A Bibliometric Analysis of Research on the Relationship Between Athletic Performance and Nutrition

Year 2025, Volume: 7 Issue: 3, 468 - 481, 30.09.2025

Erkan Konca , Ebrar Türüdü , İrem Başpınar

Abstract

This study presents a bibliometric analysis of publications between 2014 and 2025 in the field of sports sciences, based on the keywords “nutrition,” “performance,” “athlete,” and “sport.” The aim is to identify key trends and findings related to the impact of nutrition on athletic performance. Using the biblioshiny application within the R-based bibliometrix package and VOSviewer, a total of 963 articles indexed in the Scopus database were analyzed. The United States ranked first with 3,002 citations, while the United Kingdom was the most active in international collaboration. The most cited study was “American College of Sports Medicine Joint Position Statement: Nutrition and Athletic Performance” by Thomas et al. (2016), with 1,011 citations. Keyword analysis revealed that terms such as “physical performance,” “carbohydrate,” and “creatine” were prominent in 2019–2020, while “nutrition,” “performance,” and “sport nutrition” gained attention in 2020–2021. Recently, “supplement,” “energy availability,” and “aerobic capacity” remain actively discussed. This study contributes to the literature by mapping research dynamics in sports nutrition and offers insights for future investigations focused on optimizing athlete performance through evidence-based nutritional strategies.

Keywords

Nutrition , Performance , Sport , Bibliometric Analysis , VOSviewer

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