This paper is based on the results of two research projects funded by the German Research Association (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft - DFG). The projects have investigated all articles published in 14 leading journals of education between 2001 and 2010. In the first project the analysis of three German and three English journals identified a number of similarities and differences in the publication patterns in the two countries. For instance, the analysis showed that articles in the German journals were more likely to be written by a single author, were more likely to employ a historical approach and less likely to cover issues in tertiary education than their English counterparts (see Zierer & Ertl, 2012). The second project applied the same analytical approach to four European journals and four leading US journals. As in the first project, a formal-descriptive approach was used for identifying publications patterns in the areas of author analysis, methods analysis and thematic analysis. The paper contrasts and compares the findings for the different contexts and clarifies how publication patters have developed over time. This will lead to conclusions on the development of educational research in national and international perspective.