Mapping digital ethics in higher education: A bibliometric analysis of performance and socio-intellectual structures

Abstract

The integration of technology, internet and artificial intelligence in higher education teacher’s professional setting raised concerns regarding their digital ethics. This call led to literature explosion in very limited time and highlighted the need to systematically map global trends, analyze socio-intellectual structure and determine future direction of digital ethics literature. This gap was addressed through the bibliometric analysis of digital ethics literature extracted from Web of Science database. The final data-set of 185 entries was then subjected to rigorous analysis using R Studio (4.6.0) and VOS viewer (1.6.20), reproducing performance, social structure, intellectual structure and conceptual structure analysis. The data showed evolution of digital ethics research in higher education with ethical impacts of artificial intelligence, ethical concerns regarding online assessment and academic integrity; role of digital competence and digital citizenship for the development of ethical leadership and sustainable higher education system as dominant themes. The social structure was centric to highly influential institutions both in developed and developing countries. The intellectual structure was rooted in theory and methodology studies following empirical validation models. Conceptually, it was dissected in policy-based, philosophical and pedagogical literature. Thematic evolution analysis suggested rise in competency-based ethical frameworks instead of mere regulatory approaches. The identified clusters and themes may contribute to future research agendas focusing on ethical digital ecosystems, protection of student data, equitable access to educational technologies, promotion of responsible AI use, strengthening ethical digital competencies of teachers by developing ethical guidelines, digital policies and professional development programs  in higher education teaching.