Mapping Research Trends of Adapted Sport from 2001 to 2020: A Bibliometric Analysis

Objectives: To identify the research landscape in terms of keywords, annual outputs, journals, countries, and institutions and explore the hot topics and prospects regarding adapted sport research. Materials and methods: Publications designated as “article” on adapted sport retrieved from the Web of Science Core Collection. VOSviewer 1.6.11, Citespace, and Bibliometrix in R Studio were applied for the bibliometric analyses. Results: A total of 1887 articles were identified. Over the past two decades, athletic performance, sociology/psychology, and rehabilitation were extensively investigated. Basketball, soccer, and swimming were the three most focused adapted sports. Researchers showed a growing interest in submitting their studies to sport science, rehabilitation, and sociological journals. Adapted sport research was more common in developed countries and regions. The UK contributed most publications accounting for about 20% of the total publications. Conclusions: With the growth of publications concerning adapted sport, the bibliometric analysis presented an overview of collaboration, trends, and hotspots in the field.