Academic and social impact of creative arts therapies research (2017–2022): a Scopus-based bibliometric and altmetric study

Bibliometrics evaluate research impact but fail to capture public engagement, especially in applied fields such as creative arts therapies. With the advent of altmetrics, new tools have emerged that indicate how research circulates beyond academia. This study analysed the academic and public visibility of research in creative arts therapies, focusing on four disciplines - art therapy, music therapy, dance movement therapy and dramatherapy - using bibliometric and altmetric indicators. The study also examined whether open access status affects citation impact. A total of 1845 peer-reviewed articles published between 2017 and 2022 were retrieved from Scopus and analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Key metrics included Scopus citations, Mendeley readership and social media mentions. Mann-Whitney U tested the relationship between open access and citations. Spearman's correlations were used to examine the association between citations and altmetric indicators. Of all the articles, 42.8 % were open access. Open access ranged from 47.7 % in music therapy to 31.4 % in dramatherapy. The median number of Scopus citations was 5, and the median number of Mendeley reads was 46. A statistically significant difference in citation distribution was observed between open access and closed access publications. Mendeley readership strongly correlated with citations, whereas social media metrics were inconsistent. Open access articles receive more citations but not necessarily more public attention. Mendeley readership was found to be the most reliable indicator of academic impact. Findings suggest that altmetrics can complement traditional indicators. Future research should explore how dissemination strategies and platform choices influence scholarly and public engagement. • Our study provides a comprehensive bibliometric and altimetric analyses of creative arts therapies (CATs). • Mendeley readership showed the strongest and most consistent association with Scopus citations across CATs. • Open access articles showed a significant citation advantage, with higher median Scopus citations than closed access. • Future research should go beyond metric counts to analyze the content and context of engagement. • Mentions on Facebook, blogs, and news outlets remained low across both open access and closed access articles.