The Intellectual Structure of Recreational Therapy: Thematic Clusters, Co-Citation, and Bibliographic Coupling Analysis (2007-2025)

Abstract

Despite the rapid increase in the volume of publications in the field of recreational therapy, the thematic and intellectual structure of the literature has not been comprehensively mapped. This study aims to examine the evolution of the recreational therapy literature between 2007 and 2025 using a bibliometric approach based on Web of Science Core Collection data. Records searched using the terms “recreational therapy” in the topic field and filtered by article type and English language were exported; 498 publications were included in the final sample as of September 2025. The data were analysed in VOSviewer software for keyword co-occurrence, source (journal) co-citation, document bibliographic matching, and author, institution, and country co-authorship networks. The findings showed a marked increase in annual production after 2010, peaking in 2024. In the keyword network, well-being, assessment, and adaptive sports showed strong links with core concepts. In source co-citation, the Therapeutic Recreation Journal occupied a central position, forming multi-pronged bridges with clinical medicine, interprofessional education, rehabilitation psychology, and leisure/sports literature. Co-authorship networks showed moderate centralisation around a few core groups, while at the country level, they exhibited limited and mostly bilateral collaboration patterns. Consequently, this field is maturing in terms of evidence-based assessment and implementation; the findings provide a data-driven roadmap for standard output sets, multicentre multinational studies, and open science practices.