Physical Activity, Exercise, and Procrastination: A Bibliometric Analysis of Global Research Trends and Trending Topics
Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: The global increase in non-communicable diseases (NCDs) associated with physical inactivity has brought studies on exercise procrastination into the focus of academic attention. This study aims to examine current research trends in exercise procrastination, identify topic trends related to this behavior, and reveal patterns of scholarly collaboration in the field. Bibliometric analysis and visualization were conducted using the Bibliometrix R package and the Biblioshiny web interface based on data retrieved from the Web of Science (WoS) database. Searches were performed using combinations of terms related to exercise, physical activity, and procrastination behavior across the topic (TS), title (TI), abstract (AB), and author keywords (AK) fields. The findings show a marked increase in publication output, especially after 2018, indicating growing scholarly attention to exercise procrastination. Jie Wen and Kaile Ren emerged as leading contributors, while highly cited studies primarily addressed procrastination behavior, self-regulation processes, and contextual factors of health-related behaviors. Trending topics increasingly focus on mobile phone addiction, bedtime procrastination, self-control, motivation, mental health, and physical activity. Collaboration patterns highlight the central roles of China and the United States, with institutions such as Zhejiang Normal University and Beijing Sport University standing out. Overall, the findings indicate that the field is developing rapidly; however, important theoretical, methodological, and cross-cultural research gaps remain. This suggests that future studies focusing on theory development, longitudinal and intervention-based designs, and the development of exercise-specific measurement tools are likely to make significant contributions to the literature.
Authors: Hamza Bugay Yasan, Elif Köse
Institution: Akdeniz University
Language: English
Topic: Physical Activity and Health
Subfield: Physiology
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: diamond
OpenAlex ID: W7165198709