Evidence syntheses in educational technology research: What is not published in English is not visible? A tertiary mapping review

Bedenlier S, Buntins K, Bond M, Händel M, Marín VI (2025)

Publication Language: English

Publication Type: Journal article, Review article

Publication year: 2025

Journal

Review of Education Wiley

Book Volume: 13

Article Number: e70022

Journal Issue: 1

DOI: 10.1002/rev3.70022

Abstract

Evidence syntheses, such as systematic reviews, aim to summarise the current state of research in a field, often using the publication language of a study as a criterion for inclusion or exclusion. However, this has serious implications for capturing evidence from a wider range of geographical areas, and the potential for linguistic bias. In order to explore this issue, a trilingual tertiary mapping review of 446 evidence syntheses within the field of educational technology (EdTech) and published in English, Spanish and German was undertaken, analysing the frequency of multi- and monolingual evidence syntheses, reasons for language choice by research teams, and the composition of research teams in multi- and monolingual evidence syntheses. Items were included if they were a form of evidence synthesis with an explicit method section, indexed within ERIC, Scopus, Web of Science, Dialnet, FIS-Bildung, or Google Scholar, education-related, and published between 1983 and May 2022. The results showed that only eight languages were considered in published syntheses, only five languages were used to construct search strings, most evidence syntheses included research published in English without explaining why, and multilingual research team composition did not predict multilingual evidence syntheses. The findings suggest the need to address publication languages not only as a formal criterion but as an integral aspect of methodological approach, influencing the content and scope of syntheses in educational research.

Authors with CRIS profile

Svenja Bedenlier Lehrstuhl für Pädagogik mit Schwerpunkt Digitalisierung in Hochschul- und Erwachsenenbildung

Involved external institutions

Universität Duisburg-Essen (UDE) DE Germany (DE) University College London (UCL) GB United Kingdom (GB) Hochschule Ansbach DE Germany (DE) University of Lleida / Universitat de Lleida (UdL) ES Spain (ES)

How to cite

APA:

Bedenlier, S., Buntins, K., Bond, M., Händel, M., & Marín, V.I. (2025). Evidence syntheses in educational technology research: What is not published in English is not visible? A tertiary mapping review. Review of Education, 13(1). https://doi.org/10.1002/rev3.70022

MLA:

Bedenlier, Svenja, et al. "Evidence syntheses in educational technology research: What is not published in English is not visible? A tertiary mapping review." Review of Education 13.1 (2025).

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