Coastal land transformation has been identified as a topic of research in many countries around the world. Several studies have been conducted to determine the causes and impacts of land transformation. However, much less is understood about coupling change detection, factors, impacts, and adaptation strategies for coastal land transformation at a global scale. This review aims to present a systematic review of global coastal land transformation and its leading research areas. From 1,741 documents of Scopus and Web of Science, 60 studies have been selected using the PRISMA-2020 guideline. Results revealed that existing literature included four leading focus areas regarding coastal land transformation: change detection, driving factors, impacts, and adaptation measures. These focus areas were further analyzed, and it was found that more than 80% of studies used Landsat imagery to detect land transformation. Population growth and urbanization were among the major driving factors identified. This review further identified that about 37% of studies included impact analysis. These studies identified impacts on ecosystems, land surface temperature, migration, water quality, and occupational effects as significant impacts. However, only four studies included adaptation strategies. This review explored the scope of comprehensive research in coastal land transformation, addressing change detection, factor and impact analysis, and mitigation-adaptation strategies. The research also proposes a conceptual framework for comprehensive coastal land transformation analysis. The framework can provide potential decision-making guidance for future studies in coastal land transformation.