One linguistic element that authors might use to make their writing logical and reader-friendly is metadiscourse (MD). All writers create content for readers, and by refining their MD abilities, they may connect with readers effectively. In the engaging section, writers must connect their readers to propositional information. Writing in a second language (L2) has seen a surge in research on MD analyses of academic papers. To identify and list the studies linked to MD analysis of L2 writings, this systematic review study offered empirical research on MD analysis studies among authors who write in English as a second language. This paper aimed to systematically review the contribution of MD studies in the discourse area of research. This study aimed to review the current issues in MD studies critically, summarize the findings as discussed in the retrieved articles, and critically evaluate the underpinning current theories used. From January 2018 through December 2022, the papers are from Scopus, Web of Science, and Google Scholar. PRISMA (Page et al. in BMJ 372:1–9, 2021) identified 26 journal articles appropriate for the investigation. Current studies found concerns in MD, such as corpus-based analysis, gender differences, cross-cultural analysis, and (Hyland in Metadiscourse: exploring interaction in writing. Continuum, 2005) interpersonal model, which is the most used. AntConc, a data analysis corpus tool, was found to be a development trend. The report proposes performing an experimental study to determine how MD consumption affects writing performance across genres.