Inclusive education in the preschool period: A bibliometric mapping analysis

Abstract

The aim of this study is to reveal the general view of research on inclusive education in the preschool period using the bibliometric analysis method. The data used in the research were obtained from 261 articles in the Web of Science (WOS) database. Within the scope of bibliometric analysis, the VOSviewer software program was used to create network maps and graphs of authors, countries, keywords, and citations. Based on the findings regarding the network of collaboration between authors, two different conclusions were reached: first, the subject appears to be outdated, and second, a sufficient network of relations could not be established in the literature. In terms of the countries' co-authorship network, it has been determined that the countries in the Americas, Europe, and Australia continents are closely related to each other. The oldest key concepts for the research date back to 2014. These key concepts do not directly address inclusive education. In contrast, the key concepts of recent studies directly pertain to inclusive education. Considering the findings on the authors' co-citation network, it is possible to categorize them into four groups: authors working directly in the field of inclusive education, institutions and organizations, theories that form the theoretical foundations of inclusive education, and method studies. In this context, the analysis results serve as a guide for those interested in working in inclusive education in the preschool period.