Higher education research as tribe, territory and/or community: a co-citation analysis

This article builds upon existing research which has been mapping and analysing the field of higher education research, and, in particular, on the analysis of the articles (n = 406) in 17 specialist higher education journals published in the English language outside of North America during the year 2000. It extends that analysis by examining the citations (n = 10,065) given in the articles, in particular the patterns of co-citation. This enables a clearer identification of the tribes or communities of practice that occupy the territory of higher education research. An attempt is be made to identify the key members of these tribes or communities, and to chart the key relationships within and between them.