Exploring Green Universities: A Bibliometric Study of Sustainability Research in Higher Education Institutions

This study presents a bibliometric analysis of sustainability research in higher education institutions (HEIs), focusing on key trends, research gaps, and emerging themes. The analysis highlights the growing scholarly attention toward environmental sustainability, green universities, and management control systems (MCS). Over the past decade, sustainability research in HEIs has experienced a consistent upward trend. The findings indicate that dominant contributors to sustainability research include the United States, the United Kingdom, and China, with leading universities and high-impact journals playing a pivotal role in knowledge dissemination. The study identifies core research themes, including sustainability governance, environmental education, and institutional sustainability policies. However, several underexplored areas remain, such as the role of digital technologies (AI, IoT, blockchain) in campus sustainability, financial mechanisms for sustainable initiatives, and the integration of MCS in sustainability frameworks. Additionally, future studies should examine the impact of sustainability policies on student well-being and explore how universities engage with external stakeholders to drive broader sustainability initiatives. Despite limitations, including language restrictions and reliance on the Scopus database, this study provides a structured overview of HEI sustainability research and offers insights for future investigations to enhance institutional sustainability efforts.