Mapping the Intellectual Structure and Thematic Evolution of Digital Transformation and Sustainability in Higher Education: A PRISMA-Based Bibliometric Analysis

The growing convergence of digital transformation and sustainability has increasingly reshaped how higher education institutions respond to technological change, societal expectations, and global sustainability agendas. While a substantial body of research has emerged at this intersection, existing studies remain fragmented across disciplinary boundaries, limiting a systematic understanding of how the intellectual structure and thematic orientation of this field have evolved over time. Against this backdrop, this study conducts a combined systematic review and bibliometric analysis to map the intellectual structure and thematic evolution of research on digital transformation and sustainability in higher education. Following the PRISMA 2020 protocol, a dataset of 768 peer-reviewed journal articles and review papers published between 2015 and 2025 was retrieved from the Scopus database and analyzed using VOSviewer and Biblioshiny. The results reveal a clear shift from early technologyoriented and adoption-focused research toward a more integrated research agenda in which sustainability, higher education, and digitally enabled pedagogical and institutional transformations are increasingly intertwined. In recent years, advanced digital technologies and governance-related themes have emerged as key drivers, while sustainability has evolved into a central organizing concept linking technological, pedagogical, and strategic perspectives within higher education research.