Bibliometric analysis of taekwondo articles published in the Web of Science (1989-2013)

Aim. The aim of the present study was to provide an overview of the scientific literature on taekwondo indexed in the Web of Science main databases (SCI-Expanded, SSCI and A&HCI) until 2013. Method. For that purpose, a bibliometric analysis focused on the distribution of articles per year, research areas, authors, countries represented and journals was performed. One-hundred-seventy-six articles were retrieved from 1989 to 2013, with an increase from 2009 onwards. Results. Among the 38 research areas observed, Sport Sciences accounted the highest percentage (57.4%), whereas Pieter resulted the most represented author (i.e., 15 contributions). South Korea, the USA and Turkey produced the 45.5% of the retrieved papers, whereas the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research resulted the journal which published the majority of taekwondo articles (i.e., 5.6%). Conclusions. An overview on how the inclusion of taekwondo within the Olympic programme, the development of the Sport Sciences field, and the increase of the Web of Science master journal list could explain the important rise of the scientific production on taekwondo was provided. Despite the considerable amount of research areas, authors, countries and journals involved in taekwondo research, there is a scarcity of scholars developing a continuous and solid research on this martial art.