Bibliometric analysis of paleotsunami research: current trends and overview

Paleotsunami studies provide information that is crucial as primary data for tsunami mitigation planning and action. Studies that explicitly assess and evaluate paleotsunamis are not available. We carried out a quantitative analysis of published documents using a bibliometric study. We aimed to identify trends in paleotsunami studies based on the literature published until 2022. The study was conducted using the keywords ‘PALEOTSUNAMI’ or ‘PALEOTSUNAMIS’ in the Scopus database. Relevant publications that included information on document type, year, access type, author, journal and language were selected. The results were descriptively and quantitatively analysed based on annual progression, country, affiliation, author, journal, publication, area of study and keywords. A total of 199 documents were identified, representing 193 authors from 39 countries. Japan, the USA and Russia were the leading countries. The journal with the most publications was Marine Geology. Goto was the most productive and most cited author. The most frequently used keywords in paleotsunami studies were ‘tsunami’, ‘paleotsunami’, ‘Holocene’ and ‘geological record’. There was a shift in the trend of paleotsunami studies beginning in 2018. A comprehensive analysis of previous paleotsunami studies is essential and can be an objective consideration in future research policies.