Inclusive education at university: a scientific mapping analysis

Abstract

Nowadays, education is a fundamental element to provide people with independence and knowledge. All citizens have the right of access to education, including students with special educational needs. Education must be inclusive for these students at primary, secondary and university levels. Therefore, the aim is to analyse the conceptual, intellectual and social structure in the field of inclusive education in the university environment through bibliometric techniques. The sample consisted of 605 documents extracted from the Web of Science and analysed using the bibliometrix software designed in R. The results show that there are two journals that are fundamental in the field and that co-citation networks are generated around them. Furthermore, the most productive authors will occupy central positions. Nonetheless, the papers that initiated the field will receive more citations. Finally, since 2010, a greater diversity of topics within inclusive education can be observed, such as teacher training in inclusive education or considering the curriculum. Future lines of work include the possibility of using more databases and establishing an action protocol based on the results.