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Topic · Life-span and Life-course Studies

Sports and Physical Education Studies

Sports and Physical Education Studies is a research topic within Life-span and Life-course Studies. Science Explorer counts 8.1k research works in it since 1956. 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 physical activity, sports, and their impact on health, education, and society. It includes studies on physical activity habits, sports participation, health benefits, gender differences, social factors influencing sports behavior, and the management of sports facilities and organizations. The cluster also explores the relationship between physical activity and quality of life, as well as the sociocultural implications of sports and physical education.

  • Physical Activity
  • Sports
  • Health
  • Education
  • Gender
  • Adolescents
  • Social Factors
  • Quality of Life
  • Professional Management
  • Sociocultural Impact
Research works
8.1k
fractional, since 1956
In the world top 10%
791
per year above
Top-10% rate
9.8%
share of its works in the world top 10%
Growth, 2018-21 → 2022-25
-8%
the tick is no change
Largest producer
Spain
35% of the 10 largest, 2022-now
Sports and Physical Education Studies

Which countries lead Sports and Physical Education Studies research?

By volume, Spain and Mexico publish the most (561 and 194 works in 2022-now).

By volume, 2022-now

  1. 1 Spain 561 works
  2. 2 Mexico 194 works
  3. 3 Colombia 178 works
  4. 4 Ecuador 170 works
  5. 5 Chile 113 works
  6. 6 Argentina 105 works
  7. 7 Brazil 89 works
  8. 8 United States 68 works
  9. 9 France 57 works
  10. 10 Peru 51 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.

Spain: 35.4%Mexico: 12.2%Colombia: 11.2%Ecuador: 10.7%6 others listed: 30.5%35%largest
Spain561 · 35.4%Mexico194 · 12.2%Colombia178 · 11.2%Ecuador170 · 10.7%6 others listed483 · 30.5%

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

Which institutions lead Sports and Physical Education Studies research?

By volume in 2022-now, Central University of Ecuador publishes the most Sports and Physical Education Studies research, followed by Universidad de Granada and Universidad de Murcia.

By volume, 2022-now

  1. 1 Central University of EcuadorEcuador 31 works
  2. 2 Universidad de GranadaSpain 28 works
  3. 3 Universidad de MurciaSpain 24 works
  4. 4 Universidad de ExtremaduraSpain 23 works
  5. 5 University of GuayaquilEcuador 21 works
  6. 6 Universitat de ValènciaSpain 21 works
  7. 7 Universidad Nacional de La PlataArgentina 20 works
  8. 8 Universidad Católica de CuencaEcuador 19 works
  9. 9 University of the Basque CountrySpain 19 works
  10. 10 Universidad Complutense de MadridSpain 18 works

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

The most cited paper in Sports and Physical Education Studies is "CLINICAL ASSESSMENT OF BODY HAIR GROWTH IN WOMEN" (DAVID G. FERRIMAN, J. D. GALLWEY, 1961), with 2,522 citations. Next come "Event management and event tourism" (554) and "Program for a Sociology of Sport" (315).

Most cited papers
#PaperReleasedCitations
1 CLINICAL ASSESSMENT OF BODY HAIR GROWTH IN WOMEN DAVID G. FERRIMAN, J. D. GALLWEY · The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism Nov 1961 2,522
2 Event management and event tourism Magnus Bohlin · Annals of Tourism Research 1998 554
3 Program for a Sociology of Sport Pierre Bourdıeu · Sociology of Sport Journal Jun 1988 315
4 Soft Power, Sports Mega-Events and Emerging States: The Lure of the Politics of Attraction Jonathan Grix, Donna Lee · Global Society Open access 2 Sep 2013 313
5 Adopting a models-based approach to teaching physical education Ashley Casey, Ann MacPhail · Physical Education and Sport Pedagogy Open access 13 Feb 2018 281
All 100 most cited papers, with filters and sorting

Where is Sports and Physical Education Studies research done?

The largest centres of Sports and Physical Education Studies research in 2022-now are Madrid (Spain), Bogotá (Colombia), Santiago (Chile) and Mexico City (Mexico).

Largest cities, 2022-now

  1. 1 MadridSpain 94 works
  2. 2 BogotáColombia 61 works
  3. 3 SantiagoChile 51 works
  4. 4 Mexico CityMexico 44 works
  5. 5 BarcelonaSpain 39 works
  6. 6 QuitoEcuador 38 works
  7. 7 Buenos AiresArgentina 38 works
  8. 8 GuayaquilEcuador 38 works
  9. 9 SevilleSpain 31 works
  10. 10 ValenciaSpain 30 works
See Sports and Physical Education Studies on the map

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

Among universities, judged by research, Universidad de Granada, Universidad de Extremadura and Central University of Ecuador 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%30%mean 17.2%fractional works in this field (log) →share of work in the world top 10% →Universidad de Extre…Universidad de GranadaUniversity of Castil…Central University o…
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
1Universidad de GranadaSpain 76.719.4%29.4×28 -15.6%
2Universidad de ExtremaduraSpain 74.626.8%70.4×23 -21.7%
3Central University of EcuadorEcuador 73.212.4%173.6×31 +75.7%
4University of Castilla-La ManchaSpain 71.418.9%36.2×16 -1.6%
5Universidad de ZaragozaSpain 69.717.5%24.6×18 +19.5%
6Universidad de SevillaSpain 64.720.6%16.1×15 +1.1%
7Universidad de MurciaSpain 64.213.2%45.8×24 -28.7%
8Universitat de ValènciaSpain 64.212.0%23.4×21 -41.9%
9Universidad Rey Juan CarlosSpain 62.223.0%19.9×8 +29.0%
10University of GuayaquilEcuador 58.78.2%80.4×21 +159.9%

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 Sports and Physical Education Studies, country by country

Is Sports and Physical Education Studies research growing?

Output in 2022-2025 was 8% lower than in 2018-2021, peaking in 2024.

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 Sports and Physical Education Studies as a percentage of every work published that year, 0.0100% in 2024.

still counting0.0050%0.010%0.015%Sports and Physical Education Studies0.0085% in 202519801990200020102020

Fractional works of Sports and Physical Education 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%Sports and Physical Education Studies9.9% 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.

Discussion

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