A bibliometric analysis of online universities from 1997 to 2021

A bibliometric analysis of online universities from 1997 to 2021

Ngo Thi Thanh Tung* tungntt@vnies.edu.vn The Vietnam National Institute of Educational Sciences (Vietnam)
Nguyen Xuan An annx@vnies.edu.vn The Vietnam National Institute of Educational Sciences (Vietnam)
Tran Thu Giang giangtt@vnies.edu.vn The Vietnam National Institute of Educational Sciences (Vietnam)
Luong Dinh Hai luongdinhhai@vnies.edu.vn The Vietnam National Institute of Educational Sciences (Vietnam)
Summary: 
Online universities have been overgrown since the 1980s due to technological development. When the COVID-19 pandemic broke out, traditional universities and colleges were forced to shift to online learning. In this study, we conducted a comprehensive bibliometric of online university research from 1997 to 2021 based on retrieval of the Scopus database. The bibliometric analysis revealed the number of publications, the most prominent countries, authors, journal sources, and critical articles based on citations and the most relevant research topics. Since the first paper was published in 1997, annual publications in online university research have increased rapidly to 1.5 - 2 times every five years. The United States, Spain, and Korea are the top three countries regarding the number of Online university studies. However, it is the authors from Korea who have the most publications. These findings could provide information to researchers and practitioners to better understand Online universities in the experiential and digital era.
Keywords: 
Online university
online learning
distance education
bibliometrics
Scopus
digital environment.
Refers: 

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