Self-regulated learning is identified as a fruitful learning strategy as evidenced from the increase in the number of researches in academic self-regulation since year 2000. Knowing to manage one's own learning is helpful in attaining the goals. This analysis of literature on self-regulated learning focuses on the factors that affect self-regulated learning and the students' learning outcomes from application of self-regulated learning. This paper identifies major categories of variables studied in relation to self-regulated learning, and summarizes the findings there from. Factors like cognitive strategy use, meta-cognition, self-efficacy and other motivational beliefs and some individual differences were considered. An inter relationship between self-efficacy and self-regulated learning is manifest. Mastery goal orientation favours self-regulated learning. Areas of language and mathematics education manifests more studies on self-regulated learning than other curricular areas. Findings from both the areas confirm that self-regulated learning results in enhanced achievement and desirable affective outcomes. How the self-regulated learning is linked to mathematics learning outcomes is specifically elaborated for facilitating future research and classroom practices especially in mathematics education context around this motivational construct.