European Credit Transfer System a bibliometric analysis of scientific production indexed in Scopus (#1999)

Authors

Flores Laitano, Claudia Melissa

Nuñez Lagos, Rafael

Velasquez Cerrato, Lyla Marizela

Reyes Flores, Luis Gerardo

Abstract

The European Credit Transfer System (ECTS) is a university management mechanism that allows the student and academic mobility. Said system originates from the Bologna declaration signed in 1999 which allowed the European degrees flexibility, in the present 25 year later being launched, it manifests important results associated to educational development and expanded the beneficiaries’ experience. In such manner, this bibliometric analysis objective is to explore the scientific production availability about the ECTS. Methods. A quantitative analysis was applied utilizing the bibliometric review technique, with which 114 articles from the Scopus database, written in the last twenty-five years, were identified, for which inclusion and exclusion criteria were considered. The data were analyzed using VOSViewer software; through this, the theoretical clusters and their components were identified: the volume of links, strength and occurrence. Results. Spain and England are the countries with the highest production of articles indexed in Scopus on the topic studied, with 44%; and in the fields of Social Sciences and Medicine, 49% stands out. The network of items by clusters shows that three categories underlie: development (192/27), level (177/27) and research (190/25). The first has a greater strength of relationship and occurrence, which reveals a favorable trend. Conclusion. The system in question constitutes a model to follow due to its impact on academic flexibility, which translates into development and a new academic culture.