CiteSpace-based Analysis of Research Hotspots on Rule of Law Literacy of Chinese College Students

To clarify the current research status on the issue of college students’ legal literacy and grasp the research hotspots and development trends in this field, this study provides new ideas for related work on cultivating college students’ legal literacy in China. Using the CiteSpace 6.4.R1 visualization tool, this study selects 257 relevant literature articles on college students’ legal literacy from the CNKI database in the past 20 years as the research sample and conducts a knowledge graph analysis of the number of articles published, authors, institutions, and research hotspots. The study found that the overall research on college students’ legal literacy in China has shown a positive trend and has developed in the following stages: the foundation stage, the deepening stage, the expansion stage, and the innovation stage. The research hotspots have expanded from the importance of legal education to its application and effect in the higher education system, and have begun to focus on specific practical pathways and educational objectives. Future research should continue to deepen college students’ legal literacy education, expand the cross-disciplinary and international research perspective on legal literacy, promote the synergistic development of legal construction and higher education reform, and adapt to the transformation of legal education in the digital era.