Scientifc relevance and afnity in the declarations of the groups and academic disciplines in physical exercise and sport sciences

Purpose In Italy, following the defnition of scientifc-disciplinary groups (SDG) and the update of academic disciplines (AD) with their respective declarations, a signifcant legislative change occurred. This led to the merging of the two ADs of Physical Training Sciences and Methodology (code M-EDF/01) and Sport Sciences and Methodology (code M-EDF/02) into a single SDG called Physical Exercise and Sport Sciences. Consequently, there should be full scientifc autonomy for this new SDG. However, residual interference from the former related ADs persists, which is now redundant, since the new SDG encompasses all relevant afnities. Therefore, other ADs and SDGs should not reference the SDG and ADs titles of Physical Exercise and Sport Sciences in their declarations. The study aimed to verify if there were any duplications compared to the previous university body, to what extent these duplications existed, and to identify the specifc instances of duplication. Methods A textual analysis of the scientifc declarations of the 190 SDGs and 383 ADs was conducted in comparison with the corresponding previous declarations of the academic recruitment felds (ARF) and ADs. The analysis was conducted using specifc keywords. Results The analysis of Ministerial Decree (DM) n. 639 of 2024 found that the keyword “Sport” is present in 21 SDGs and 23 ADs, ranging from zoology and physiology to aerospace engineering and law. For “Physical training or education or exercise”, 7 SDGs and 6 ADs were identifed, including musculoskeletal system diseases, cellular biology, and special education. Compared with the DM n. 885 of 2000, the keyword “Sport” appears in 15 ARFs and 10 ADs, while “Physical training or education or exercise” appears in 13 ARFs and 9 ADs, in similar areas. Conclusions The overlaps in the scientifc declarations of the 180 SDGs and the 383 ADs were supposed to decrease due to their unique scientifc, cultural, and educational relevance and afnity; instead, they have increased. Similarly, this occurred with the updated declarations of the ADs. An even more concerning aspect is that the declaration of SDG in Area 11 of Historical, Philosophical, Pedagogical and Psychological Sciences contains a signifcant overlap between the SDG of Educational research, teaching, special pedagogy, and experimental pedagogy (code 11/PAED-02) and the SDG of Physical Exercise and Sport Sciences (code 06/MEDF-01), perpetuating the current confusion.