Bibliometric analysis of Spanish research on Communication for Development and Social Change (2014-2020): emerging thematics or field in implosion?

Abstract

In recent years the field of Communication for Development and Social Change has been bibliometrically analyzed to identify the characteristic features of its scientific production. However, the previous studies have not incorporated the specific methodologies of bibliometrics and documentary research. This article fills that gap, by analyzing the keywords co-occurrence of CDCS scientific domain. The joint appearance of two or more representative words in fields such as article titles, abstracts, keywords, or free text is studied. Subsequently, the analysis is represented in word maps and networks, where the groups of words and the relationships between them are identified. The research questions of this work are the following: what are the texts of the sample, from which to carry out the indicated bibliometric analysis? What keywords are used to carry out the co-occurrence analysis and the graphic representation of this scientific domain? Given the trends identified, are we facing an emerging field or a field in the process of imploding? The conclusions point to the second term of this dilemma. We are witnessing an uncreative destruction of the field, to the extent that the fragile theoretical foundations from which this incipient field in Spanish communication research was beginning to rise have been demolished.

Keywords:
Communication and Development; Communication and Social Change; Bibliometrics; Impact Journals; Qualitative Research