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Trends and Developments in Mindfulness Research over 55 Years: A Bibliometric Analysis of Publications Indexed in Web of Science
Open accessAbstract
Objectives This study aimed to identify historical developments, active research areas, and emerging trends within scientific literature on mindfulness published so far, using bibliometric methods. We also aimed to identify prominent journals, authors, organizations, and countries in the field of mindfulness.Methods Articles or reviews which mention mindfulness in the title, abstract, or keywords were identified using the Web of Science. A descriptive summary of the literature was obtained from the Web of Science Analysis tool. Country collaboration, co-authorship, and keyword co-occurrence networks were visualized using VOSviewer. CiteSpace, which uses document co-citation analysis, was used to identify emerging trends and transient patterns in the literature.Results From 1966 to 2021, 16,581 publications on mindfulness were identified. There has been an exponential growth of publications since 2006. Almost half (47%) of the publications were in psychology and about one-fifth (20.8%) in psychiatry. The most prolific journal was Mindfulness (contributing 7% of all publications) and the most prolific author was Eric L. Garland. The vast majority of publications originated from Western countries but representation from Asian countries has increased. The most frequently co-occurring keywords were meditation, depression, stress, and anxiety. Co-citation analysis of the early period (1966-2015) revealed how scholarly work on spiritual themes has inspired early mindfulness research. Recent trends (2016-2021) revealed a rising interest in mechanisms and moderators, long-term meditation, neuroscientific studies, and smartphone/online delivery of interventions.Conclusions This comprehensive bibliometric study summarized and visualized 55 years of mindfulness research, revealing pivotal points, active research areas, and emerging trends.
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Citations
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Cited by
Sorted by citations
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Metadata
- Authors
- Baminiwatta, A., & Solangaarachchi, I.
- Affiliations
- University of Kelaniya (LK)
- Corresponding author
- Baminiwatta, Anuradha
- Venue
- Mindfulness
- Published
- 2021-07-16
- Volume
- 12
- Issue
- 9
- Pages
- 2099-2116
- ISSN
- 1868-8527 (ISSN-L)
- 1868-8535
- PMC
- PMC8282773
- OpenAlex
- W3185236960
- Cited by
- 232
- References
- 58
- Citations by year
- 2026: 25 · 2025: 55 · 2024: 64 · 2023: 47 · 2022: 38 · 2021: 3
- FWCI
- 5.08
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Mindfulness (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Mindfulness and Compassion Interventions
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Psychology Research and Bibliometrics
- Social Sciences › Library and Information Sciences › scientometrics and bibliometrics research
- Keywords
- mindfulness research, research trends, meditation, depression, stress, anxiety, smartphone-based intervention, online intervention, spiritual themes, publication growth, co-authorship networks, co-citation analysis
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