In recent years, the issue of illegal logging has gained significant attention worldwide due to the economic impact and the environmental degradation caused by unauthorized timber harvesting. This study conducted co-word analysis of keywords from relevant research papers to identify key themes in international research on illegal logging. Additionally, social network analysis was employed to explore the thematic structure of key topics in illegal logging research. A total of 428 relevant research papers were examined, from which 44 high-frequency keywords were extracted for analysis. The results revealed that “Illegal logging” and “Deforestation” were the most frequently co-occurring keywords, indicating that they were the most explored issues in the literature. Social network analysis indicators identified “Illegal Logging”, “Deforestation”, “Forest Management”, “Corruption”, “Governance” and “Policy” as the core topics of illegal logging research. Furthermore, k-core analysis results revealed close interrelation among the key themes from research papers on illegal logging.