Mapping the Scholarly Landscape of Heutagogy in Distance Education: A Bibliometric Analysis (2020–2025)

Background: Heutagogy, or self-determined learning, has emerged as a critical pedagogical framework for distance and online education, particularly following the global shift to digital learning environments prompted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite growing scholarly interest, the global structure, key contributors, and collaborative patterns of heutagogy research remain insufficiently mapped. Methods: This study presents a comprehensive bibliometric analysis of 47 Scopus-indexed documents published between 2020 and 2025, focusing on heutagogy, learner autonomy, and distance education. Bibliometric indicators including annual production trends, geographic distribution, source analysis (Bradford's Law), author productivity (Lotka's Law), co-authorship networks, and collaboration patterns were computed and visualized. The PRISMA 2020 protocol guided document selection. Results: The analysis reveals an accelerating growth trajectory, with 70% of all publications appearing after 2022. The corpus spans 167 unique authors across 44 publication sources from over 15 countries, with Malaysia, Australia, and Kazakhstan among the most productive nations. Journal articles dominate (68.1%), and English is the predominant language. Author productivity follows Lotka's inverse square law, and source concentration adheres to Bradford's Law of scattering. Co-authorship networks reveal predominantly regional collaboration clusters with limited international co-authorship. Conclusions: Heutagogy research for distance education is a rapidly growing but still emerging field, characterized by fragmented collaboration and geographic concentration. Strengthening international research networks and expanding non-English scholarship are identified as priorities for the field's consolidation.