ChatGPT in education: unveiling frontiers and future directions through systematic literature review and bibliometric analysis

PurposeThis is a dual-focused study that anticipates qualitatively and quantitatively examining the literature on the recently initiated revolutionizing concept of ChatGPT in education by performing a Systematic Literature Review (SLR) and bibliometric analysis. Current study analyzed eight research questions: (1) the main information and annual scientific publications on ChatGPT in education, (2) the pioneer authors and collaborative authors exploring ChatGPT in education, (3) the authors' productivity through Lotka’s Law of Authors’ Scientific Productivity, (4) the most pertinent sources on ChatGPT in education and how are sources clustered through Bradford’s Law of Scattering, (5) the most related, cited countries and the nature of international collaborations exploring ChatGPT in education, (6) the most relevant publications exploring ChatGPT in education, (7) the most occurring and trending keywords in the empirical studies on ChatGPT in education, and (8) the themes and areas for future investigations on ChatGPT in education.Design/methodology/approachThe current study was designed as a SLR and bibliometric analysis, extracting articles from the Scopus database and utilizing both Biblioshiny and VOSviewer software for advanced scientific mapping and visualizations via quantitative and qualitative analysis approaches.FindingsThe results indicated that ChatGPT in education is a progressively evolving worldwide concept generating 45 scientific publications from 2023 to 2024 (May). The USA, China, and Indonesia are the most productive countries that have published articles on ChatGPT in education. The education systems, AI, students, educational computing, human experiments, teaching, educational status, chatbots, generative AI, academic integrity, educational technology, worldwide education, and technology acceptance are the pertinent future directions in the field of ChatGPT in education.Originality/valueThe analysis’s outcomes will enhance the area of study with theoretical and practical implications and benefit students, teachers, policymakers, regulators of educational and higher educational sectors, government, and the general public worldwide with effective utilization of ChatGPT in education.