Research trends and intellectual structure of early childhood mathematical development: A bibliometric analysis (2006–2025)

Feriha Hande İdil; Sibel Yeşildere İmre

doi:10.29333/pr/19101

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Feriha Hande İdil ¹ ^* , Sibel Yeşildere İmre ²

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¹ Izmir Provincial Directorate of National Education, TÜRKİYE² Dokuz Eylül University, TÜRKİYE^* Corresponding Author

Abstract

Mathematical skills acquired during early childhood are widely recognized as strong predictors of later academic achievement. However, studies systematically mapping the global knowledge structure of research on preschool mathematical development remain limited. This study examined 143 academic publications from the Web of Science (WoS) database between 2006 and 2025 using bibliometric analysis, aiming to provide a comprehensive, integrated structural map of the field. Publication trends, author, country, and institution distributions, citation patterns, and keyword co-occurrence clusters were analyzed using VOSviewer 1.6.20. Findings revealed a significant increase in publications after 2015, with the United States, Germany, and Belgium as leading countries, and KU Leuven as the most productive institution. A longitudinal study on executive functions received the highest number of citations. Keyword analysis demonstrated that executive functions and cognitive processes constitute the dominant research focus; however, notable gaps exist in digital technology integration, cross-cultural perspectives, and play-based learning approaches.

Keywords

preschool
mathematical development
early childhood education
bibliometric analysis
mathematical achievement

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This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Article Type: Research Article

PEDAGOGICAL RES, Volume 11, Issue 3, July 2026, Article No: em0282

https://doi.org/10.29333/pr/19101

Publication date: 09 Aug 2026

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Article Downloads: 4

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How to cite this article

APA

İdil, F. H., & Yeşildere İmre, S. (2026). Research trends and intellectual structure of early childhood mathematical development: A bibliometric analysis (2006–2025). Pedagogical Research, 11(3), em0282. https://doi.org/10.29333/pr/19101

Vancouver

İdil FH, Yeşildere İmre S. Research trends and intellectual structure of early childhood mathematical development: A bibliometric analysis (2006–2025). PEDAGOGICAL RES. 2026;11(3):em0282. https://doi.org/10.29333/pr/19101

AMA

İdil FH, Yeşildere İmre S. Research trends and intellectual structure of early childhood mathematical development: A bibliometric analysis (2006–2025). PEDAGOGICAL RES. 2026;11(3), em0282. https://doi.org/10.29333/pr/19101

Chicago

İdil, Feriha Hande, and Sibel Yeşildere İmre. "Research trends and intellectual structure of early childhood mathematical development: A bibliometric analysis (2006–2025)". Pedagogical Research 2026 11 no. 3 (2026): em0282. https://doi.org/10.29333/pr/19101

Harvard

İdil, F. H., and Yeşildere İmre, S. (2026). Research trends and intellectual structure of early childhood mathematical development: A bibliometric analysis (2006–2025). Pedagogical Research, 11(3), em0282. https://doi.org/10.29333/pr/19101

MLA

İdil, Feriha Hande et al. "Research trends and intellectual structure of early childhood mathematical development: A bibliometric analysis (2006–2025)". Pedagogical Research, vol. 11, no. 3, 2026, em0282. https://doi.org/10.29333/pr/19101