Thematic bibliometric analysis of 37 specialized journals in mathematical education research indexed in Scopus or Web of Science

Abstract

This bibliometric study examines the scientific production in mathematical education of 23,094 articles from 37 specialized mathematical education journals, indexed in Scopus and Web of Science, considering all records up to the year 2022. The analysis was conducted globally and regionally, including Latin America, Africa, Europe, the United States, and Canada. Articles were analyzed using rhizomatic conceptual spaces, which allow the representation of relationships between words present in the titles and keywords of articles through graphs, thereby identifying thematic nodes and connections, as well as visible and invisible peripheral elements. The results reveal the diversity of terms used in the field and the difficulties in capturing a disciplinary field using certain keywords. Common thematic nodes such as teaching, learning, knowledge, problem-solving, curriculum, assessment, and technology were observed, as well as regional differences in focus areas and theoretical currents. The study also highlights underexplored areas and suggests possible future research paths, including expanding searches in specialized sources, bibliometric analysis of specific topics, and temporal comparison of trends in the field.