Trends in digital game-based learning research: Bibliometric analysis (2001-2021)

The aim of this research is to reveal the global research dynamics of digital game-based learning studies and to contribute to a holistic understanding of the subject area. Within this purpose, the current situation of the field, with its emerging new orientations and its intellectual structure are examined with an in-depth perspective. Bibliometric analysis and social network analysis were performed on 494 publications published between 2001-2021. As a result of the analysis, the publications in the field were first observed in the WoS database in 2001; it has been determined that the publications have been in an increasing trend starting from the period of 2006-2010. In the common keyword analysis, it was seen that the prominent concepts were "digital game-based learning" and "serious games". It was found that the studies were mainly conducted by researchers from Taiwan and the USA.