Insights into Research Trends in a Korean Pulp and Paper Journal Using Text Mining and Topic Modeling

This study analyzes the evolution of research themes in Korean pulp and paper science employing Scopusindexed metadata from articles published in the Journal of Korea TAPPI (KTAPPI) between 2000 and 2025.A total of 1,583 records were collected and examined using text mining, refined keyword analysis, keyword co-occurrence networks, latent Dirichlet allocation topic modeling, topic life-cycle classification, and citation impact analysis.The results confirmed that traditional research themes, including wet-end additives, pulping and bleaching, coating and printability, and recycling and drainage, formed the historical foundation of KTAPPI research but have declined in relative prominence in recent years.Conversely, topics associated with nanocellulose, instrumental characterization, natural fiber modification, and biomass-based applications have gained increasing importance.These findings suggest a gradual shift from conventional process-and property-centered studies toward functional materials, sustainability-oriented applications, and data-driven characterization approaches.Overall, this study provides a quantitative overview of the evolution of research themes in KTAPPI.