Objectives

This study aimed to identify historical developments, active research areas, and emerging trends within scientific literature on mindfulness published so far, using bibliometric methods. We also aimed to identify prominent journals, authors, organizations, and countries in the field of mindfulness.

Methods

Articles or reviews which mention mindfulness in the title, abstract, or keywords were identified using the Web of Science. A descriptive summary of the literature was obtained from the Web of Science Analysis tool. Country collaboration, co-authorship, and keyword co-occurrence networks were visualized using VOSviewer. CiteSpace, which uses document co-citation analysis, was used to identify emerging trends and transient patterns in the literature.

Results

From 1966 to 2021, 16,581 publications on mindfulness were identified. There has been an exponential growth of publications since 2006. Almost half (47%) of the publications were in psychology and about one-fifth (20.8%) in psychiatry. The most prolific journal was Mindfulness (contributing 7% of all publications) and the most prolific author was Eric L. Garland. The vast majority of publications originated from Western countries but representation from Asian countries has increased. The most frequently co-occurring keywords were meditation, depression, stress, and anxiety. Co-citation analysis of the early period (1966–2015) revealed how scholarly work on spiritual themes has inspired early mindfulness research. Recent trends (2016–2021) revealed a rising interest in mechanisms and moderators, long-term meditation, neuroscientific studies, and smartphone/online delivery of interventions.

Conclusions

This comprehensive bibliometric study summarized and visualized 55 years of mindfulness research, revealing pivotal points, active research areas, and emerging trends.

中文翻译：

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55 年来正念研究的趋势和发展：对 Web of Science 索引出版物的文献计量分析

目标

本研究旨在使用文献计量方法确定迄今为止发表的有关正念的科学文献中的历史发展、活跃的研究领域和新兴趋势。我们还旨在确定正念领域的知名期刊、作者、组织和国家。

方法

在标题、摘要或关键字中提及正念的文章或评论是使用 Web of Science 识别的。文献的描述性摘要来自 Web of Science 分析工具。使用 VOSviewer 可视化国家合作、共同作者和关键字共现网络。CiteSpace 使用文档共被引分析，用于识别文献中的新兴趋势和瞬态模式。

结果

从 1966 年到 2021 年，共有 16,581 篇关于正念的出版物被确定。自 2006 年以来，出版物呈指数级增长。几乎一半 (47%) 的出版物涉及心理学，大约五分之一 (20.8%) 涉及精神病学。最多产的期刊是Mindfulness（贡献了所有出版物的 7%），最多产的作者是 Eric L. Garland。绝大多数出版物来自西方国家，但来自亚洲国家的代表性有所增加。最常出现的关键词是冥想、抑郁、压力和焦虑。早期（1966-2015）的共同被引分析揭示了关于精神主题的学术工作如何激发了早期的正念研究。最近的趋势（2016-2021 年）表明，人们对机制和调节器、长期冥想、神经科学研究和智能手机/在线干预措施的兴趣日益浓厚。

结论

这项全面的文献计量研究总结并可视化了 55 年的正念研究，揭示了关键点、活跃的研究领域和新兴趋势。