Bibliometric analysis of assessment and evaluation in higher education: 2012-2023

Launched in 1975, Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education (AEHE) is a prominent international journal that focuses on assessment and evaluation within higher education. This bibliometric analysis of AEHE aims to gain insights into its evolution since its expansion in 2012 and identify its critical contributions to higher education. Bibliographic data associated with a corpus of 1,047 documents published in AEHE from 2012 through 2023 were initially exported from Scopus. Using the specific software, VOSviewer, performance analysis and science mapping were conducted to obtain the following findings: (i) The domination of Australia and the UK as contributors to this journal suggests that culture background significantly affects publication patterns. (ii) Prof. David Boud, along with his cooperative network, emerges as the most prolific author with a remarkably scholarly impact on AEHE. (iii) Prominent themes include concerns about feedback and the practice of assessment. (iv) References responding to the critique mounted for the traditional understanding of feedback serve as essential background materials for readers seeking a better understanding of published works. (v) From 2017 to 2018, there was a completion of conceptualisation regarding feedback as learner-centred processes; starting from 2021 onwards, research frontiers have shifted towards "evaluative judgement", "feedback literacy", and "cheating".