITERACY IN ASEAN HIGHER EDUCATION: A TWO-DECADE BIBLIOMETRIC REVIEW

Abstract

This study provides the first comprehensive, two-decade bibliometric review of digital literacy research in ASEAN higher education. While the field is of critical importance for the region's economic and social development, its intellectual and collaborative structure has remained unmapped. Using a dataset of 248 articles retrieved from the Scopus database (2005–2024), we employ performance analysis and science mapping to chart the research landscape. The findings reveal a significant paradox: the field has experienced explosive publication growth, with over 75% of all research published in the last five years, yet it remains profoundly fragmented. Co-authorship analysis at the country, institution, and author levels reveals a community fractured into national and institutional silos with minimal cross-border collaboration. This social fragmentation is mirrored by a disconnected intellectual base, confirmed by a co-citation analysis showing no shared theoretical foundation among the field's foundational scholars. We conclude that the field's rapid, crisis-driven growth has not yet led to maturity. By mapping these structural weaknesses, this study offers a clear, evidence-based agenda for fostering the cohesion needed to build a more impactful and sustainable research ecosystem.