A Bibliometric Analysis of Journal Performance, Trends, and Visualization of Scientific Research in The Journal of Behavioral Science

Background/ problem: The Journal of Behavioral Science (TJBS) has made significant contributions to the discipline by publishing research that integrates interdisciplinary knowledge and uses advanced research methodologies to explore contemporary issues. Though the journal has been published since 2006, it was indexed in the prestigious SCOPUS database in 2018, which brought many changes in the published content. Objective/ purpose: This research was designed to examine the changes in the journal content and performance. Specifically, there were three aims, 1) to study the changes in the journal metrics; 2) to examine the trends in the research articles published in TJBS after 2018; and 3) to examine and compare the publications between the two periods of content analysis of TJBS, period 1 (2006-14) and the current, period 2 (2018-24). Design and Methodology: This research adopted a case study approach to conduct bibliometric analysis of the journal. Data from Scopus database was utilized, along with software for visualization of the information. Out of the total articles (n=154) published from 2018-2024, only 144 articles were selected for further analysis, excluding the review articles (n=10). Results: The findings re-affirm the interest in behavioral science topics and advance research methodologies. Journal performance shows steady progress with an increase in the total publications, author networks, institutional collaborations, and citations over time. A comparison with the previous analysis shows enhanced diversity of authors, content, and rigors in methodologies. Conclusion and Implications: Implications of these findings are discussed for quality management of similar journals, for orientation of scholars and authors, and for future researchers in behavioral science.