Systematic literature reviews in educational research have become a popular research method. A key point hereby is the choice of bibliographic databases to reach a maximum probability of finding all potentially relevant literature that deals with the research question analyzed in a systematic literature review. Guidelines and handbooks on review recommend proper databases and information sources for education, along with specific search strategies. However, in many disciplines, among them educational research, there is a lack of evidence on the relevance of databases that need to be considered to find relevant literature and lessen the risk of missing relevant publications. Educational research is an interdisciplinary field and has no core database. Instead, the field is covered by multiple disciplinary and multidisciplinary information sources that have either a national or international focus. In this article, we discuss the relevance of seven databases in systematic literature reviews in education, based on results of an empirical data analysis of three recently published reviews. To evaluate the relevance of a database, the relevant literature of those reviews served as the gold standard. Results indicate that discipline-specific databases outperform international multidisciplinary sources, and a combination of discipline-specific international and national sources is most efficient in finding a high proportion of relevant literature. The article discusses the relevance of the databases in relation to their coverage of relevant literature, while considering practical implications for researchers performing a systematic literature search. We, thus, present evidence for proper database choices for educational and discipline-related systematic literature reviews.

This mapping review addresses scientometric indicators that quantify open scholarship. The goal is to determine what open scholarship metrics are currently being applied and which are discussed (e.g., in policy papers). The paper contributes to a better understanding of how open scholarship is quantitatively recorded in research assessment and where gaps can be identified. The review is based on a search in four databases, each with 22 queries. Out of 3,385 hits, we coded 248 documents chosen according to the research questions. The review discusses the open scholarship metrics of the documents as well as the topics addressed in the publications, the disciplines the publications come from, and the journals in which they were published. The results indicate that research and teaching practices are unequally represented regarding open scholarship metrics. Open research material is a central and exhausted topic in publications. Open teaching practices, on the other hand, play a role in the discussion and strategy papers of the review, but open teaching material is not recorded using concrete scientometric indicators. Here, we see a research gap and discuss the potential for further research and investigation.

Das Internet bricht etablierte Praktiken der Unterrichtsvorbereitung auf. Neue Akteure werden sichtbar und die Rolle der staatlichen Regulation wird infrage gestellt. Wie finden Lehrpersonen an Schulen Unterrichtsmaterialien und wie gehen sie mit selbst entwickelten Materialien um? Eine large-scale Untersuchung mit 1.960 Lehrpersonen aus Deutschland erfasst ihre Handlungspraktiken mit Blick auf die Informationsquellen und Formate der Kollaboration. Die Ergebnisse bestätigen vorliegende Befunde, wonach Lehrende Materialien aller Art in den Weiten des Internets – vor allem über «Google» – suchen. Sie sammeln, entwickeln diese für sich und tauschen sich kaum mit Kolleg:innen aus. Für die weitere Entwicklung eines informationellen Ökosystems für Bildung, das schulübergreifend einen Rahmen für Lehren und Lernen in Schulen schafft, gilt es, das Zusammenspiel der Akteure neu auszurichten. Neben der Bereitstellung von offenen Materialien durch private und staatliche Anbieter:innen kommt insbesondere der kollaborativen Erarbeitung und (Nach-)Nutzung eine besondere Bedeutung zu.

Open practices in education focus on the actions of learners and teachers regarding openness. The sharing and collaborative creation of open educational resources is at the core of such practices. Digital infrastructures do not only provide environments for these kinds of practices but reflect ideas and implications of open practices through the functionalities they offer. Those infrastructures can be seen as drivers for enabling open practices to become default. However, a common understanding of open practices has yet to be defined. As such, designing digital infrastructures that foster open practices might be a challenge. This chapter shows the relation between open practices and digital infrastructures.