How Has Research on Leadership and Communication in Education Evolved Over Time, and What Are Its Future Directions? A Bibliometric Analysis
Abstract
This study maps how research on leadership and communication in education has developed over time and identifies emerging directions for scholarship and practice. Bibliographic records were retrieved from Scopus using a TITLE-ABS-KEY search strategy and refined through predefined eligibility criteria, yielding 480 journal articles for analysis. Performance indicators were used to examine publication and citation trajectories, while science-mapping techniques (co-authorship, co-citation, bibliographic coupling, and keyword co-occurrence) were applied using bibliometrix/Biblioshiny and VOSviewer to reveal the field’s intellectual and thematic structure. Results show a marked acceleration of output and influence in recent years and an increasingly interdisciplinary knowledge base spanning school leadership, higher education, and professional/clinical education. Conceptual mapping positions leadership and communication as central bridging constructs linking dominant themes of collaboration and communication competencies, professionalism and practice-based learning, technology-mediated (e-)leadership, and crisis-responsive communication, with COVID-19 acting as a catalyst for sensemaking and resilience-oriented work. The study highlights geographical concentration in knowledge production and proposes a future agenda focused on multi-context comparisons, hybrid leadership communication, and capacity-building interventions aligned with quality, equity, and adaptability.
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.17509/jtkp.v8i1.100112
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