Sanat Turizmi Konulu Makalelerin Bibliyometrik Analizi: Web of Science Örneği (Bibliometric Analysis of Articles on Art Tourism: Web of Science Case)

Abstract

This study aims to examine the development, scientific production structure, research trends, collaboration patterns, and conceptual structure of the art tourism literature through bibliometric methods. The dataset was retrieved from the Web of Science Core Collection using the terms “art tourism,” “arts tourism,” and “cultural art tourism.” Based on the predefined inclusion and exclusion criteria, 68 English-language articles published between 1989 and 2025 were included in the analysis. Microsoft Excel, VOSviewer, and the Bibliometrix R package were used to conduct performance analysis, map author, institutional, and country collaboration networks, examine keyword co-occurrence, construct a three-field plot and historical citation network, and perform factorial analysis. In addition, source distribution, author productivity, and keyword frequencies were evaluated in relation to Bradford’s, Lotka’s, and Zipf’s laws, respectively. The findings show that publication output increased particularly after the 2010s and reached its highest level in 2022-2023. “Art tourism” emerged as the most visible keyword, while Melanie Duval, Natasa Slak Valek, and Paola Mura stood out through repeated publication activity; China and South Africa were prominent in terms of country-level publication contributions. The Bradford and Lotka analyses indicate that the observed distributions generally correspond to the patterns predicted by the respective laws, whereas the keyword rank-frequency distribution does not fully conform to the expected Zipf pattern. Taken together, the collaboration, conceptual structure, and historical citation analyses reveal the presence of identifiable research clusters and thematic continuities, while also indicating that publication and collaboration relationships have not developed into a broadly integrated structure across the examined literature.