A Bibliometric Analysis of Publications Related to Leisure and Culture

Abstract

The scholarly investigation into the multifaceted role of leisure across diverse social groups, particularly its associations with psychosocial and cognitive outcomes, has expanded significantly. However, a comprehensive bibliometric analysis synthesizing the research landscape specifically within the domain of leisure and culture remains underexplored. This study addresses this gap by conducting a bibliometric review to provide a comprehensive overview of the scientific literature and identify key research trends in this interdisciplinary field. Publications from the Web of Science (WoS) database, covering the period from 1981 to June 25, 2025, were retrieved using a search strategy confined to titles, abstracts, and keywords. Key bibliometric indicators, including publication year, authors, subject areas, countries, keywords, and sources, were systematically analysed. The extracted WoS data were subsequently processed using VOSviewer software to perform bibliometric mapping, specifically focusing on co-authorship and co-occurrence analyses. The analysis revealed that the highest volume of publications occurred in 2020 (n=219 articles). Leisure Sciences emerged as the most prolific journal, contributing six (n=6) studies to the field. The most frequently cited research areas were identified as Hospitality Leisure Sport Tourism, Sociology, and History. Furthermore, the five concepts with the highest co-occurrence were leisure (n=18), culture (n=14), subjective well-being (n=3), leisure satisfaction (n=3), and leisure time (n=3). Geographically, the United States and the United Kingdom were identified as the leading contributing countries, with Türkiye ranking 24th with 36 publications. These findings offer valuable insights into the historical development and current trends within the global literature on leisure and culture, thereby providing a robust foundation to inform and guide future research endeavours in this interdisciplinary field. This study contributes to the literature by offering a systematic understanding of the intersection between leisure and culture, thereby highlighting its significance for advancing interdisciplinary research and practice.