This study presents a bibliometric analysis of illness perception research from 1975 to 2023, using 1813 publications from the Scopus database. The analysis identifies key scholars, influential articles, and research trends in illness perception, highlighting its role in mental health conditions like depression, coping mechanisms, quality of life, and chronic illnesses such as diabetes. The study also examines the influence of lay beliefs on health behaviors and the impact of illness beliefs on conditions like Myocardial Infarction and stroke. The results show a growing academic interest in understanding how illness perceptions shape healthcare outcomes and behaviors. The research reveals that illness perception is a central theme in the Common-Sense Model of self-regulation, which is the most widely used model for understanding the process of meaning-making in illness. The study also identifies the most influential journals, authors, and countries in the field of illness perception. The analysis includes various bibliometric networks such as citation, co-citation, collaboration, and keyword co-occurrence networks, along with the presentation of intellectual structure maps. The study highlights the importance of exploring and considering patients' illness perception rather than their objective medical knowledge in clinical settings for improving their illness behavior. The research also identifies the most prominent keywords and their connections, as well as the current conceptual structure of illness perception research. The study concludes that illness perception is crucial in understanding patient health behavior and provides insights into the evolution of this research area. The study also identifies areas that are least explored in illness perception research, such as mental health issues related to cardiac diseases and obesity. The study suggests that future research should focus on these areas and explore the root causes behind the increase in publications related to illness perception. The study also highlights the importance of collaboration between institutes and countries in this field. The study has limitations, including the use of citation analysis and the restriction of the database to one scientific database. The study provides a comprehensive view of illness perception research since 1975 and highlights areas of robust development, foundational topics, emerging interests, and specialized niches. The study also suggests that future research should supplement findings with other clustering techniques and explore the longitudinal changes in topics, co-authorships, and journal co-citations. The study emphasizes the importance of understanding patients' illness beliefs and the impact of illness perception on health outcomes. The study also highlights the need for further research on the role of culture, health-related quality of life, and CBT in illness perception research. The study concludes that illness perception is a crucial area of study that has seen significant growth and development over the years.This study presents a bibliometric analysis of illness perception research from 1975 to 2023, using 1813 publications from the Scopus database. The analysis identifies key scholars, influential articles, and research trends in illness perception, highlighting its role in mental health conditions like depression, coping mechanisms, quality of life, and chronic illnesses such as diabetes. The study also examines the influence of lay beliefs on health behaviors and the impact of illness beliefs on conditions like Myocardial Infarction and stroke. The results show a growing academic interest in understanding how illness perceptions shape healthcare outcomes and behaviors. The research reveals that illness perception is a central theme in the Common-Sense Model of self-regulation, which is the most widely used model for understanding the process of meaning-making in illness. The study also identifies the most influential journals, authors, and countries in the field of illness perception. The analysis includes various bibliometric networks such as citation, co-citation, collaboration, and keyword co-occurrence networks, along with the presentation of intellectual structure maps. The study highlights the importance of exploring and considering patients' illness perception rather than their objective medical knowledge in clinical settings for improving their illness behavior. The research also identifies the most prominent keywords and their connections, as well as the current conceptual structure of illness perception research. The study concludes that illness perception is crucial in understanding patient health behavior and provides insights into the evolution of this research area. The study also identifies areas that are least explored in illness perception research, such as mental health issues related to cardiac diseases and obesity. The study suggests that future research should focus on these areas and explore the root causes behind the increase in publications related to illness perception. The study also highlights the importance of collaboration between institutes and countries in this field. The study has limitations, including the use of citation analysis and the restriction of the database to one scientific database. The study provides a comprehensive view of illness perception research since 1975 and highlights areas of robust development, foundational topics, emerging interests, and specialized niches. The study also suggests that future research should supplement findings with other clustering techniques and explore the longitudinal changes in topics, co-authorships, and journal co-citations. The study emphasizes the importance of understanding patients' illness beliefs and the impact of illness perception on health outcomes. The study also highlights the need for further research on the role of culture, health-related quality of life, and CBT in illness perception research. The study concludes that illness perception is a crucial area of study that has seen significant growth and development over the years.