FORSKNINGSKOMMUNIKATION OCH PUBLICERINGS- MÖNSTER INOM UTBILDNINGSVETENSKAP

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1 FORSKNINGSKOMMUNIKATION OCH PUBLICERINGS- MÖNSTER INOM UTBILDNINGSVETENSKAP En studie av svensk utbildningsvetenskaplig forskning vid tre lärosäten VETENSKAPSRÅDETS RAPPORTSERIE 10:2010

2 Forskningskommunikation och publiceringsmönster inom utbildningsvetenskap En studie av svensk utbildningsvetenskaplig forskning vid tre lärosäten Författare: Michael Hansen och Sverker Lindblad, Göteborgs universitet

3 Forskningskommunikation och publiceringsmönster inom utbildningsvetenskap En studie av svensk utbildningsvetenskaplig forskning vid tre lärosäten Rapporten kan beställas på VETENSKAPSRÅDET Stockholm Vetenskapsrådet ISSN ISBN Rapportnummer 10:2010 Grafisk Form: Erik Hagbard Couchér, Vetenskapsrådet Originalframställning: Global Reporting Omslagsbild: SXC Tryck: CM Gruppen AB

4 inledning Summary We view this to be a prerequisite for understanding the impact that the proposed Swedish research policy (i.e. allocating resources on the basis of publications and their success) could have on educational sciences. To form the foundation for this investigation we assembled a body of data for conducting various types of bibliometric analyses. This report presents the results of our work. Our investigation does not address individual publications or research programmes, but is an attempt to scientifically study the complex structure of publications available in educational sciences as an interdisciplinary field. This report focuses on bibliometric analyses of research communication in educational sciences, focusing particularly on scientific publications. We identified a large group (just over 2200 researchers) that could be said to have an educational science orientation of some type as demonstrated by having applied for, or participated in applying for, research funding from the Committee for Educational Sciences of the Swedish Research Council or other educational research funding from the Council. We examined publications by nearly 660 of these researchers who were affiliated with the universities in Göteborg, Linköping, or Umeå between 2001 and A large share of these researchers comes from the disciplines or institutions traditionally associated with educational sciences, i.e. pedagogics and didactics (around 40%). However, a significant share of applicants comes from disciplines or institutions outside the traditional field of educational sciences. Information on these nearly 660 researchers publications between 2004 and 2008 was obtained from the publication registers of the three universities. Approximately 4000 publications were identified. Scientific, peer-reviewed articles account for 23% of the publications, while books and book chapters account for nearly 30%. Conference contributions in some form constitute just over 20%, while various types of reports comprise nearly 8% and PhD dissertations nearly 2%. This pattern of distribution appears to be reasonable considering the various interests involved in educational sciences. We have given special attention to the publication of articles in scientific journals, identifying nearly 1000 articles in over 500 journals. We examined the journals subject orientation, indexing in the Thomson/ISI database Web of Science, and classification level based on the so-called Norwegian model. Distribution across a wide number of journals can be viewed as an indication that Swedish research in educational sciences engages a broad network of contacts in the scientific community. However, one could also 6 forskningskommunikation och publiceringsmönster inom utbildningsvetenskap

5 summary suspect a tendency towards fragmentation in this scientific community, hence limiting the opportunities for two-way communication. We identify important deficiencies in the bibliometric indexes mainly the Thomson/ISI citation database, Web of Science that serve as a basis for quality assessment of research in educational sciences and for the allocation of research resources. Of the journals used in pedagogics/education, humanities, and social sciences, 30% to 60% are indexed. The authors conclude this report with a discussion of ongoing reviews and analyses of publication patterns and research communication in the educational sciences and they suggest ways for continued analysis of the field. forskningskommunikation och publiceringsmönster inom utbildningsvetenskap 7