A scientometric study of media literacy literature based on Scopus record through 2011

The present research is an attempt to describe the quantity and quality of publication trends of media literacy based on Scopus reports. The population under study was composed of 510 documents on media literacy published through 2011. 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. With a negligible amount of fluctuation, the number of publications on media literacy has increased steadily over the years, with the greatest number occurring in 2011. The analysis of data based on document types indicated that, of the 510 documents, 330 were articles (64.70%), 85 were reviews (16.66%), and 64 were conference papers (12.54%). 446 documents (84.45%) were published in English and the rest presented in other languages. The United States with 190 documents (37.25%), the United Kingdom with 43 documents (8.43%), and Australia with 14 documents (2.74%) were the most represented countries, with the most prolific authors known as Austin, Hobbs, and Cheung. Thematically, the greatest number of documents were produced in Social Sciences with 360 documents (70.57%), followed by Medicine with 92 documents (18.03%). The largest number of documents has been published in Comunicar followed by American Behavioral Scientist, and Simile. The most cited articles from 1996 up to 2011 included 22 documents on the H-index zone. Analysis of the results of H-index zone by subject categories indicated that most documents on h-index zone belonged to social sciences and Medicine areas. Psychology had the most influence on media literacy, as was shown by the ratio of most cited documents to total number of documents on media literacy in any of the subject categories. The results highlight the multidisciplinary nature of media literacy. As for the H-index zone, 16 documents (73.91%) belonged to the United States. Overall, the United States, with 190 (37.25%) publications (out of a total of 510), had an important role in enhancing the quantity and quality of the media literacy literature