Bibliometric analysis of religious education articles affiliated with Türkiye indexed in Web of Science

Abstract

This study conducts a comprehensive bibliometric analysis of religious education research affiliated with Türkiye and published in journals indexed in the Web of Science (WoS) databases (SSCI, AHCI, ESCI). The dataset consists of 302 articles identified through a systematic search using the keyword “religious education” in May 2025. After screening for relevance and data integrity, publications were examined in terms of annual distribution, author productivity, institutional contributions, journal sources, keyword patterns, and citation structures. Descriptive statistics, co-authorship networks, institutional collaboration maps, co-citation analyses, and keyword co-occurrence patterns were generated using VOSviewer. Findings reveal a remarkable increase in publication volume, particularly after 2016, coinciding with the inclusion of numerous Türkiye-based theology journals in the ESCI. Most articles were published in Türkiye-based journals, with Cumhuriyet Theology Journal, Hitit Theology Journal, and Journal of Academic Researches in Religious Sciences emerging as the most productive sources. Sakarya University, Erciyes University, and Ankara University were the leading institutions in terms of publication output and citation influence. Co-authorship analysis shows that research in this field remains predominantly single-authored, though a limited group of scholars form central nodes in collaboration networks. Keyword analysis highlights “religious education,” “higher religious education,” and “values education” as dominant thematic clusters. Co-citation findings indicate that foundational works in religious education, national curricula, thesis literature, and methodological sources constitute the backbone of the field. Overall, the study demonstrates that WoS-indexed religious education publications from Türkiye exhibit growing international visibility, shaped by institutional developments and increased emphasis on indexed publishing. Future studies may further investigate thematic evolutions, methodological trends, and cross-national collaborations in the discipline.