Profile of scientific publications on Muay Thai: An analysis based on Scopus and Web of Science databases (1998-2021)

Background and Aim. Following the growing popularity of Mixed Martial Arts events, Muay Thai has drawn the attention and interest of the scientific community. Moreover, in 2021 it was fully recognized by the International Olympic Committee. The objective this study was to outline the profile of scientific articles considering Muay Thai, indexed in Scopus and Web of Science databases. Methodology. A bibliometric analysis was conducted, presenting the state of the art on the topic from a multifactorial perspective. The search addressed titles, abstracts, and keywords, with no restriction on language, research area, or time of publication. The following variables were studied: year of publication; journals; authors; countries and continents publishing articles on the topic; most cited articles; classification of Muay Thai as a fighting art, martial art, and/or combat sport; and keywords. Results. Altogether, 129 articles were analyzed, most of them published in the last 5 years; 106 articles were published in English, predominantly in the Biological and Health Science fields. Muay Thai has been researched in 34 countries, of which Brazil has published the most articles (27) Archives of Budo (7) and Ido Movement for Culture Journal of Martial Arts Anthropology (5) are the main journals publishing articles on the topic; Emerson Franchini (8) and Tony Myers (5) are the main authors publishing articles on Muay Thai. Conclusion. Muay Thai is still an incipient field of research. Nonetheless, Muay Thai research trend analysis shows the absence studies related to the Social and Human Sciences, which indicates the need for further publications. Moreover, there were neither any strong research groups focused on Muay Thai research nor study groups led by a Thai university or Thai researchers among the most important researchers on the topic.