A Bibliometric Study on Early Childhood Autism Research
A Bibliometric Study on Early Childhood Autism Research

Summary/Abstract: This study aimed to determine trends in early childhood autism research and to suggest directions for future research. A total of 4366 studies related to autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in early childhood were retrieved from the Web of Science database. In total, 2744 articles that met all the selection criteria were selected for review. The VOSviewer and HistCite software were used to conduct bibliometric and co-occurrence analyses. Analyses were conducted regarding the distribution of categories based on publication counts and the distribution of publications and citations by year, geographical distribution, hot topics, and analysis of journals, authors, and global/local citations. This article provides an objective review of recent research between 1994 and 2023 to consider how the field has evolved and focused over time. Our analysis demonstrated a notable rise in articles on ASD in early childhood in recent years. Themes such as “inclusive education,” “inclusion,” “primary care,” “activity schedules,” “outcome measures,” “mathematics,” and “motor skills” have been frequently associated with ASD in early childhood research. However, their frequency was low. ASD in early childhood is addressed by various disciplinary studies, emphasizing the need for interdisciplinary research. The current findings have important contributions to research and practice.

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