Mapping knowledge structures and theme trends in sport diplomacy: a bibliometric analysis
Bibliographic record
Abstract
This study aims to analyse knowledge structures and thematic trends in sport diplomacy, an increasingly prominent field. Using bibliometric analysis of 331 studies from the Web of Science (WoS) database, this study identified several key themes, including the role of sport in promoting peace and diplomacy, the use of sport as a tool for soft power, and the challenges and opportunities of hosting sport mega-events. The study also identified several knowledge structures, including the relationship between sport and (international) politics, globalization, and the role of sport in cultural diplomacy. These findings provide insights for researchers, policymakers, and practitioners, guiding theory development, interdisciplinary collaboration, and practical applications. In summary, this study contributes to understanding the evolution and current state of sport diplomacy scholarship, fostering continued progress in this dynamic field.
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How this classification was reachedexpand
Full frame machine prediction
Teacher imitationNot calibrated prevalence, not ground truth. Human validation pending. The Gemma side is a direct model label for every work in the frame, read from the title-only record. The Codex side is a classifier learned from the 10,348 direct Codex labels and calibrated to design-weighted sample rates; fields without enough sample support carry no Codex call. Candidate is the union of the two sides; consensus is their intersection. These outputs are machine_predicted_unvalidated and are not human labels.
Distilled classifier scores by category (both heads)
| Category | Codex | Gemma |
|---|---|---|
| Metaresearch | 0.013 | 0.067 |
| Meta-epidemiology (narrow) | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Meta-epidemiology (broad) | 0.001 | 0.001 |
| Bibliometrics | 0.152 | 0.145 |
| Science and technology studies | 0.002 | 0.001 |
| Scholarly communication | 0.007 | 0.005 |
| Open science | 0.001 | 0.004 |
| Research integrity | 0.001 | 0.001 |
| Insufficient payload (model declined to judge) | 0.003 | 0.000 |
Machine scores (provisional)
The two teacher heads of the student model, read on this work. A score orders the frame for review; it never asserts a category, and the validation status ships verbatim with every row.
Baseline scores from an immature model (maturity gate not passed, 7 training rounds). Scores rank; they never assert a category.
score_only:v0-immature-baseline · verbatim from the scoring run: score_only means the number may rank works, and no category label ships from itClassification
machine, unvalidatedMachine predicted; a candidate call from one source (direct Gemma or distilled Codex), not a consensus.
How this classification was reached, model by model and score by score, is at the end of the page under "How this classification was reached".