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Meta-analysis in psychology: a bibliometric study

Author

Listed:
  • Georgina Guilera

    (University of Barcelona
    University of Barcelona)

  • Maite Barrios

    (University of Barcelona)

  • Juana Gómez-Benito

    (University of Barcelona
    University of Barcelona)

Abstract

Meta-analysis refers to the statistical methods used in research synthesis for combining and integrating results from individual studies. The present study draws on the strengths of bibliometric methods in order to offer an overview of meta-analytic research activity in psychology, as well as to characterize its most important aspects and their evolution over time. A total of 2,874 articles published in scientific journals were identified and standard bibliometric indicators (e.g., number of articles, productivity by country, and national and international collaborations) and laws (e.g., Price’s and Lotka’s law) were applied to these data. The results suggest a clear upward trend not only in the number of articles published since the 1970s (with a peak of productivity in 2010), but also in both the number of authors by article ( $$ \bar{x} = 2. 7 5 $$ , SD = 1.53) and internationalization, especially since the 1990s. The interest in meta-analysis extends to many authors (n = 5,445), countries (n = 44) and scientific journals (n = 394), as well as to several areas of psychology that mostly fit a growing exponential model. In future studies it would be interesting to explore the citing behaviour and patterns in the meta-analysis literature.

Suggested Citation

  • Georgina Guilera & Maite Barrios & Juana Gómez-Benito, 2013. "Meta-analysis in psychology: a bibliometric study," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 94(3), pages 943-954, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:scient:v:94:y:2013:i:3:d:10.1007_s11192-012-0761-2
    DOI: 10.1007/s11192-012-0761-2
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. L. Egghe, 1990. "Applications of the theory of Bradford's Law to the calculation of Leimkuhler's Law and to the completion of bibliographies," Journal of the American Society for Information Science, Association for Information Science & Technology, vol. 41(7), pages 469-492, October.
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    Cited by:

    1. Chao Zhang & Jiancheng Guan, 2017. "How to identify metaknowledge trends and features in a certain research field? Evidences from innovation and entrepreneurial ecosystem," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 113(2), pages 1177-1197, November.
    2. Said Fathalla & Sahar Vahdati & Christoph Lange & Sören Auer, 2020. "Scholarly event characteristics in four fields of science: a metrics-based analysis," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 123(2), pages 677-705, May.
    3. Junwen Zhu & Weishu Liu, 2020. "A tale of two databases: the use of Web of Science and Scopus in academic papers," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 123(1), pages 321-335, April.
    4. Barrios, Maite & Guilera, Georgina & Gómez-Benito, Juana, 2013. "Impact and structural features of meta-analytical studies, standard articles and reviews in psychology: Similarities and differences," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 7(2), pages 478-486.
    5. Li Zhang, 2014. "Growing trend of China’s contribution to tissue engineering," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 98(2), pages 1423-1433, February.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Psychology; Meta-analysis; Bibliometrics; Productivity; Impact;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C10 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Econometric and Statistical Methods and Methodology: General - - - General
    • O30 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - General

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