Vigorously cited: A bibliometric analysis of the 100 most cited sedentary behaviour articles

Objectives No citation analysis has examined peer-reviewed sedentary behaviour research articles, which is needed to assess the impact of this research and identify knowledge gaps. Therefore, this study aimed to identify the 100 most cited sedentary behaviour articles and examine their bibliometric characteristics. Methods All databases indexed in the Web of Science database were searched in October 2022, and bibliometric characteristics of the studies, irrespective of the publication year, were imported and calculated. Descriptive statistics and visualisations by the VOSviewer were used for the presentation of bibliometric characteristics. Results The 100 most cited articles received 49,062 citations in total, with a median citation density of 32.5 citations per article per year. The majority of included articles were reviews (n = 48; 22,856 citations), focused on adults (58%; 26,809 citations) and reported on the relationship of sedentary behaviour with health (n = 64; 34,598 citations); more specifically they focused on anthropometric indices (28%), metabolic health (24%), and mortality (23%). The United States was ranked first in terms of the overall for most cited articles. However, Australia was ranked first for institutions and authors contributing to the most cited sedentary behaviour articles. Conclusions Papers published after 2007 were predominant in the list of 100 most cited sedentary behaviour papers, as were those focusing on associations with physical health outcomes and those focusing on adults. While original articles were cited more, discussion papers had more impact on the field as they received more citations in less time. Research examining associations between sedentary behaviour and health was cited more. The field is dominated by contributions from high-income countries.