The scientific discourse on university towns (UT) has progressed for a long time, with a surge of interest in recent years. However, a global overview of the research conducted on this topic have yet to exist. This paper aims to re-examine the relationship between UT and urbanization in literature. Built environment and people are often the most talked aspects in UT literatures. The variety of definitions remains largely uncharted. Policies behind UT development are also rarely studied. This article used an R studio-based bibliometric literature review to synthesize findings from various scientific literature. Keywords related to university towns and urban were used in digital search engines to examine and analyse the literature. Results revealed a significant gap in scientific research on critical theoretical concepts that planners can use as a guide in creating, formulating, and evaluating UT, especially in developing countries. This study promotes simplification of existing literature by examining the impact of UT on the stakeholders involved.

Fiscal decentralization is one of the policy implementations of regional autonomy, which authorizes local governments to manage their local finances independently. However, with the evolution of the times and the dynamics that are taking place, the application of fiscal decentralization worldwide is changing at each time of year. Therefore, it is necessary to investigate fiscal decentralization research temporarily over the course of four decades. The study aims to explain the development of research on fiscal decentralization over a period of four decades. This research integrates Scopus database to offer a thorough conceptual and structural overview of the field by integrating bibliometric approaches and content analysis. The research procedure begins with the determination of the scope of the research, the inclusion and exclusion criteria for the selection process, the collection of data on Publish or Perish (PoP), and the execution of bibliometric analysis on VosViewer. The research shows that the type of journal with the highest productivity has sub-topics of economy, public service, development, and environmental. The development of fiscal decentralization research has a positive upward trend and most of the top-ranked journals indicate that fiscal decentralization has links and influences with other variables. It is apparent that the most often keywords emerged and studied in the research on fiscal decentralization are related to efficiency, measure, role, degree, growth, and fiscal federalism. Meanwhile, the least frequent keywords are related to poverty and inequality, health outcome, environmental pollution, Latin America, South Africa, fiscal autonomy, corruption, OECD country, determinant, and public sector. These keywords are the future lines of research that may be used for future research on the topic of fiscal decentralization.

This research, with a qualitative approach, is based on a literature review and a press analysis related to mergers, acquisitions and dissolutions of Higher Education Institutions in South America. Our findings evidence a gap in the academic literature for analyzing and understanding these processes. The literature on the subject is scarce; however, the press has recorded them in a constant way. While in the past this phenomenon was mainly among public universities, currently it is a fundamentally private trend. The main reasons to carry out this process by Higher Education Institutions are those related to geographic expansion or positioning (for merger processes), absorption and concentration of institutions by groups of interest (for merger processes, acquisition) and, the crisis resulting from the financial-administrative management of the institutions, as well as the non-compliance with national and international quality standards designed by accreditation agencies and institutions (for dissolution processes). On the contrary of some literature results, in any of the processes the search for prestige or reputation by the institutions was detected as a reason.

The urgency of ecological problems has become increasingly complex, so responses from diverse parties are needed, including in the context of ecological citizenship. The general hypothesis proposed in this research is that the problem of climate change has an influence on the high level of attention of the global community, including academics, to environmental issues related to the active role of citizens demanding environmental justice and sustainable development. This study aims to explore globally published documents to provide an in-depth discussion concerning ecological citizenship. Bibliometric analysis was employed from the Scopus database. The main findings confirm the significant contribution of ecological citizenship in shaping global understanding of the role of individuals in maintaining environmental sustainability. The research theme mapping shows the diversity of issues that have been explored, with particular emphasis on environmental education and social justice, providing a basis for recommendations for future research. In particular, environmental education has been recognized as a critical element in shaping society’s understanding of environmental issues, while social justice underscores the importance of fair distribution and critical analysis of inequality in social and ecological contexts. Future research recommendations include the exploration of effective strategies in promoting the concept of ecological citizenship, developing a holistic environmental education curriculum, and more active research in the context of social justice in various regions, including Asia. This bibliometric analysis is expected to contribute substantially to formulating policies and practical actions that support the vision of inclusive ecological citizenship, which positively impacts overcoming global environmental challenges.

Islamic banking is one of the fastest-growing sectors of the financial industry. Several works have been written in this field, but none attempt to learn the entire Islamic banking and financial system. Furthermore, the study could not locate any publications investigating the conceptual and intellectual foundations of this emerging field of inquiry. The current study uses bibliometric methodologies to assess the current state of Islamic banking, financial research, and the upcoming trends. For the people who choose interest-free investments, the current research examines a conceptual research context on Islamic banking and finance at various planning and decision-making stages. One thousand research studies appearing in scholarly journals between 2005 and 2023 were reviewed for the purpose. In order to examine the works on Islamic banking and finance, bibliometric techniques were used, including analysis of citation network, content, co-citation, keyword, and publishing trends. By suggesting thirteen clusters, to enhance research on Islamic banking and finance to help interest-free investors learn more, the goal of the research is to promote the body of knowledge. The field of Islamic banking and finance has grown from a young lot to a prominent teaching and research tool. Investigating and identifying current research trends in this area is crucial. As institutions and society are placing more emphasis on Islamic banking to raise individual citizens’ responsibilities in developing interest-free investing strategies, the findings are crucial to the community of interest-free financiers. Further research urges with the studies not restricted to a thousand researches only.

Artificial intelligence (AI) has rapidly evolved, transforming industries and addressing societal challenges across sectors such as healthcare and education. This study provides a state-of-the-art overview of AI research up to 2023 through a bibliometric analysis of the 50 most influential papers, identified using Scopus citation metrics. The selected works, averaging 74 citations each, encompass original research, reviews, and editorials, demonstrating a diversity of impactful contributions. Over 300 contributing authors and significant international collaboration highlight AI’s global and multidisciplinary nature. Our analysis reveals that research is concentrated in core journals, as described by Bradford’s Law, with leading contributions from institutions in the United States, China, Canada, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Trends in authorship underscore the growing role of generative AI systems in advancing knowledge dissemination. The findings illustrate AI’s transformative potential in practical applications, such as enabling early disease detection and precision medicine in healthcare and fostering adaptive learning systems and accessibility in education. By examining the dynamics of collaboration, geographic productivity, and institutional influence, this study sheds light on the innovation drivers shaping the AI field. The results emphasize the need for responsible AI development to maximize societal benefits and mitigate risks. This research provides an evidence-based understanding of AI’s progress and sets the stage for future advancements. It aims to inform stakeholders and contribute to the ongoing scientific discourse, offering insights into AI’s impact at a time of unprecedented global interest and investment.