Profiling Academic Research on Digital Games Using Text Mining Tools

This study profiles academic research on digital games using bibliometric text mining, analyzing 2,136 ISI Web of Science records published between 1986 and 2006 across more than 170 subject categories. Using VantagePoint text mining software, the authors map a multidisciplinary field and trace how its thematic focus and geographic reach have evolved. Articles make up 81% of the records, with 258 of the 1,733 articles appearing in conference proceedings, and the authors apply a structured search and data-cleaning process to build the sample.

Three broad research areas emerge as most prominent: Social Sciences, Law & Economics (30%), Health Sciences (29%), and ICT & Mathematics (25%). Computer Science (26%) and Psychology (25%) dominate at the discipline level, while ICT & Mathematics shows the fastest growth, rising 160% between the 1997–2001 and 2002–2006 periods. Publication volume rose steadily with a pronounced peak after 2003. The United States produces 48% of articles, and the field is highly dispersed: the top ten journals account for only 10.2% of records, the top ten affiliations for 9.6%, and more than half of all publications have never been cited.

Thematically, health-related keywords declined in relative importance over the period while terms such as "Internet" gained ground, reflecting a shift in research concerns alongside technological change. By 2006 the field had reached 53 countries and over 1,000 affiliations. The authors link major growth periods around the early 1990s, 1998, and after 2003 to technological developments including handheld consoles, 3D graphics, the commercial Internet, and second-generation consoles.

The authors acknowledge important limitations. Reliance on ISI Web of Science alone likely under-represents education and humanities scholarship, and the iterative search process may introduce classification errors. Within these constraints, the study offers a broad, data-driven picture of a rapidly expanding, highly fragmented field whose growth tracks closely with technological change.