Bibliometric Analysis of Studies in The Field of Economics of Education in The Web of Science Database

The objective of this study is to present a critical analysis of the bibliometric analysis of research in the field of economics of education in the Web of Science database between 1970 and 2024, employing the scientific mapping method. To this end, a total of 1,717 studies pertaining to the field of economics of education were retrieved from the Web of Science database. The data were analyzed using the Bibliometrix and VOSviewer software. The distribution of research on the economics of education was examined in terms of the number of articles, the average annual number of citations, the journals, institutions, and prominent authors publishing the most on the subject, the countries and collaboration status of the researchers, the word cloud and the most used keywords, and the current status of this research. Both performance analysis and scientific mapping analysis were employed to examine the data. The results demonstrate that the number of studies in the field of economics of education has increased since 2001. The majority of studies on this subject were conducted in the USA and by authors affiliated with the California State University system. The most prolific researcher in this field was D. Goldhaber, with the highest number of publications being in the journal Economics of Education Review. The author with the highest number of citations is P. Engzell, while the author with the highest number of co-citations and co-references is E. A. Hanushek. Moreover, the most frequently cited journal in this field was the American Economic Review, while the most prevalent keyword was "educational economics." It is anticipated that the research conducted in light of the findings will illuminate the direction of future studies in the field of educational economics and serve as a guiding force.