Abstract
Geographical toponyms have increasingly been recognised as active pedagogical instruments for developing students’ spatial, linguistic, and critical competencies in higher education, yet no prior systematic review has appraised this evidence base using standardised quality assessment tools. The purpose of this study is to conduct a systematic literature review to synthesise international methodological approaches to integrating local geographical toponyms into higher education curricula. The review followed the PRISMA protocol and PICOS criteria. An initial search across Scopus and Google Scholar yielded 4,780 documents. Following deduplication ( n = 55 removed), title and abstract screening ( n = 4,610 excluded), and full-text eligibility assessment ( n = 94 excluded), 21 open-access empirical publications (2020–2025) were retained for in-depth qualitative synthesis and MMAT quality appraisal (inter-rater reliability: κ = 0.92). VOSviewer software was used to visualise bibliometric connections. Five cohesive thematic clusters were identified: spatial literacy and cognitive mapping, GIS and digital toponymic environments, ethnocultural identity and linguo-folkloric integration, critical toponymy and decolonial pedagogy, and bibliometric mapping of the field. The findings demonstrate that toponymic integration with digital technologies produces documented gains in students’ spatial thinking, geocultural identity, and digital literacy, though institutional scaling remains constrained by infrastructural barriers and the risks of non-contextual digitalization. The authors recommend integrating interdisciplinary toponymic modules within existing syllabi, deploying student-led collaborative mapping platforms within structured pedagogical frameworks, and enhancing faculty digital literacy. Future research should prioritise longitudinal designs with follow-up measurement at six - and twelve-month intervals, comparative multi-country studies in underrepresented regions, and quasi-experimental validation of the toponymic competence continuum proposed in this review.