Canada-Focused Social Sciences Studies in South Korea: A 20-Year Scoping Review

This paper shows a scoping review of the Canada-focused social sciences articles published through the Korea Citation Index (KCI) journals for the last 20 years; it mapped out a broad field of evidence on Canadian studies in the KCI social sciences domain, thereby identifying critical research gaps within the bilateral academic collaboration. Using a descriptive coding technique of ChatGPT 4o, a Generative Artificial Intelligence service, this scoping review classified 211 KCI articles, followed by analyzing 15 attributes of the selected literature. As such, it unearthed from the knowledge synthesis that (i) Korean authors overwhelmingly led Canada related studies by a single research form, with limited international collaboration; (ii) Overall topics shifted from free trade-centered issues to multiculturalism, education, criminal, and climate challenges; (iii) publications predominantly used the Korean language and descriptive methods, limiting global academic visibility; and (iv) major knowledge gaps were identified in indigenous issues, Francophone perspectives, immigrant voices, and policy feedback analyses. This study may contribute to more prosperous scholarly activities of Canada-related social science researchers/ practitioners in the Canadian-Korean context.