What Do We Know about Giftedness and Underachievement? A Bibliometric Analysis

Abstract

This bibliometric study aimed to analyze the main trends of published articles and reviews between 1958 and 2018 regarding underachievement in gifted students. The sample included 203 files extracted from the databases Scopus and Web of Science. The analysis included the number of publications; most productive journals, countries, and authors; affiliations; language; and citations. Main results indicate that Roeper Review has published most of the documents in this area, and Donna Y. Ford is the author with most publications. The U.S. is the most productive country, while the University of Georgia is the most productive institution. Additionally, the predominant language is English, with 91.63% of the publications. These results are discussed and analyzed based on the existing literature. Limitations and future research are also considered.

Exploring Academic Performance Among Gifted and Talented Students: A Comprehensive Review

“…The findings of this study indicate an interest in studying low achievement or underperformance among gifted students since the late 1950s. Over 60 years have provided evidence and reflection on the topic, but there is still a need for more research and investigation (Cornejo-Araya et al, 2021). According to White et al (2018), interest in underachievement among gifted and talented students has increased in the last decade due to several converging influences.…”

“…There are many different causes that contribute to underachievement among gifted students, such as bullying problems, socio-emotional factors, unmet academic needs, and boredom (Cornejo-Araya et al, 2021). Regrettably, there is a dearth of conclusive evidence regarding the extent of underachievement or low performance within the gifted student population.…”

The Past, Present, and Future of Research on Mathematical Giftedness: A Bibliometric Analysis

“…Researchers have used bibliometric analysis for a variety of reasons, including “to uncover emerging trends in article and journal performance, collaboration patterns, and research constituents, and to explore the intellectual structure of a specific domain in the extant literature” (Donthu et al, 2021, p. 285). In the field of gifted education, bibliometric analysis was used in only a handful of studies, all of which were conducted in the past few years (Cornejo-Araya et al, 2021; Hernández-Torrano & Kuzhabekova, 2020; Hodges et al, 2021; Yurtcu et al, 2021). In these studies, researchers benefited from bibliometric analysis for a variety of purposes, such as to explore the state and development of research in the area of gifted education (Hernández-Torrano & Kuzhabekova, 2020); to analyze the main trends of published articles and reviews regarding underachievement in gifted students (Cornejo-Araya et al, 2021); to examine the influence of early scholars’ work on other fields of research (Hodges et al, 2021); and finally, to investigate the social network analysis of researchers who studied creativity in gifted and talented learners (Yurtcu et al, 2021).…”