A systematic review of the literature on semantic networks of concept maps: study supported by a specialized bibliometric process

Abstract

Introduction: The current context of information manipulation advocates computational data processing for the generation of detailed and precise information in the academic field. Objective: Present a Systematic Literature Review (SLR) supported by bibliometrics on semantic networks of concept maps (RSMC) – networks of meanings in which the nodes are concepts belonging to a collection of concept maps and the edges are semantic relations established between these concepts. Methodology: The SLR followed Kitchenham's proposal and was implemented in the online tool Parsifal. To provide breadth to the research, bib files from ACM, ScienceDirect and Engineering Village sources were included in the methodological conduction through metadata treatment, which increased the number of documents found and analyzed. Results: As a result, it was found, in relation to the specialized bibliometric procedure, that the addition of academic bases resulted in an increase in the search breadth by 56.8% and, consequently, in the results of the bibliographic and the bibliometric analysis conducted. Conclusion: In relation to the documents analyzed, the most relevant conclusions were: a) that the concept of RSMC is not yet formalized in academic literature and b) that there is continued interest in pedagogical practices involving, mainly, conceptual maps and, in addition, semantic networks and lexical semantic relations in the search scope performed. The study presented here can contribute to qualifying the practice of systematic literature review with the adoption of bibliometric procedures supported by technological tools, such as the Bibliometrix package.