TY - JOUR AB - Purpose The purpose of this paper is to perform a content analysis of information literacy specific journals to determine what contributing countries and predominant themes are represented in the field leading to a global understanding of information literacy.Design/methodology/approach The data for this study were collected through a content analysis of journal article publication information, titles, abstracts and keywords in three journals: Communications in Information Literacy (the USA), Journal of Information Literacy (the UK) and Nordic Journal of Information Literacy in Higher Education (Norway) from 2012 to 2017.Findings The USA contributed the most to the literature, though the top information literacy themes were addressed by each of the 18 countries that contributed articles to the journals under study. Some themes emerged that suggest the existence of a common global discourse around shared information literacy concepts, including themes related to information literacy theory and practice.Practical implications The shared information literacy themes can be used to help solidify a global understanding of information literacy.Originality/value This study fills a gap in the content analysis of information literacy journals by identifying themes that demonstrate a shared global understanding of information literacy. VL - 68 IS - 3 SN - 0024-2535 DO - 10.1108/GKMC-05-2018-0052 UR - https://doi.org/10.1108/GKMC-05-2018-0052 AU - Tokarz Rayla E. AU - Bucy Rosalind PY - 2019 Y1 - 2019/01/01 TI - Global information literacy: a content analysis of three journals T2 - Global Knowledge, Memory and Communication PB - Emerald Publishing Limited SP - 242 EP - 254 Y2 - 2024/04/19 ER -