There are few new black oat cultivars in Brazil; therefore a reduced number of cultivars are available for the most varied production regions. Strategies aimed at studying genetic variability, such as mutation induction, of the few cultivars available on the market represent alternatives to increase the variety in this sector. The objective of the present study was to prepare a scientometric analysis of studies of the genetic improvement of black oats (Avena strigosa L). The literature review was performed using data from the Web of Science (WoS) from 1945 to 2020. Initially, 859 articles were analyzed, which after refinement, were reduced to 404 for further analysis. This study provides a new method for quantitatively visualizing information regarding the development of this area over time. After searching and refining with the aid of the CiteSpace software (5.6 R4), graphic representations were developed of the scientific journals, authors, countries, subject categories, organizations, and individual publications extracted from the WoS. The results of the analysis indicated a growing trend in the number of publications on the genetic improvement of black oats, as well as the number of citations over the years studied.