This article analyzes the production, performance, impact, and content
of scientific documents contained in an internationally recognized
database, the Web of Science, that consider educational leadership (EL)
thesaurus (title, abstract and/or keywords). To this end, a scientometric
study was performed on a sample of 2,181 research documents that met
the established inclusion criteria. A co-word analysis was also
performed using Hirsch’s index (2005), as well as several bibliometric
indicators, impact factors, and citation indices (h, g, hg, and q2). The
main findings indicate that production on the topic of EL dates back to
1924, although it did not reach a significant level until 2004. Several
important points related to the production profile on EL are
highlighted: language, area of knowledge and institutions, and authors
specializing in the subject. There are several lines of study open in the
established periods, and the subjects that should be taken into account
in the future are “critical-race-theory,” “identity,” and “distributedleadership.”
The implications and limitations of the study are
discussed and ways for education leaders to address new education
policies and their practical implications are provided.Ministry of Universities of the Government of SpainEuropean Commissio
