This paper examines the scientific research on return migration
published over the past five decades using Scopus databases. The research aims
to uncover the prevailing and emerging themes associated with return
migration. A bibliometric framework is utilised to assess how academic
attention toward return migration has evolved over time. It analyses the
co-occurrence of keywords and bibliographic coupling using a dataset of 375
articles. The results are depicted in strategic diagrams and longitudinal maps,
illustrating that over the past two decades, there has been a notable focus on
gender studies related to immigrants. Additionally, there has been a significant
emphasis on immigration education, higher education, and international
students in the basic theme segment. This insight offers academics and
professionals a more comprehensive view of the current state of knowledge. It
will help them focus their research on the trend of return migration, its causes,
benefits, and drawbacks.