Children in Forced Migration Studies: Trends and Gaps in Scholarly Research in Türkiye

Forced migration can heighten vulnerability, limit opportunities and exacerbate inequalities for children, making it essential to understand how the academic field in Türkiye has approached this issue. Children’s well-being, their access to education and services remain prominent for social work and social science practice in the forced migration context of post-2011. We systematically reviewed 166 articles on “migration” and “children” published in DergiPark between 2012 and 2022—a national open-access platform hosting many peer-reviewed journals in Türkiye. Studies cluster into four themes—education, health, psychosocial support, and social interaction—with subcategories that help trace trends in research priorities. The literature relies predominantly on qualitative methods; longitudinal and mixed designs are limited. Mixed samples are rare, gender reporting is weak, and empirical evidence on unaccompanied children and those with special needs are scarce. Research on COVID-19 effects is limited. Findings call for child-centered and longitudinal research; gender- and age-disaggregated reporting; multi-center designs in high-density provinces; and clearer conceptualization. We emphasize the need for context-based, interdisciplinary migration research that contributes to theory, comparative studies which generate robust evidence for policy and practice to improve child protection outcomes in the global migration context.