A Review of Scientific Productions in Graphic Design in the Web of Science Citation Database

 
Graphic design is a subcategory of visual communication and includes a wide range of topics such as poster design, sign, packaging, interactive illustration, digital communication, and multimedia design, which has evolved with the emergence of advanced software tools and innovative techniques, and allows designers to develop their creative performance in this area. Considering the extent and diversity of graphic design, this research intends to examine the research in this field using scientometric methods. One of the most common methods of evaluating scientific activities is scientometrics, which quantitatively examines the scientific productions of researchers and draws scientific maps. Exploring studies in graphic design is a practical way to improve the quality of activities in this field. Also, it is necessary to draw a conceptual structure using the co-word analysis method by creating an image of the state of research conducted in graphic design. Based on the investigations, the trend of scientific production in graphic design has not been scientifically and systematically studied. Due to the importance of graphic design, the current research has been conducted by identifying the existing gaps and examining the texts of this field from 1920 to 2022 in the Web of Science database. This research aims to examine the status of scientific productions in graphic design indexed in the Web of Science database and to answer the question, "What is the process of publishing scientific productions in graphic design in the Web of Science database?" It also addresses "the co-occurrence status of keywords in articles of graphic design (main topics), countries and organisations participating in the publication of scientific productions in graphic design, top journals publishing scientific productions in graphic design, the most cited articles in graphic design, and the status of scientific productions in Iran in graphic design". The research method of the present study is applied and descriptive, and it has been carried out using the scientometric method. The statistical population of the current research is all scientific productions in graphic design from 1920 to 2022, which are indexed in the Web of Science database. The data collection method is library-based, using the Web of Science database as the primary resource. The information of retrieved articles, including title, author, date, journal title, keywords, and the number of references, were recorded on an Excel CSV format file. The retrieved information was entered into Excel software to ensure the validity and reliability of the data. Also, the retrieved documents were checked to determine that they were completely consistent with the field of graphic design. All the data related to the co-occurrence of words were entered into Wes Viewer software to analyse the data related to the co-occurrence of words. The keywords used by the authors of the articles were used for co-word analysis in this research because expert researchers wrote these words, which can reflect a better understanding of the subject of the articles. In this process, graphic design researchers get acquainted with the modern knowledge and scientific productions of this field of study by presenting a conceptual map of this field. In this research, by examining the trend of publishing studies in graphic design, the co-occurrence of keywords, the leading countries in this field, the most active researchers in this area, the determination of core publications, and the number of references of scientific productions of Iran, were introduced so that the researchers of graphic design, with sufficient knowledge of the comprehensive scientific maps and the identification of the influential colleagues of the field and their scientific works, move in the main path of their research and do not get reworked. The findings of this research showed that 1364 records of scientific productions in the world in graphic design have been indexed in the Web of Science database, and publishing articles during these years has faced fluctuations. Also, the highest number of productions is in 2019, with 110 articles. The first certification published in the field of graphic design dates back to 1920, and after that, no certification was found until 1968. The same lack of publication can be seen from 1969 to 1975, and from 1975 onwards, we witness the publication of certifications in this field in consecutive years with nonstop publications. Finally, the upward trend of publishing articles in this field shows that graphic design, as a dynamic and growing research area, still has a high potential for new and innovative research. The increased number of articles in recent years and the growth in scientific research can help create stronger scientific foundations and develop new technologies in this area. The research data analysis showed 11 main topics (clusters) in graphic design. The subjects of art, computer science, education research, engineering, and architecture are the most used topics of interest to researchers in this field. These relevant thematic principles have important subjects that can interest academics and policymakers. The scientific and professional community can find a comprehensive view of the important topics of graphic design at the international level using the map of science and learn about the main research topics of this area. The results showed that American and Spanish researchers are among the main scientific producers in graphic design at the international level. Also, China, England, and Australia have the third to fifth ranks in producing these themes. Because a country is related to the origin of the institution that publishes the article, the nationality of the researchers who write the article is not considered. Iranian researchers had only nine articles in this area, which shows the low share of Iranian publications in international journals; this might be for various reasons, such as that most of the journals indexed in the Web of Science database are in English. Also, Iranian authors do not have a high level of English proficiency. It is troublesome for them to publish articles in this language. Other factors, such as the lack of financial and spiritual support of organisations and universities for the international publications of researchers and the lack of sufficient motivation of researchers, are effective in the low level of international publications. Also, the investigations related to the number of publications of the scientific productions of the organisations showed that Alzahra University had the most scientific productions among the local institutions. Among the international institutions, the researchers of the Anadolu University of Turkey and the Autonomous University of Barcelona had the most productions. By producing remarkable articles, these universities play an important role in graphic design's scientific and professional development. This can be related to the scientific and research policies of these universities, the quality and scientific capabilities of the faculty members, as well as their research resources and facilities. The findings showed that "Grafica Journal of Graphic Design" has published the most graphic design articles and is the best journal in this area. This high number of publications can refer to the importance and influence of this journal in advancing research and scientific exchange in graphic design. The introduction of highly productive journals can both help in the easy publication of the results of scientific productions and guide researchers in retrieving the required information. Accordingly, knowing the core and most cited journals in graphic design can be influential for researchers in this area. The most cited article is related to the research of Wong et al. (2005). A marked research paper in graphic design belongs to Bischoff (2017). Considering the novelty of this article, researchers can use it to write new papers. Salimi Namin is the most active Iranian researcher in this field, having written two articles. Torbati Eshaghi (2018) also had the most cited article. This research tried to draw the attention of researchers to the most important research areas of graphic design by identifying the key topics of graphic design, highly cited and marked research articles, the best journals in this area, and the status of Iran at the international level. The research findings present the general view of the scientific situation in graphic design research. There were some limitations to the research findings; this research examined the data of the Web of Science database, and other influential papers that were not indexed in this database were not included in this study. For example, the low number of Iranian articles is because Persian speakers publish their articles mostly in local journals, most of which are not indexed in the Web of Science database. Moreover, Iranian researchers may have published articles in foreign journals indexed in a database other than the Web of Science database.