Trends and Developments in Italian Research in Exercise and Sport Sciences: A Bibliometric Analysis

Abstract

Background of the study: In Italy, the subfield “Exercise and Sport Sciences” (ESS) has been recently redefined due to European Union legislation regulating funding distribution under the Next Generation EU Plan. ESS is now placed exclusively within Clinical Medicine and the Sport Sciences subfield, having been removed from Social Sciences and no longer associated with Education subfield. Previous studies have analysed ESS’s scientific productivity and its impact on the international community, assessing overall and specific scientific output (H-Index). Objective: The aim is to compile an extensive ranking of scientists, limited to 200 researchers from the Scopus database, focusing on those affiliated with Italian universities and classified within the Group of Academic Scientific Discipline (GoASD) in Exercise and Sport Sciences, further divided into Physical Training (MEDF-01/A) and Sport Sciences (MEDF-01/B) for the period 2017–2022. The rankings include total impact, relative impact in Sport Sciences, total impact weighted by authorship, and relative impact weighted by authorship. Methodology: This study adopts a multi-phase, quantitative bibliometric analysis, utilizing data sourced from the Scopus database. First, a keyword-based selection process was applied using six terms (Sport, Physical Education, Physical Training, Exercise, Sports Education, and Sports Science) to identify relevant researchers. The Scopus Researcher Discovery tool was employed to filter Italian authors linked to these keywords. In the second phase, the total h-index for each researcher (2017–2022) was extracted, followed by the calculation of a keyword-specific relative h-index. The study further introduces an authorship-weighted h-index, assigning specific percentage values based on author positions (single author, first author, last author, co-author) to reflect the actual contribution of each scientist. Results: The study identified 83 Italian scientists from a pool of 250, with 42 in MEDF-01/A and 41 in MEDF-01/B. It shows that applying a weighting criterion can significantly alter authors’ rankings, providing a more accurate measure of their true contribution. By using both weighted and unweighted metrics, the study offers a reliable evaluation of Italian researchers’ performance within the ESS, integrating data from Scopus and CINECA. Conclusions: This multidimensional approach not only provides a more accurate representation of the Italian scientific community promoting a more sustainable development of ESS in the international context.