The aim of the research was to examine the methodological and thematic trends in scientific periodicals in the field of pedagogy. Two Croatian journals for education, Život i škola and Napredak in the period from 2012 to 2017, were analysed. A total of 370 articles were analysed, 143 from Napredak and 227 from Život i škola. The research results indicate that the analysed period is dominated by the topics of assessment, teacher competence, and teaching climate, while the topic of the future of education is the least represented in all segments. In methodological terms, the dominant papers are those with empirical quantitative research and categorization of original scientific and review papers. Based on the analysis of the obtained facts, the main conclusions were synthesized, and they show that the methodological and thematic trends in Croatian scientific periodicals occur with an emphasis on the dominance of the positivist paradigm, lack of historical, theoretical and futuristic research, and a small number of studies with a qualitative methodological approach.