Trends of Football Research Publications: A Bibliometric Analysis

Frans Bisulu; Sri Risky Handayani; Risnawati

doi:10.15294/jpehs.v13i1.47739

Journal

Trends of Football Research Publications: A Bibliometric Analysis

Journal of Physical Education Health and Sport · Vol. 13 No. 1 (2026) · pp. 740–747

DOI: 10.15294/jpehs.v13i1.47739
ISSN: 2354-7901, 2354-8231
Published: 2026-04-30
Publisher: Universitas Negeri Semarang
Language: eng

Abstract

Football is one of the most widely studied sports in physical education research, yet comprehensive mapping of its publication trends remains limited, particularly in the context of developing regions. This research aims to analyze the development of football research thru a bibliometric analysis approach on published research subjects, in order to identify trends in the number of publications, citation trends, journals with the highest number of publications, researcher trends, as well as patterns of research topic relationships thru network visualization, overlay visualization, and density visualization. This research is based on a literature review conducted thru the Scopus database using the Dimensions application, with the assistance of VOSviewer software version 1.6.20. The PRISMA flow diagram (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) is used as a reporting guideline that includes the stages of identification, screening, and study eligibility. The analyzed data includes football research publications released within the period from 2020 to 2025. The results show a consistent increase in football research publications from 2020 to 2024, with 454 articles analyzed. Network visualization identified three research clusters: quantitative-experimental approaches (dominated by SPSS, post-test, and experimental group), qualitative-process approaches (process, experience, value), and outcome-oriented studies. Overlay visualization confirms that experimental and statistical analysis topics are the most recent and active research trends, while a novelty gap exists in integrating statistical methods with process-oriented learning studies.. Thus, current research trends are more focused on experimental approaches and statistical analysis in the context of education.

Keywords

Collaboration network of the authors

9 authors · 12 co-authorship links

Hover or tap a name to highlight its co-authors. Double-click to open the author's page.

Universitas Halu Oleo
State University of Semarang
Affiliation unknown

Different organisations
Same organisation
Affiliation unknown
Thicker line = more joint articles · bigger circle = more articles

Show as table

Co-author	Organisation	Joint articles
La Onu La Ola	Affiliation unknown	1
Nurdiana Asis	Affiliation unknown	1
Ma’ruf Kasim	Universitas Halu Oleo	1
- Haslianti	Affiliation unknown	1
Dwi Yulianti	State University of Semarang	1
Pratiwi Dwijananti	Affiliation unknown	1

Affiliations come from OpenAlex; journal OAI-PMH metadata carries none. Authors without an OpenAlex ID are matched by name, which can merge or split people.

Metadata source: OAI-PMH (metadata jurnal) https://journal.unnes.ac.id/journals/jpehs/oai, first harvested 6 Nov 2026, last seen 8 Nov 2026.

Original metadata (oai_dc)

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	<dc:title xml:lang="en">Trends of Football Research Publications: A Bibliometric Analysis</dc:title>
	<dc:creator xml:lang="en">Frans Bisulu</dc:creator>
	<dc:creator xml:lang="en">Sri Risky Handayani</dc:creator>
	<dc:creator xml:lang="en">Risnawati</dc:creator>
	<dc:subject xml:lang="en">Football; Bibliometric; Analisys</dc:subject>
	<dc:description xml:lang="en">Football is one of the most widely studied sports in physical education research, yet comprehensive mapping of its publication trends remains limited, particularly in the context of developing regions. This research aims to analyze the development of football research thru a bibliometric analysis approach on published research subjects, in order to identify trends in the number of publications, citation trends, journals with the highest number of publications, researcher trends, as well as patterns of research topic relationships thru network visualization, overlay visualization, and density visualization. This research is based on a literature review conducted thru the Scopus database using the Dimensions application, with the assistance of VOSviewer software version 1.6.20. The PRISMA flow diagram (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) is used as a reporting guideline that includes the stages of identification, screening, and study eligibility. The analyzed data includes football research publications released within the period from 2020 to 2025. The results show a consistent increase in football research publications from 2020 to 2024, with 454 articles analyzed. Network visualization identified three research clusters: quantitative-experimental approaches (dominated by SPSS, post-test, and experimental group), qualitative-process approaches (process, experience, value), and outcome-oriented studies. Overlay visualization confirms that experimental and statistical analysis topics are the most recent and active research trends, while a novelty gap exists in integrating statistical methods with process-oriented learning studies.. Thus, current research trends are more focused on experimental approaches and statistical analysis in the context of education.</dc:description>
	<dc:publisher xml:lang="en">Universitas Negeri Semarang</dc:publisher>
	<dc:date>2026-04-30</dc:date>
	<dc:type>info:eu-repo/semantics/article</dc:type>
	<dc:type>info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion</dc:type>
	<dc:type xml:lang="en">Peer-reviewed Article</dc:type>
	<dc:format>application/pdf</dc:format>
	<dc:identifier>https://journal.unnes.ac.id/journals/jpehs/article/view/47739</dc:identifier>
	<dc:identifier>10.15294/jpehs.v13i1.47739</dc:identifier>
	<dc:source xml:lang="en">Journal of Physical Education Health and Sport; Vol. 13 No. 1 (2026); 740 - 747</dc:source>
	<dc:source>2354-7901</dc:source>
	<dc:source>2354-8231</dc:source>
	<dc:source>10.15294/jpehs.v13i1</dc:source>
	<dc:language>eng</dc:language>
	<dc:relation>https://journal.unnes.ac.id/journals/jpehs/article/view/47739/9676</dc:relation>
	<dc:rights xml:lang="en">Copyright (c) 2026 Journal of Physical Education Health and Sport</dc:rights>
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