Abstract:

Academic journals have increasingly served as essential platforms and driving forces for the dissemination of empirical research methods in education,serving as critical benchmarks for evaluating the quality and impact of educational research. Based on the diffusion of innovation theory and employing correspondence analysis,this study systematically analyzes the diffusion of educational empirical research methods in academic journals over the past two decades. The study finds that:firstly,academic journals in education significantly promote the diffusion of empirical research methods;secondly,the distribution of educational empirical research publications is closely related to regions and institutions;and thirdly,there is a mutual preference between academic journals and sub-disciplines in terms of empirical research methods. Based on these findings,the study suggests implementing a funding plan for the publication of “educational empirical research papers”,reducing regional publication disparities from the academic journal side,and encouraging the publication of empirical research-based “big science” and “big education” research findings, thus enhancing the critical role of academic journals in promoting educational empirical research.

Key words: educational academic journals, empirical research methods, journal evaluation, diffusion of scientific methods