Bibliometric analysis of articles about laboratory in science education

In this reserach, the bibliometric characteristics of articles on laboratory-related topics in science education published in the Web of Science (WoS) database were examined. The bibliometric data were obtained from the WoS database and the scanning process was limited to the years 1980-2023. The search was conducted using the SCI-Expanded and SSCI indexes. The keywords "science education" and "laboratory" were used to search both the titles and the content of the articles. As a result of the analysis, a total of 8.853 studies were identified within the categories of "Education/Educational Research" and "Educational Scientific Disciplines". Following the application of criteria including publication in English, indexing in SCI-Expanded or SSCI, and being published between 1980 and 2023, 1.102 studies were selected for detailed analysis. When the remaining studies were further filtered to include only peer-reviewed journal articles, 1.046 studies were retained. The 1.046 retrieved articles were reviewed for content, and 679 articles deemed aligned with the aim of the study were selected to form the final data set. The articles were analyzed under several categories, including the annual distribution of publications, the most cited articles, the most frequently used keywords, commonly repeated words in abstracts, leading researchers, prominent journals, and influential countries. Furthermore, the associations between the top referenced papers and the most commonly used keywords were visualized using bibliometric mapping approaches. The analysis revealed that the highest number of articles on laboratory research in science education was published in 2023 (68 articles). The most cited article was "The laboratory in science education: Foundations for the twenty-first century," with 1.196 citations. Accordingly, Avi Hofstein was identified as the most prominent author, the International Journal of Science Education as the most influential journal, and "science education" as the most frequently used keyword. Additionally, "student" was found to be the most commonly used word in the abstracts, and the United States emerged as the most active country in the field. In addition, a number of recommendations were made in light of the study's findings, one of which was the necessity of regularly performing bibliometric analyses in this area. It is thought that by influencing and developing future research, this study may assist eliminate redundant investigations, advance the field's understanding, and act as a roadmap for future researchers.