Science Education Research Trends in the Chinese Mainland From 2017–2021: A Systematic Literature Review in Selected Journals

With its great contributions to the world’s development, Chinese science education has become a hot issue in the international research community. Science education research trends have already received much attention; however, a few have been down about research trends of science education in China. This study systematically analyzed research articles ( n = 56) by science researchers in the Chinese mainland from five journals, Journal of Research in Science teaching, International Journal of Science Education, Research in Science Education, Science Education, and Science & Education, to reveal research trends in terms of authors’ institutions, research types, methods, and research topics from 2017 to 2021. This study found (a) with a slight increase in paper number, collaborating between domestic and international institutions’ researchers contributed mostly to publications in this period while top 10 domestic institutions were mostly normal universities in Tier-1 cities in China; (b) among the most popular articles—empirical articles, studies conducting correlational design were predominant; (c) topics about students’ learning context, assessment, and nature of science were highlighted in this period and variations of authors’ preference on journals existed. Recommendations for future research on local and international science education are suggested.