Information literacy is a core research topic in the field of library and information science. The developmental context of this field can be examined through a long-term retrospective analysis of relevant literature. This study explored the research trends and potential research issues in the top 100 most frequently cited articles on information literacy in higher education published from 2011 to 2020. In addition to a systematic review, this study employed bibliometric methods, including co-citation network analysis, to identify four main research streams in the field of information literacy in higher education: (a) the relationships among students' information literacy beliefs, competencies, attitudes and behaviour; (b) teachers', librarians' and students' perspectives on information literacy; (c) the relationship between students' information literacy and epistemic beliefs; and (d) the web search behaviour of digital natives. Accordingly, potential directions for future research and practitioner notes related to information literacy in higher education are proposed herein as a reference for researchers, teachers and policymakers.