Mapping of Petanque Sports Research Trends for the period 2011-2024: A Bibliometric Analysis in the Scopus Database

Objectives. This study aimed to conduct a bibliometric analysis of the trend of petanque sports from 2011 to 2024 in the Scopus database. The research focused on productivity assessment, publication type, journal ranking, frequency of publishing, number of citations, study area focus, keywords, and co-authorship. Materials and methods. This study was carried out using a bibliometric method. The research stages comprised (1) searching for articles using the Boolean “Petanque” AND “petanque in sport”, (2) inquiry with inclusion criteria of e-books, short reports, conferences, original articles, literature reviews in English, French, and Spanish from 2011 to 2024, (3) filtering 34 articles, (4) eliminating 19 articles, leaving 15 articles that were considered worthy, (5) re-filtering and producing the same number, namely 15 articles, and (6) deciding 15 final data articles. Data collection and analysis techniques used were Mendeley, VOSviewer, and Excel. Results. In terms of productivity, 3 (20.00 %) documents were identified from 2011, 2021, and 2024; the most common type of document was original articles, with a total of 13 (86.67 %); the most journal rankings were in quartile 3 and 4 (30.00 %); the journals most frequently publishing research on petanque included the Journal of Physical Education and Sport, Ethnologie Francaise, Concurrences, and the International Journal of Human Movement and Sports Sciences, and Retos, each of which had 2 (13,00 %) documents; while the largest number of citations was from Pelana et al, with 26 citations. The majority of studies focused on physical, technical, and biomechanical aspects. The most commonly appearing keywords included performance, athlete, performance characteristic, sport, optimum group performance, and psychological training plan. Regarding collaboration, 14 researchers were found to be cooperating on the same research topic. Conclusions. Petanque sports studies still require better research productivity and innovation to improve information and knowledge.