Abstract

The purpose of this study is to analyze the research trends on literacy in all academic fields in Korea. To that end, 6,940 literacy-related articles were collected from the KCI database. From those articles, the main literacy keywords were extracted, the chronological flow of research, and the relationships between individual academic disciplines and various types of literacy were analyzed comprehensively. The results show that literacy research in Korea has steadily increased since 2001. A sharp rise in published articles beginning in 2020 resulted in more than half of the total articles published after that year. This is due to an expansion in the number of academic fields engaging in literacy research starting in 2019. In terms of literacy types, Digital Literacy, Literacy, and Media Literacy were identified as core concepts. By academic discipline, the most active research fields were Education, Korean Language and Literacy, Interdisciplinary Studies, English Language and Literature, and Library and Information Science. Since 2019, research on Digital Literacy has rapidly increased, particularly within the field of Education, while interest in AI Literacy, and Data Literacy has also risen significantly. In contrast, research on Information Literacy within Information Science has greatly declined. Overall, this study highlights 2019 as a critical turning point in the digital transformation of literacy research in Korea and provides novel insights into its evolving trajectory and disciplinary orientations.