Exploring Functional Literacy Research in School Education: A Bibliometric Mapping of Trends and Collaborations

Abstract

This study maps the trends, collaborations, and thematic developments of functional literacy research in school education using a bibliometric approach. Data were retrieved from the Scopus database using targeted queries related to functional literacy, resulting in a final set of 730 documents after data filtering and cleaning. Analyses were conducted using Biblioshiny R and VOSviewer to examine publication trends, author and institutional collaborations, and keyword-based thematic structures. The findings reveal a significant growth in publications on functional literacy since 2018, and 2023–2024 saw their highest levels. Research output over this period has been largely led by scholars from the United States, the United Kingdom, and China, whereas growing contributions from researchers in developing countries have also broadened research perspectives. The majority of publications appear in education journals, as well as substantial contributions in health, economics, and multidisciplinary fields, thus illustrating the cross-sector nature of functional literacy research. Although author and institutional productivity remain relatively dispersed, several highly cited foundational works from health literacy, education, and economics continue to shape the field’s conceptual development. Six major clusters emerging from the thematic analysis include education and curriculum, health literacy, socioeconomic contexts, cognitive and developmental issues, adolescent and public health concerns, and epidemiological dimensions of illiteracy. Further, recent research trends point toward evolving areas, such as digital literacy, artificial intelligence, computational thinking, social media, mobile applications, and critical literacy, which underline the growing importance of functional literacy as a core competence for navigating technological change and the demands of 21st-century education. These observed patterns open up opportunities for future interdisciplinary research connecting digital transformation, social inequality, and literacy practices within school education.