Iran's Exercise Physiology Research Output in the Domain of Health Based on the Web of Science (2002-2021): A Scientometric Study

By analyzing the indexed scientific outputs in databases, it is possible to obtain valuable information about the state of the scientific productions of individuals and organizations. Therefore, the main aim of the current research was to analyze twenty years (2002-2021) of Iranian science production in the field of "exercise physiology in the domain of health" and to draw the density of co-authorship based on the WOS database.

 The current research is descriptive-analytical and was carried out using the scientometric method. The statistical population of the research is the indexed documents (2002-2021) of Iranian researchers in "the field of exercise physiology in the domain of health" in the WOS database. VOSViewer software was used to draw scientific maps and Histcite software was used to extract information.

During the years 2002-2021, 1865 records related to Iran's exercise physiology in the domain of health were indexed in the Web of Science database and the growth trend was upward. Approximately 9% of the papers in the field of "exercise physiology in the domain of health" were written by a single author and 91% was the result of group efforts. The word Exercise with frequency of 667 is the most frequent word in exercise physiology in the domain of health articles. According to the findings, among the universities affiliated to the ministry of science, research and technology, the universities of Gilan (146), Tehran (142), Tarbiat Modares (114), Isfahan (110), and Kharazmi (109) have the first to fifth. As well, the findings indicated that the Mohammad Ali Azarbayjani, Mehdi Kargarfard, Hamid Arazi, Maghsoud Peeri, & Hamid Rajabi are among the first people in the list of important and influential authors in the field of exercise physiology in the domain of health in Iran with the co-authorship density of 383, 201, 180, 150, and 143, respectively. Mehdi Kargarfard is the most cited author in the field of exercise physiology in the domain of health in Iran with 679 citations (47 articles).

Only 8% of science production in the field of exercise physiology in the domain of health in Iran took place during the period of 2002-2011, and it shows that science production in this field is nascent. Iran has the 25th rank in the production of exercise physiology in the domain of health, and it is necessary to make more plans to strengthen Iran's global position.