Understanding the Increases in Physical Activity Publications From 1985 to 2022: A Global Perspective

Abstract

Background: A marked increase in physical activity (PA) publications has occurred since 1985. Increased publications reflect a globalization of publications and increase the difficulty of reviewing evidence and identifying effective PA strategies. Methods: Review of Scopus database publications with the title or keyword “physical activity” between 1985 and 2022, examining 193,335 PA publications. The choice of search strategy was standardized across the period and maximized relevant PA papers (high sensitivity). Results: The results showed 3 clear periods for increases in PA publications; an initial increase in period 1 between 1985 and 2000, a 9-fold increase in period 2 between 2001 and 2016 (from 645/y to 5876/y), and a further increase to 15,812 publications per year in period 3 between 2017 and 2022. The primary driver of this increase was the transition from publications in traditional subscription-model journals to open-access business model journals, which comprised 80% of PA publications by period 3. Although this trend was global, some countries showed greater increases through open-access publication. Discussion: These data identify a relatively unrecognized and urgent threat to the field: An exponential increase in PA publications may influence the quality of published work and increases the difficulty of finding and applying important research findings. The shift in publication patterns is contributed to by higher acceptance rates and rapid time to publication offered in open-access journals. This represents a “commercial determinant” of publications in the PA field, influencing the type and volume of publications without consideration of their contribution to evidence or impact.