This study aimed to conceptualize and structure the factors influencing topic selection in thematic integrative reading and to examine how these factors function throughout the reading process and shape learners’ understanding. To achieve this purpose, a literature-based qualitative content analysis was conducted on 53 domestic and international studies published between 2000 and 2024. The analysis identified four overarching factors influencing topic selection in thematic integrative reading: reader-related factors, curriculum-related factors, text-related factors, and reading-action factors. These factors function by shaping learners’ entry conditions and engagement, aligning reading activities with curricular goals, organizing principles for text sets, and structuring the cognitive and metacognitive actions required during the reading process. To establish the conceptual validity of the proposed factor structure, a two-round Delphi survey was conducted with seven experts in the field. All four factors met the predefined consensus criteria and were confirmed as the final factor structure. This study reconceptualizes topic selection not as a preliminary step, but as a core theoretical and instructional design process that organizes thematic integrative reading. The proposed framework provides a theoretical foundation for future empirical research and instructional design related to thematic integrative reading. This study is significant in that it reconceptualizes topic selection not as a preliminary procedural step in thematic integrated reading, but as a core theoretical construct that organizes reading design. Furthermore, the factor framework derived from this study can serve as both a theoretical reference and a practical analytical tool for examining the validity of topic selection in instructional design, textbook development, and research on reading education.
Seo et al. (2026) studied this question.