Content Analysis Study of E-Learning Literature Based on Scopus Record through 2013: With a Focus on the Place of Iran's Productions

Background: Topic of e-learning and virtual university in recent years is one of the important applications of information and communication technology in the world and most famous universities in the field of education development have done important steps. For as much as the importance of learning and development in every community, and to keep pace with global developments in the field of learning and teaching, becoming familiar with this area and its implementation are necessary. Purpose: The present research is an attempt to describe the quantity and quality of publication trends of E-learning based on Scopus reports. The population under study published through 2013. Methods: The population under study was composed of 23805 documents on E-learning published through 2013. The results were analyzed based on date of publication, type of document, language of the documents, source of publications, subject areas, authors and their affiliations, and the countries involved in developing the articles. Citation indicators formed the second phase of investigation in the present study. Results: With a negligible amount of fluctuation, the number of publications on E-learning has increased steadily over the years, with the greatest number occurring in 2012. In Iran, the first article to be found on Electronic Learning belongs to the year 2002 and the greatest number occurring in 2012 (47 documents, 24.6%). The analysis of data based on document types indicated that, of the 23805 documents, 11336 were conference papers (48%), 9548 were articles (40%). Also in Iran, of the 191 documents under study, 92 were conference papers and articles (48.16%). 23077 documents (97%) were published in English and the rest presented in other languages. The United States with 6238 documents (38%) was the most represented country, with the most prolific authors known as Shih. Thematically, the greatest number of documents was produced in computer Sciences with 11659 documents (35%). The largest number of documents has been published in Lecture Notes in Computer science followed by Computers and Education. The most cited articles from 1996 up to 2013 included 20 documents on the H-index zone. According to the results, from early 1996 to 2013 (when the data was retrieved), the 23411 documents had received a total of 69939 citations and production of Iran, the 191 documents had received a total of 241 citations, which means an average of 1.2 citations per document. Conclusion: The steady growth in publishing Electronic Learning in this period has apparently coincided with the development of Electronic Learning. But In Iran, we have witnessed a slow growth in production in this area as well.