This study conducts a comprehensive bibliometric and network analysis of research on illness perception from 1975 to 2023, using 1813 publications from the Scopus database. The analysis identifies key scholars and influential articles, and explores various bibliometric networks such as citation, co-citation, collaboration, and keyword co-occurrence. Major research areas include the role of illness perception in mental health conditions like depression, coping mechanisms, quality of life, and chronic illnesses like diabetes. The results show a growing academic interest in understanding how illness perceptions shape healthcare outcomes and behaviors. The study also reveals the most productive countries, journals, and influential scholars in the field, and provides insights into the collaboration patterns among authors, institutions, and countries. The analysis highlights the importance of illness perception in predicting health behaviors and the need for further research in underexplored areas such as cancer patients, cardiac patients, and mental health issues. The study offers new knowledge and critical insights into the trends and intellectual structure of illness perception research, aiding researchers in identifying important areas for future studies.This study conducts a comprehensive bibliometric and network analysis of research on illness perception from 1975 to 2023, using 1813 publications from the Scopus database. The analysis identifies key scholars and influential articles, and explores various bibliometric networks such as citation, co-citation, collaboration, and keyword co-occurrence. Major research areas include the role of illness perception in mental health conditions like depression, coping mechanisms, quality of life, and chronic illnesses like diabetes. The results show a growing academic interest in understanding how illness perceptions shape healthcare outcomes and behaviors. The study also reveals the most productive countries, journals, and influential scholars in the field, and provides insights into the collaboration patterns among authors, institutions, and countries. The analysis highlights the importance of illness perception in predicting health behaviors and the need for further research in underexplored areas such as cancer patients, cardiac patients, and mental health issues. The study offers new knowledge and critical insights into the trends and intellectual structure of illness perception research, aiding researchers in identifying important areas for future studies.