E-learning quality literature: a scopus based bibliometric review

The popularity of e-learning has changed education and demands a comprehensive study of its quality, user satisfaction, and behavioural intentions. This study provides a comprehensive bibliometric overview of the research literature on e-learning quality to examine its periodic trends in publications, prominent journals, countries, institutions, articles, authors, conceptual and social frameworks, and intellectual networks. Data were gathered from Scopus, including publications from 2015 to 2024, yielding a final sample of 805 articles. Using RStudio and VOSviewer, the study analyses periodic trends, contributors, and conceptual and intellectual networks. The findings show global e-learning and education are experiencing rapid changes after 2020. Most publications come from China, and the top institution is ‘Shiraz University of Medical Sciences.’ ‘David Alexander Back’ is a significant author in this area. The main journal publishing research in this area is ‘Sustainability (Switzerland).’ ‘Kintu et al. (2017)’ and ‘Baber (2020)’ receive the most global citations for their work. ‘Blended learning,’ ‘online education,’ and ‘COVID-19’ emerge as the most popular keywords. Thematic mapping identifies niche fields like ‘digital learning,’ hybrid learning,’ ‘online learning.’ E-learning research is global, as collaboration analysis shows close connections between China, the US, and Pakistan. The current study also analysed journal productivity through Bradford’s, and the results align with the rules of the law. Overall, this research offers an in-depth assessment of the existing knowledge in e-learning quality, recognizing research gaps and describing potential future directions. The findings can help educators, practitioners, and academicians to enhance e-learning systems.