A Bibliometric Analysis: A Tutorial for the Bibliometrix Package in R Using IRT Literature

Abstract

The bibliometrix package in R software, which is frequently used in the bibliometric analysis, was introduced in this research. The article aimed to illustrate the various analyses applied in a bibliometric study. For this purpose, articles containing the keyword "item response theory" (IRT) or "item response modeling" or "item response model" were searched in the Thomson Reuters Clarivate Analytics Web of Science (WoS at http://www.webofknowledge.com), and bibliometric data was downloaded. PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) steps were followed in the study. Data from 3388 IRT-related articles on education and psychology, searched between 2001 and 2021, were used in the study. Data were analyzed with the bibliometrix package. Some of the stages in data analysis were shared with screenshots. As a result of data analysis through the real data set, the key concepts related to IRT were item response model, differential item functioning, psychometrics, assessment, measurement, reliability, validity, Rasch model, and measurement invariance. The countries with the highest number of citations in IRT studies were the USA, Canada, Netherlands, United Kingdom, and China, respectively. Turkey ranked 12th in IRT studies with 434 citations. It was thought that bibliometric analysis of articles related to IRT will shed light on researchers in the field of psychometrics.