Page 68 - RUICHSS 2023 Proceeding

University of Ruhuna ISSN: 2706-0063
Matara, Sri Lanka

communications (Derviş, 2019) using digital databases including

conference papers, journal articles, books, literature reviews, paper articles,
reports and periodicals. Large digital databases such as Web of Science,

Scopus, Crossref, ScienceDirect and Pubmed are frequently used in

bibliometric studies. The bibliometric analysis procedure comes in 4 steps
as follows; 1) Defining the scope and aims for the study. 2) Selecting the

relevant techniques to meet the aims and objectives of the study. 3) Defining
the search terms according to the scope of the study and selecting a database

to cover the scope of the study. 4) Running the bibliometric analysis and

findings aligning with the objectives (Donthu, 2021).

The literature highlighted the evolving landscape of SWDs in HE,
emphasizing the challenges they face and the evolving support mechanisms

in place. While there are remaining gaps and complexities that require
further investigation, this study aims to shed light on the evolving trends and

contribute to a more comprehensive understanding of this critical area using

a bibliometric analysis. By building upon the insights gleaned from this
review, this research seeks to inform policy, enhance practice, and guide

future studies in the field.

5. Results and Findings

The downloaded bibliographic dataset was composed of 760 documents

including 555 (73%) journal articles, 87 (11%) conference papers, 14(2%)

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