Performance ‐enhancing substances in sport: A scientometric review of 75 years of research

This study analyzes doping literature, identifying influential documents and research domains. While prevalent doping classes are well-studied, emerging trends like contaminated supplements receive less attention. Technological advancements drive sophisticated detection techniques. The study emphasizes the need for awareness campaigns among athletes. AbstractThe use of performance-enhancing substances not only undermines the core values of sports but also poses significant health risks to athletes. In a fast-evolving doping environment, where sport professionals are constantly seeking novel and illegal means to bypass doping tests, and new substances are regularly detected on the drug market, it is crucial to inform authorities with updated evidence emerging from scientific research. The current study aims to(i) outline the structure of knowledge in the literature on performance enhancers in sports (i.e., most active countries, main sources, most productive authors, and most frequently used keywords);(ii) identify the most impactful documents in the field; and(iii) uncover the main domains of research in the literature. To do so, we conducted a comprehensive scientometric analysis of the literature on doping, sourcing our data from Scopus. Our research involved a document co-citation analysis of 193,076 references, leading to the identification of the 51 most influential documents and seven key thematic areas within the doping literature. Our results indicate that the scienti...
Source: Drug Testing and Analysis - Category: Drugs & Pharmacology Authors: Tags: RESEARCH ARTICLE Source Type: research