OOIR: Observatory of International Research

Papers

(The TQCC of Biology of Sport is 11. The table below lists those papers that are above that threshold based on CrossRef citation counts [max. 250 papers]. The publications cover those that have been published in the past four years, i.e., from 2022-01-01 to 2026-01-01.)

Article	Citations
A comparison in knee flexor and extensor strength following ACL reconstruction in international, male soccer players receiving patellar tendon or hamstrings grafts	514
Relationships between training dose and record power outputs in professional road cyclists: insights and threats to validity	75
Does the Paleo diet affect an athlete’s health and sport performance?	72
Laboratory-based determinants of simulated time trial performance in cyclists	57
Analysis of mental and physical fatigue over the course of a professional English Premier League season in outfield players	54
A comparison of running and contact loads in U18 and U20 international rugby union competition	51
A novel multifactorial hamstring screening protocol: association with hamstring muscle injuries in professional football (soccer) – a prospective cohort study	48
Different pitch configurations constrain the external and internal loads of young professional soccer players during transition games	45
Data-driven classification of playing styles and match outcome prediction in UEFA Champions League teams	44
The effectiveness of differential learning in small-sided soccer games for skill development in U20 amateur male players	39
A comprehensive assessment of caffeine’s effects on components of countermovement jump performance	39
How do muscle injuries relate to return-to-performance metrics in male elite football players?	39
Relative age effect across the talent identification process of youth female soccer players in the United States: Influence of birth year, position, biological maturation, and skill level	39
Caffeine supplementation improves physical performance without affecting fatigue level: a double-blind crossover study	38
Are EFI data valuable? Evidence from the 2022 FIFA World Cup group stage	37
Comparison of the external load of professional goalkeepers in different weekly training sessions	35
Application of acute pre-exercise partial-body cryotherapy promotes jump performance, salivary-amylase and athlete readiness	34
Movement patterns and player load: insights from professional padel	34
Core training and performance: a systematic review with meta-analysis	34
Association between polymorphism rs6295 of HTR1A serotonin receptor gene and personality traits among athletes of combat sport	33
A new conceptual framework for managing hamstring injury risk in soccer – implementing a data-informed approach: a narrative review	31
Effects of daily use of intermittent pneumatic compression in competitive handball players: A randomized controlled trial	30
Return to performance: machine learning insights into how absence time following muscle injuries affects match running performance in LaLiga soccer players	30
Small-sided games in amateur players: rule modification with mini-goals to induce lower external load responses	29
Ten-minute warm-up in hot climate best assists thermal comfort, muscular power output, and fatigue, during soccer-specific repeated-sprint ability	29

Intra-unit reliability and movement variability of submission grappling external load as measured by torso mounted accelerometery	27
Effects of a cardiopulmonary rehabilitation programme on submaximal exercise in Tunisian patients with long-COVID19: A randomized clinical trial	26
Load distribution across weekly microcycles according to match schedule in a team competing in the Australian national A-League Women’s soccer competition	26
Weekly external load distribution in football teams of different competitive levels	26
International matches elicit stable mechanical workload in high-level female ice hockey	26
Are fluctuations in physical performance affected by contextual factors in women’s handball matches? An analysis using five-minute fixed phases	25
Influence of contextual factors on most demanding scenarios in under-19 professional soccer players	25
Blood flow restriction as a post-exercise recovery strategy: A systematic review of the current status of the literature	24
Comparison of the worst-case scenarios between training and competition weeks for each playing position in an elite football season	23
The effect of two sessions of combined jump and sprint training per week on fitness parameters in soccer players. A randomized controlled trial	23
Different time course recovery of muscle oedema within the quadriceps femoris and functional performance after single- vs multi-joint exercises	23
A professional assessment of training plans for muscle hypertrophy and maximal strength developed by generative artificial intelligence	22
Impact of defensive team variables on goals conceded in the first division of the Spanish soccer league: a 10-year study	20
Kinetics of skin temperature in lower limbs of professional soccer athletes	20
The impact of caffeine-mediated gut microbiota regulation on the athletic performance of football players	20
Reliability, interrelationships, and minimal detectable changes in strength and power metrics among well-trained rugby sevens players	20
Interaction effects between possession status and percentage: insights from modeling match-running performance across possession status in male soccer	20
Optimal velocity loss threshold for inducing post activation potentiation in track and field athletes	19
More details, less variability? A crossover design study on the impact of information granularity on ChatGPT’s training program stability	19
Match demands and physical qualities of female athletes in Australian football, rugby union, rugby sevens, and rugby league: a scoping review	19
The associations between physical-test performance and match performance in women’s rugby sevens players	19
An ecological investigation of average and peak external load intensities of basketball skills and game-based training drills	19
Reference values for collective tactical behaviours based on positional data in professional football matches: a systematic review	19
Training periodization for a world-class 400 meters individual medley swimmer	19
Association of the IL1A and IL6 polymorphisms with posttraining changes in body mass, composition, and biochemical parameters in Caucasian women	19
More injury stoppage time in women compared to men in elite level football tournaments: Retrospective comparison of match injuries in 2018 FIFA Men’s World Cup and 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup	19
Warm-up optimization in amateur male soccer players: A comparison of small-sided games and traditional warm-up routines on physical fitness qualities	19
Effects of melatonin ingestion on physical performance and biochemical responses following exhaustive running exercise in soccer players	19
Acute effects of beetroot juice vs. creatine supplementation on maximal strength, autonomic regulation, and muscle oxygenation during incremental resistance exercise	18
Late-stage rehabilitation effects do not differ between quadriceps and hamstring tendon autograft after anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction: a multicentre propensity score-matched case-control	18
Physical qualities and body composition predictors of running performance in national level women’s official soccer matches	18
Impact of movement tempo on bar velocity and time under tension in resistance exercises with different external loads	18
Exploring the potential synergistic pharmacological and psychological effects of caffeine on exercise performance: a placebo-balanced study	17
Longitudinal cohort study on subsequent injury risk in professional football players in the Qatar Stars League: a probabilistic approach using basic learning	17
An overview and prediction of 100 mm performance over 40 years during the Athletics World Championships	17
Comparison of the effects of different foam rolling durations on knee extensors function	17
The role of artificial intelligence in sports training: opportunities, challenges and future applications for competitive swimming	17
‘Setting the Benchmark’ Part 4: Contextualising the Match Demands of Teams at the FIFA Women’s World Cup Australia and New Zealand 2023	17
Multivariate analysis of teams’ physical performances in official football matches in LaLiga 2023–24	17
Reaching higher, landing harder: classifying individualized jump intensity zones and ground impact forces in professional male and female volleyball matches	17
Guidelines for performing systematic reviews in sports science	17
Disentangling the dynamic interplay between muscle damage and energetics in male boxers during a short training block	17
Validity of a low-cost friction encoder for measuring velocity, force and power in flywheel exercise devices	17
Effects of eccentric- and concentric-based plyometric programmes on strength, speed and tensiomyography parameters of female athletes	16
Reciprocal relationships between sleep quality, mental health and the quality of life in elite athletes: A pilot study	16
A novel combination of genomic loci in ITGB2, COL5A1 and VEGFA associated with anterior cruciate ligament rupture susceptibility: insights from Australian, Polish, Swedish, and South African cohort	16
Enhancing physical performance with ischemic preconditioning: a systematic review and meta-analysis of moderators and performance outcomes	16
Monitoring physical match performance relative to peak locomotor demands: implications for training professional soccer players	16
The effect of physical exercise during competitions and in simulated conditions on hormonal-neurophysiological relationships in kickboxers	16
Running demands and activity profile of men’s rugby sevens: a tournament scenario	15

The effect of α-lactalbumin consumption on sleep quality and quantity in female rugby union athletes: a field-based study	15
Application of arbitrary and individualized load quantification strategies over the weekly microcycle in professional soccer players	15
Female football players’ key physical qualities: playing-position specific comparison between national-team selected and non-selected players	15
Internal and external load during 8 v 8, 5 v 5 and 3 v 3 in Chinese elite youth male football players	15
Applications of near-infrared spectroscopy in “anaerobic” diagnostics – SmO 2 kinetics reflect PCr dephosphorylation and correlate with maximal lactate accumulation and maximal pedalling rate	15
Effects of squatting with elastic bands or conventional resistance - training equipment at different effort levels in post-exercise intraocular pressure of healthy men	15
Match running performance is influenced by possession and team formation in an English Premier League team	15
Hamstring muscle fibre typology is not associated with hamstring strain injury history or performance in amateur male soccer players: a retrospective magnetic resonance spectroscopy study	15
Fatigue score as a promising complementing training monitoring tool: a pilot study in elite rugby sevens players	15
A comparison of morning priming exercise using traditional-set and cluster-set configurations on afternoon explosive performance	14
Contextualized acceleration and deceleration profiles of elite soccer players during English Premier League match-play. The effect of possession, positional demands and opponent ranking	14
Perception and application of flywheel training by professional soccer practitioners	14
Fitness and fatness in children and adolescents: investigating their role in the association between physical activity and cardiometabolic health	14
Do small-sided games prepare players for the worst-case scenarios of match play in elite young soccer players?	14
The influence of menstrual cycle phase on neuromuscular performance and subjective perception of effort in elite football players	14
Effects of linear versus curvilinear sprint training on multidirectional speed in young soccer players: a randomized parallel-group trial	14
Do all matches require the same effort? Influence of contextual factors on physical demands during official female handball competitions	14
Establishing reference values for tensiomyography-derived parameters in soccer players: insights from a systematic review, meta-analysis and meta-regression	13
Effectiveness of the Functional Movement Screen for assessment of injury risk occurrence in football players	13
Effect of alterations in whole-body cryotherapy (WBC) exposure on post-match recovery markers in elite Premier League soccer players	13
Genetic prediction of lower limb isometric strength changes after 12 weeks of resistance training	13
Reproducibility and quality of hypertrophy-related training plans generated by GPT-4 and Google Gemini as evaluated by coaching experts	13
Knee isokinetic strength benchmarks in athletes across sports categories and performance levels	13
Injury incidence, burden and associated risk factors in walking football players	13
Genetic profile of sports climbing athletes from three different ethnicities	13
Effects of 24 weeks of collagen supplementation in active adults: Impact on body composition, neuromuscular and cardiorespiratory fitness	13
The effects of training type and area size variations on the physiological and session rating of perceived exertion responses during male judo matches	13
Physiological responses after two different Crossfit workouts	13
Twenty-four weeks of combined exercise training prevents metabolic syndrome progression in adult women: evidence from a randomized controlled trial	13
Mind, body, and shuttle: multidimensional benchmarks for talent identification in male youth badminton	13
Physical activity shifts gut microbiota structure in aged subjects with overweight/obesity and metabolic syndrome	13
Effectiveness of short vs. long-distance sprint training on sprinting and agility performance in young soccer players	12
Contextualised high-intensity running profiles of elite football players with reference to general and specialised tactical roles	12
Effects of re-warm-up protocols on the physical performance of soccer players: A systematic review with meta-analysis	12
Hamstring muscle architecture and myotonometer measurements in elite professional football players with a prior strained hamstring	12
Key performance indicators of offensive transitions in elite women’s football: a machine learning and explainability approach	12
Relationships between training load and wellbeing measures across a full season: a study of Turkish national youth wrestlers	12
Sodium bicarbonate and beta-alanine supplementation: Is combining both better than either alone? A systematic review and meta-analysis	12
Top-class women’s soccer performance: peak demands and distribution of the match activities relative to maximal intensities during official matches	12
Recreational soccer and basketball improve anthropometric, body composition and health-related outcomes in overweight and obese young adults: A randomized multi-arm study	12
Exercise intensity and reliability during recreational team handball training for 50–77-year-old unexperienced women	12
Utilisation of performance markers to establish the effectiveness of cold-water immersion as a recovery modality in elite football.	11
Repeated sprint training induces prolonged residual fatigue compared to other high-intensity interval training modalities in middle-distance runners	11
FIFA World Cup 2022: What can we learn from the inspiring Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games held in COVID-19 times?	11
Relationships between weekly changes in salivary hormonal responses and load measures during the pre-season phase in professional male basketball players	11
Comparison of running and accelerometry variables based on match outcome, match location and quality of opponent in elite professional soccer players. A five-season study	11
The relationship between internal and external loads as a tool to monitor physical fitness status of team sport athletes: a systematic review	11
Physiological, technical, and time-motion responses according to small-sided game formats and pitch size variations in adolescent male soccer players: effects of biological maturity status	11
Effects of low-volume court-based sprint interval training on aerobic capacity and sport-specific endurance performance in competitive tennis players	11
Effects of free play or artificial rules on young soccer players’ individual tactical behaviour: a one-by-one analysis	11
Practices of strength and conditioning coaches in professional sports: a systematic review	11
Physical fitness in professional padel: performance differences according to players’ gender and playing side position	11
A novel application of entropy analysis for assessing changes in movement variability during cumulative tackles in young elite rugby league players	11
Different sizes of position games and official matches in youth professional soccer player	11
Association of the GALNTL6 polymorphism with muscle strength in Japanese athletes	11