Topical and Methodological Trends in Visual Impairment Research: Ankara University Journal of Special Education (1993–2026)

This study examined the topics, participant characteristics, methodological features, and temporal trends of publications on visual impairment published in the Ankara University Faculty of Educational Sciences Journal of Special Education between 1993 and 2026. Using a document analysis design, 30 publications were analyzed through descriptive classification and content analysis, with analyses specific to empirical research conducted on 25 studies. The findings indicated that the largest number of publications appeared during the 2011–2020 period. Whereas earlier publications primarily addressed rights, societal access, and educational services, research topics became more diverse in subsequent periods. The most frequently addressed topics were academic skills and access to education, along with social, emotional, cognitive, and communicative processes. Children and students were the predominant participant groups in empirical studies, and single-case experimental and correlational designs were the most frequently used research designs. Of the eight intervention studies reviewed, six reported maintenance data, five reported social validity data, and three reported generalization data. Within the scope of the journal’s publication record, these findings highlight the need to expand research across learning domains and participant groups and to evaluate intervention outcomes by jointly examining maintenance, generalization, and social validity.