Games and learning: a bibliometric analysis of the scientific production

Abstract

In this paper we present a bibliometric analysis of the scientific production concerning games and education. Our purpose with this study is to provide a macro overview of the history, trends and focus of the research conducted since 1952 in the intersection of these two knowledge fields, recurring to Thomson Reuters Web of Science’s database. We analyse the quantitative effort dedicated to research in games and education, compared with the overall production in the scientific area of Education, and we discern the major focus of the scientific production in this field by identifying the most frequent words used. We conduct an investigation with the aim of understanding if researchers have been using the key terms considered relevant in education and training by the European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training, and we summarize the main publishers in this multidisciplinary area.