Bibliometric study and mapping of a journal in the field of visualization and computer graphics

The study represents the first retrospective bibliometric analysis and mapping of the IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics (IEEE TVCG), one of the leading journals in the field of visualization and computer graphics, a discipline with expanding literature and emerging new areas. Using descriptive bibliometrics, the dynamics and trend patterns of publications, received citations and the impact factor of the journal were analyzed. The most productive and influential papers, authors, countries and institutions were identified. A mapping analysis, performed with VOSviewer software, visualized bibliometric networks from the perspective of keywords, authors, countries, institutions, cited references and cited journals, using co-occurrence, bibliographic coupling and co-citation analyses. From the results, the IEEE TVCG emerged as one of the leading journals in the field of visualization and computer graphics. The mapping of research themes revealed a range of established and evolving areas, including data visualizations, computer graphics, image synthesis and representation, scientific visualizations, interactive digital environments, such as virtual and augmented realities, human perception, animations and simulations. The rising number of published articles and citations, and a high journal impact factor demonstrated the growing interest of the academic community for the journal IEEE TVCG and the aforementioned area. The results and conclusions can be a valuable reference for academics, researchers and practitioners in computer graphics and visualization, as well as for authors and readers in the area of scientometrics.