The position of Distance Education in a journal network. Issue 4 (2nd October 2019)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Zawacki-Richter, Olaf; Buntins, Katja
• Is Part Of: Distance education. Volume 40:Issue 4(2019)
• Page Start: 438
• Page End: 453
• Publication Date: 2019-10-02
• Subjects: distance education -- citation analysis -- journal network -- scientific communication -- impact; Distance education -- Periodicals; Distance education -- Australia -- Periodicals; 371.3505
• DOI: 10.1080/01587919.2019.1692766
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0158-7919

Abstract

ABSTRACT: On the occasion of the 40th anniversary of the journal Distance Education (DE), this study explores the position of this journal in a network of open and distance education, educational technology and learning design publications. A citation network analysis was undertaken to explore the scholarly communication network of distance education, using articles published in DE from 1980 onwards ( n = 656), alongside references cited in those articles ( n = 16, 729), as well as articles ( n = 6003) and associated references ( n = 164, 444) published in 22 leading journals indexed in the Web of Science between 2014 and 2019. A distinction is made between a narrower (intra-DE) and a wider (inter-journal) distance education network. The study reveals DE's relationship to the wider educational technology community over time and identifies the most prolific journals and authors in this network.