The purpose of this study was to examine major journals of early childhood education and childcare in an effort to determine research trends in early childhood education and childcare policies between 1995 and 2011. One hundred twenty-six papers included in journals that registered with Korea Research Foundation were analyzed to keep track of research trends in early childhood education and childcare policies. A research trend in another area that early childhood education and childcare policies were linked to each other in a broad sense was explored as well. Specifically, the year of the papers, their research themes, purposes, data gathering methods, form of research, number of researchers and financial assistance were analyzed. As a result, it was found that a lot of papers were presented in and after the mid-2000s, and that the most dynamic research efforts were channeled into childcare policies. As for research theme, a wide variety of themes were covered every year. The most dominant type of research was literature review, and the most common purpose of the studies was to examine the state of national policies. Literature analysis was the most prevailing data collection methods, and the most dominant form of research was case studies. In terms of the number of researchers and financial aid, the largest number of the papers was conducted by individuals and without any financial assistance.