Introduction: The World Federation of Occupational Therapists (WFOT) established global research priorities in 2017 to guide ethical, culturally responsive, and relevant occupational therapy (OT) research. However, understanding the diversity of OT research published in languages other than English remains limited.
Objectives: To identify the characteristics and diversity of OT research published in Spanish in 2022 and analyse its alignment with WFOT research priorities.
Methods: Following JBI scoping review methodology, we searched Google Scholar, Scopus, PubMed, CINAHL, ERIC, and LILACS, supplemented by manually added journals. Inclusion criteria required original, peer-reviewed OT research in Spanish by OT authors. Data extraction covered country and journal distribution, funding, author OT identification, research design, and alignment with WFOT priorities.
Results: A total of 134 articles met the inclusion criteria from 1,719. Spain had the most publications (40.4%), followed by Chile (17%) and Brazil (14.9%). Terapia Ocupacional Galicia (TOG) had the highest concentration of studies, while many journals published only one, highlighting research dispersion. Occupational therapists were identified in 69.4% of articles, but 30.6% lacked clear identification. Funding details were missing in 70% of articles; only 8% reported funding, while 22% stated none. This raises concerns about financial accessibility and research output.
Conclusion: This scoping review highlights the concentration of Spanish-language OT research, challenges in author identification, and limited funding. The findings raise concerns about accessibility, indexing, and visibility. These issues require more collaboration, investment, and strategies to enhance research visibility.