BIBLIOMETRIC MAPPING OF PHYSICS EDUCATION RESEARCH FOCUSED ON SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS: GLOBAL TRENDS, INTELLECTUAL STRUCTURE, AND THEMATIC EVOLUTION

Abstract

The integration of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) into education has generated increasing scholarly attention, yet comprehensive bibliometric mappings of SDG-focused research within physics education remain limited. This study aims to examine the global development, intellectual structure, and thematic evolution of physics education research shaped around the SDGs. A bibliometric analysis was conducted using 226 articles retrieved from the Web of Science and Scopus databases. Data were analyzed through performance analysis and science mapping techniques using the Bibliometrix/Biblioshiny package in RStudio. The findings reveal that publication output accelerated markedly after 2019, although citation impact has developed more gradually, suggesting an early stage of maturation. Scientific production and collaboration are concentrated around a limited number of core authors, institutions, journals, and countries, with the United States occupying a central position in international collaboration networks. Citation analyses indicate a divergence between global visibility and local intellectual centrality, while keyword-based analyses show that the literature is organized around a strong disciplinary core of “physics” and “physics education,” with sustainability themes integrated into this structure. Overall, the field demonstrates cumulative growth characterized by conceptual continuity rather than fragmented thematic expansion.