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Topic · Sociology and Political Science

Physical Education and Sports Studies

Physical Education and Sports Studies is a research topic within Sociology and Political Science. Science Explorer counts 13k research works in it since 1960. 9.8% of them reached the world's top 10% most cited for their field and year.

This cluster of papers covers a wide range of topics related to sport, leisure, and public policy analysis. It includes discussions on the sociological and cultural aspects of sport, the impact of megaevents, the role of media discourse, and the relationship between sport and social inclusion. Additionally, it explores innovation in sport, the intersection of physical education and public policy, and the influence of public investments on sports outcomes.

  • Sport
  • Leisure
  • Public Policy
  • Megaevents
  • Sociology of Sport
  • Physical Education
  • Innovation in Sport
  • Cultural Studies
  • Media Discourse
  • Social Inclusion
Research works
13k
fractional, since 1960
In the world top 10%
1.3k
per year above
Top-10% rate
9.8%
share of its works in the world top 10%
Growth, 2018-21 → 2022-25
-25%
the tick is no change
Largest producer
Brazil
87% of the 10 largest, 2022-now
Physical Education and Sports Studies

Which countries lead Physical Education and Sports Studies research?

By volume, Brazil and Portugal publish the most (2.4k and 81 works in 2022-now).

By volume, 2022-now

  1. 1 Brazil 2.4k works
  2. 2 Portugal 81 works
  3. 3 United States 72 works
  4. 4 Spain 63 works
  5. 5 Argentina 31 works
  6. 6 Mexico 29 works
  7. 7 France 23 works
  8. 8 ?? 23 works
  9. 9 Chile 22 works
  10. 10 United Kingdom 21 works

How concentrated that is

The same countries as shares of everything the list above accounts for. A node where two countries do two thirds of the work and one spread evenly across twelve read alike as a ranking and not at all alike here.

Brazil: 87.0%Portugal: 2.9%United States: 2.6%Spain: 2.2%6 others listed: 5.3%87%largest
Brazil2,449 · 87.0%Portugal81 · 2.9%United States72 · 2.6%Spain63 · 2.2%6 others listed148 · 5.3%

Shares of the rows listed above, not of the whole node.

Which institutions lead Physical Education and Sports Studies research?

By volume in 2022-now, Universidade de São Paulo publishes the most Physical Education and Sports Studies research, followed by Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul and Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP).

By volume, 2022-now

  1. 1 Universidade de São PauloBrazil 85 works
  2. 2 Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do SulBrazil 80 works
  3. 3 Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP)Brazil 78 works
  4. 4 Universidade Federal de Minas GeraisBrazil 62 works
  5. 5 Universidade Federal do Rio de JaneiroBrazil 58 works
  6. 6 Universidade Estadual Paulista (Unesp)Brazil 56 works
  7. 7 Universidade Federal do ParanáBrazil 51 works
  8. 8 Universidade Federal de Santa CatarinaBrazil 49 works
  9. 9 Universidade Estadual de MaringáBrazil 45 works
  10. 10 Universidade do Estado do Rio de JaneiroBrazil 42 works

Who are the leading researchers in Physical Education and Sports Studies?

The most-cited researchers publishing on Physical Education and Sports Studies include Déborah Carvalho Malta, Diego Augusto Santos Silva and Ione Jayce Ceola Schneider.

  1. 1 Déborah Carvalho Malta Brazil 192k citations
  2. 2 Diego Augusto Santos Silva Brazil 152k citations
  3. 3 Ione Jayce Ceola Schneider Brazil 120k citations
  4. 4 Peter Todd Katzmarzyk United States 99k citations
  5. 5 Loic J. D. Wacquant United States 63k citations
  6. 6 Carlos Augusto Monteiro Brazil 62k citations

Ranked by citations received across their whole record, among researchers with at least three works on this topic.

What are the most cited papers in Physical Education and Sports Studies?

The most cited paper in Physical Education and Sports Studies is "A descriptive epidemiology of leisure-time physical activity in Brazil, 1996-1997" (Carlos Augusto Monteiro, Wolney Lisbôa Conde, Sandra Mahecha Matsudo et al., 2003), with 403 citations. Next come "Mulheres e futebol no Brasil: entre sombras e visibilidades" (254) and "Mega-events and urban regeneration in Rio de Janeiro: planning in a state of emergency" (203).

Most cited papers
#PaperReleasedCitations
1 A descriptive epidemiology of leisure-time physical activity in Brazil, 1996-1997 Carlos Augusto Monteiro, Wolney Lisbôa Conde, Sandra Mahecha Matsudo et al. · Revista Panamericana de Salud Pública Open access Oct 2003 403
2 Mulheres e futebol no Brasil: entre sombras e visibilidades Silvana Vilodre Goellner · LA Referencia (Red Federada de Repositorios Institucionales de Publicaciones Científicas) Open access Jun 2005 254
3 Mega-events and urban regeneration in Rio de Janeiro: planning in a state of emergency Fernanda Sánchez, Anne-Marie Broudehoux · International Journal of Urban Sustainable Development Open access 24 Oct 2013 203
4 Imagem corporal nos transtornos alimentares Carolina Jabur Saikali, Camila Saliba Soubhia, Bianca Messina Scalfaro et al. · Archives of Clinical Psychiatry (São Paulo) Open access 2004 198
5 AS PESQUISAS DENOMINADAS DO TIPO "ESTADO DA ARTE" EM EDUCAÇÃO Joana Paulin Romanowski, Romilda Teodora Ens · DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) Open access 2006 198
All 99 most cited papers, with filters and sorting

Where is Physical Education and Sports Studies research done?

The largest centres of Physical Education and Sports Studies research in 2022-now are São Paulo (Brazil), Rio de Janeiro (Brazil), Belo Horizonte (Brazil) and Porto Alegre (Brazil). Among places with at least 20 works in it, it is an unusually large share of all research in Montes Claros and Maringá.

Largest cities, 2022-now

  1. 1 São PauloBrazil 338 works
  2. 2 Rio de JaneiroBrazil 212 works
  3. 3 Belo HorizonteBrazil 107 works
  4. 4 Porto AlegreBrazil 90 works
  5. 5 CampinasBrazil 83 works
  6. 6 FlorianópolisBrazil 83 works
  7. 7 CuritibaBrazil 76 works
  8. 8 BrasíliaBrazil 73 works
  9. 9 FortalezaBrazil 60 works
  10. 10 SalvadorBrazil 56 works

Where it is the local speciality

  1. Montes ClarosBR · 26.3 works99×
  2. MaringáBR · 48.9 works58×
← less than its size predicts1×more →

Location quotient: how much more of its research is in Physical Education and Sports Studies than the world average.

See Physical Education and Sports Studies on the map

Where is the best place to study Physical Education and Sports Studies?

Among universities, judged by research, Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso do Sul, Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP) and Universidade de São Paulo score highest, combining citation excellence, specialisation, size, growth and international reach. Research strength is one signal when choosing where to study; it does not measure teaching.

0%10%20%mean 12.85%fractional works in this field (log) →share of work in the world top 10% →Universidade Federal…Universidade Estadua…Universidade de São …Universidade Federal…
above the meannear itbelow it

One dot per university in the first ten of the table below, at the default weights. The upper left is the interesting corner: small places doing unusually strong work.

Citation excellenceshare of its work in the world top 10%, 2022-now and all time averaged
40%
Specialisationhow much of its work is in this field, counted up to 10× the world share
10%
Sizeits output in this field, on a log scale
30%
Growthoutput growth, counted from -20% to +20%
10%
Internationalshare of its work with a co-author abroad
10%
Each slider sets a weight; the share it gets of the score is beside it.
#UniversityScoreTop 10%SpecialisationWorksGrowth
1Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso do SulBrazil 78.820.5%55.1×32 +28.3%
2Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP)Brazil 73.017.2%41.5×78 -35.1%
3Universidade de São PauloBrazil 72.312.9%16.8×85 -14.6%
4Universidade Federal do ParanáBrazil 58.811.1%40.7×51 -48.4%
5Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do SulBrazil 57.09.1%41.1×80 -25.2%
6Universidade Federal do Espírito SantoBrazil 56.010.8%51.1×39 -27.8%
7Federal Institute of São PauloBrazil 56.016.3%108.2×19 -9.4%
8Universidade Federal de Santa CatarinaBrazil 55.910.3%29.6×49 -34.5%
9Universidade de PernambucoBrazil 55.013.0%47.7×17 +31.4%
10Universidade Estadual Paulista (Unesp)Brazil 54.07.3%27.2×56 -34.1%

Universities only. The score blends citation excellence (40%), size (30%), specialisation (10%), growth (10%), international reach (10%), 2022-now; growth compares 2018-21 with 2022-25 and counts up to +20%, since a jump from a small base is mostly noise.

Every institution in Physical Education and Sports Studies, country by country

Is Physical Education and Sports Studies research growing?

Output in 2022-2025 was 25% lower than in 2018-2021, peaking in 2020.

still counting19801990200020102020
grewheldshrank

The same series as a ribbon: one cell per year, darker for more. The line above answers how much; this answers when.

Its share of all research

Growing output can still be a shrinking share: all of science grows. This is Physical Education and Sports Studies as a percentage of every work published that year, 0.014% in 2024.

still counting0.010%0.020%0.030%Physical Education and Sports Studies0.0098% in 202519801990200020102020

Fractional works of Physical Education and Sports Studies over all fractional works that year. How the balance of science has shifted.

How much of it reaches the world top 10%

Year by year.

still counting5%10%15%Physical Education and Sports Studies9.6% in 2025200020102020

Of each year's works in it, the share that reached the world's 10% most cited for their field and year. A field is the world for its own topics, so there is no other line to hold it against.

Which topics inside it are moving

Growth and decline on one axis around a shared zero. Two lists side by side hide the thing that matters: whether the growth dwarfs the decline, or the other way round.

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