The geography of distance education - bibliographic characteristics of a journal network

Abstract

The publication of the results of research in distance education in peer-reviewed journals is an important means of communication, dissemination, discourse and reporting of practice in the field. This study is an attempt at analyzing the relationships and influences among these journals. It is based upon a sample of 1416 scholarly articles published over six years in the 12 most widely cited international distance education journals. The bibliographic description and network analysis help us to investigate the structure and patterns of information exchange within the field of distance education research. The analysis of this citation network and the similarities in citation patterns reveals a clear core/ periphery structure among distance education journals. The results of this analysis help us to understand the regional, international, impact and influence factors related to publication in these journals and across the field.

Scientific Communication between Spanish and English Educational Technology Journals. A Citation Analysis of eight Journals

“…It is one of the most current and frequently used research methods to produce visual representations of scholarly communication networks in the social and behavioural sciences (e.g. in the field of distance education, see Zawacki-Richter and Anderson, 2011). For instance, SNA has also been used within the Education area to analyse the differences in the development of personal networks of high and low-performing students based on their final academic grades and their participation in two online courses (Casquero, Ovelar, Romo, & Benito, 2015), to conceptualise and explore virtual communities (Chiu, Hsu, & Wang, 2006;Dholakia, Bagozzi, & Pearo, 2004) or to analyse patterns of international student mobility (Kondakci, Bedenlier, & Zawacki-Richter, 2018).…”

“…a fee may be required, or the article may be in another language). Nevertheless, citation data provides an objective measure to describe the flow of communication in a research discipline (and by implication the creation of scientific communities), as well as the relationships between journals (Zawacki-Richter & Anderson, 2011).…”

Review and Content Analysis of the International Review of Research in Open and Distance/Distributed Learning (2000–2015)

“…In January 2015, the name of the journal was changed from IRRODL has been the subject of previous bibliometric studies and literature reviews. Zawacki-Richter and Anderson (2011) carried out a citation analysis to explore the scholarly communication network of 12 academic journals in distance education using social network analysis techniques. Although IRRODL is a relatively young journal, this analysis revealed that IRRODL is one of the central journals in the core of the journal citation network in distance education.…”

Measuring Participation in Distance Education Online Discussion Forums Using Social Network Analysis

“…Zawacki‐Richter and Von Prummer () performed an analysis of the impact of gender and collaboration patterns among researchers in research methods, topics, and productivity. Zawacki‐Richter and Anderson () mapped the structure of DE journals using cross‐citation data to investigate the interactions and information flow among high‐ranked journals. Kinshuk, Sampson, and Chen () analyzed the research type, topics, and methods, international collaborations, participant levels, and frequently appearing keywords in the top‐20 highly cited articles in the Educational Technology and Society journal in the period between 2003 and 2010.…”