Citation classics on distance and online learning: a bibliometric analysis
Global Knowledge, Memory and Communication
ISSN: 2514-9342
Article publication date: 30 October 2024
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to identify seminal research works on distance and online learning that have had significant impact on the domain.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors used the SCOPUS database for this study as the data source, and a well-defined search strategy retrieved the items for analysis. First, the authors identified the h-index (n = 207) of the discipline to determine the threshold for listing the top works. The authors critically analysed these classic publications using several bibliometric parameters to present the analysis. To understand the primary focus of the classic research works, the authors also carried out a keyword cluster analysis using VOSviewer.
Findings
While the USA produced maximum classic research, authors from Canada have maximum research visibility in terms of citations (n = 474.06). Canada also received the highest value of RCI (1.30), followed by Taiwan and Australia. The majority of the classics are published in 67 scientific journals. Of these, Computers and Education published the highest number with a quarter of the total citations (n = 19,403). Although e-learning was the nucleus of the research theme, the authors observed that students, learning systems, online learning, blended learning, learning management systems and computer-aided instructions dominated their influence in the research cluster.
Originality/value
To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first of its kind work in the field of distance and online learning. Findings of this study would be useful to faculty, researchers and students in the discipline to focus on the seminal works and understand their implications better in the context of the growing significance of the discipline.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank the editor and anonymous reviewers for their invaluable feedback on the previous version of the article.
Conflicts of interest statement: The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.
Authors contributions as per CRediT.
Sidhartha Sahoo: Conceptualization, Data selection and collection, Methodology, Validation, Writing – original draft, Writing – Review and Editing, Data visualization and Cluster analysis, Formal analysis.
Shriram Pandey: Methodology, Review and editing, Investigation, Formal analysis, Data visualization and Cluster analysis.
Sanjaya Mishra: Methodology, Validation, Writing – Original draft, Writing – Review and editing, Visualization, Supervision.
Citation
Sahoo, S., Pandey, S. and Mishra, S. (2024), "Citation classics on distance and online learning: a bibliometric analysis", Global Knowledge, Memory and Communication, Vol. ahead-of-print No. ahead-of-print. https://doi.org/10.1108/GKMC-12-2023-0493
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2024, Emerald Publishing Limited