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Open research questions in Doping in Sports

179 gap statements mined from Doping in Sports papers in our 4.5M-paper local library, which holds 1,958 papers on the topic — drawn mostly from each paper's own stated research gap, future-work, challenge and limitation notes, and its abstract. The ones listed below are a selection still marked open; each names the study that raised it, with a DOI link where the paper has one.

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What the literature leaves open

  • The study highlights the need for effective anti-doping interventions, particularly for young, male, non-competitive persons.

    Dietary Supplement Use and Doping Attitudes: A Cross-Sectional Survey · 2026 · DOI

  • There is a need to move beyond the intention-based focus of social-cognitive models and consider how specific behaviors are cognitively organized around the pursuit of valued ends. The study aims to address this gap by examining the relationships between doping intentions, perceived means of performance enhancement, and internal and external life aspirations.

    From Doping Intentions to Life Aspirations: A Goal Systems Perspective of Performance Enhancement in Sport · 2026 · DOI

  • Limited evidence regarding supplementation practices in Paralympic team sports. Lack of understanding of the prevalence and patterns of sports supplement use in elite wheelchair basketball players. Insufficient exploration of associations between supplement use and athlete characteristics in this population.

    Prevalence and patterns of sports supplement use in elite wheelchair basketball players: an analysis based on the AIS framework · 2026 · DOI

  • Future research could explore the effectiveness of outreach-embedded research in different contexts and populations. Future research could examine the impact of values-based education on athletes' perceptions of anti-doping legitimacy. Future research could investigate the relationship between athletes' motivations for engaging with outreach and their perceptions of anti-doping legitimacy.

    Research in the “Games Bubble”: leveraging outreach-embedded data collection at the 2025 Harbin Asian Winter Games · 2026 · DOI

  • Limited research capturing athlete perspectives from geographically heterogeneous and potentially culturally diverse contexts. Lack of research on outreach-embedded data collection at major multisport events. Limited understanding of the feasibility and value of outreach-embedded research aligned with values-based anti-doping.

    Research in the “Games Bubble”: leveraging outreach-embedded data collection at the 2025 Harbin Asian Winter Games · 2026 · DOI

  • The study notes that the use of prohibited performance-enhancing substances remains a major challenge to modern sport. The study acknowledges the complexity of the problem of doping in combat sports, and the need for a comprehensive approach to address it. The study notes that the sample size was limited, particularly with regards to female participants.

    Factors associated with potential doping behavior among Swedish combat sport athletes: a cross-sectional study · 2026 · DOI

  • Further studies exploring younger athletes, as well as long-term, multidimensional interventions, are warranted.

    The Effect of Educational Intervention on Legal Anti-Doping Knowledge and Doping Tendency in Elite Athletes · 2026 · DOI

  • In Iraq and the wider region, AAS use among gymnasium trainees appears to be common and is guided mainly by informal, non-medical sources of advice, while data on injection practices and infection are lacking.

    Anabolic-Androgenic Steroids: Pharmacology, Adverse Effects, Microbiological Aspects and Patterns of Non-Medical Use among Gymnasium Trainees · 2026 · DOI

  • While the number of women engaging with PIEDs is increasing, their experiences remain under-researched.

    Enhancing the body, negotiating identity: A phenomenological study of athletic, feminine, and moral identity among women who use performance and image-enhancing drugs (PIEDs) · 2026 · DOI

  • Pharmacists are well positioned to support athletes through medication counseling, supplement evaluation, and anti-doping education; however, their role in anti-doping systems remains incompletely understood.

    The Evolving Role of Pharmacists in Doping Prevention: A Scoping Review · 2026 · DOI

  • These results emphasise the necessity of implementing professional guidelines and comprehensive support systems designed to safeguard the long-term well-being of all athletes and underscore the urgent need for further research into the impact of TEG on sport and its community.

    Health and Performance Challenges in the Era of Human Enhancement: Insights from Sport Medicine Professionals · 2025 · DOI

  • This study demonstrates that chemical analysis can be a powerful tool in influencing AAS consumers' practices, highlighting the need for further research on how testing, coupled with harm reduction interventions, can improve consumer safety and decision-making.

    Anabolic-androgenic steroid testing as a tool for consumer engagement and harm reduction: a sequential explanatory mixed-method study · 2025 · DOI

  • Further research into the contextual factors influencing painkiller use is needed, and educational initiatives are important to improve awareness regarding pain management in football.

    Painkiller use in amateur football: high prevalence, but limited misuse · 2025 · DOI

  • Only 17% felt that "NADO-Uganda" treated athletes equally, with 58% uncertain, indicating limited knowledge rather than a definitive view of unfairness.

    Ugandan athletes’ and coaches’ experiences and perceptions on the effectiveness and legitimacy of the doping control process · 2025 · DOI

  • The use of image and performance enhancement drugs (doping) in recreational sport presents an emerging public health challenge, but there is scarce research on current preventive measures.

    Anti-doping measures in gyms and fitness centres: A mapping of practices in the state parties of the council of Europe’s anti-doping convention · 2025 · DOI

  • There is a gap in the literature associated with MacIntyre's framework. The paper seeks to resolve the differences between the 'conventional' and 'alternative' approaches to applying MacIntyre's framework.

    Success Versus Excellence in an Elite Sport: The Case of the GB Rowing Team · 2026 · DOI

  • The paper argues that the 'sport as religion' position has not been adequately critiqued from a postcolonial and feminist perspective.

    Is Sport Really Religion? Critical Assessments · 2026 · DOI

  • Studies have rarely examined the effects of changes in legal anti-doping knowledge (LADK) on doping tendencies in athletes.

    The Effect of Educational Intervention on Legal Anti-Doping Knowledge and Doping Tendency in Elite Athletes · 2026 · DOI

  • Beyond sport, our analysis also demonstrates that the boundaries of citizenship are today often policed through hybridized formations that are not limited to the legal systems of individual countries or to straightforward processes of regulation, but which extend to quasi‐legal, transnational entities that police specific kinds of bodies.

    ‘Vitamins’, shortcuts, and athletic citizenship in Ethiopia and Cameroon: considering sporting ethics beyond biomedicine · 2026 · DOI

  • Investigating the effectiveness of anti-doping interventions targeting young, male, non-competitive persons, - Examining the relationship between dietary supplement use and doping attitudes in other…

    Dietary Supplement Use and Doping Attitudes: A Cross-Sectional Survey · 2026 · DOI

  • The study had a limited sample size in certain subgroups, - The study may have had limited statistical power to detect subtle variations across athlete characteristics, - The margin of error was slightly higher than in general population…

    Prevalence and patterns of sports supplement use in elite wheelchair basketball players: an analysis based on the AIS framework · 2026 · DOI

  • The study only measured fractions of the complex problem of doping behavior, - The sample size was limited, especially for female participants, - The study did not assess psychosocial constructs such as social norms and self-regulatory…

    Factors associated with potential doping behavior among Swedish combat sport athletes: a cross-sectional study · 2026 · DOI

  • Scholars should continue the work of elucidating the relationships, overlaps, and engagements of religion and sport…

    Is Sport Really Religion? Critical Assessments · 2026 · DOI

  • This study aimed to fill the gap in knowledge by examining the prevalence of supplement usage and its related attitudes and reasons among fitness athletes in the gyms of Kashan.

    Prevalence of supplement usage and related attitudes and reasons among fitness athletes in the gyms of Kashan and its relationship with feeding behavior: a cross-sectional study · 2024 · DOI

  • Further study of the effectiveness of anti-doping policies and procedures, - Examination of the impact of privately organized events on the anti-doping…

    Institutionelle Entwicklungslinien der Anti-Doping-Politik des Internationalen Olympischen Komitees: Historische und gegenwärtige Perspektiven · 2026 · DOI

Most-cited papers in Doping in Sports

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Open questions raised by papers listed on this page include: (1) There is a need to move beyond the intention-based focus of social-cognitive models and consider how specific behaviors are cognitively organized around the pursuit of valued ends (“From Doping Intentions to Life Aspirations: A Goal Systems Perspective of…”, 2026); (2) Lack of understanding of the prevalence and patterns of sports supplement use in elite wheelchair basketball players (“Prevalence and patterns of sports supplement use in elite wheelchair basketball…”, 2026); (3) Future research could explore the effectiveness of outreach-embedded research in different contexts and populations (“Research in the “Games Bubble”: leveraging outreach-embedded data collection at…”, 2026); (4) Further studies exploring younger athletes, as well as long-term, multidimensional interventions, are warranted (“The Effect of Educational Intervention on Legal Anti-Doping Knowledge and…”, 2026); (5) In Iraq and the wider region, AAS use among gymnasium trainees appears to be common and is guided mainly by informal, non-medical sources of advice, while data on injection practices and infection are lacking (“Anabolic-Androgenic Steroids: Pharmacology, Adverse Effects, Microbiological…”, 2026). 179 gap statements have been mined from Doping in Sports papers in our 4.5M-paper local library, which holds 1,958 papers on the topic; the gaps come from whichever of those papers state one. They are mostly the research gaps the authors state and the papers' abstracts, plus future-work, limitations and challenges passages. The ones listed below are a selection still marked open; each names the study that raised it, with a DOI link where the paper has one, so you can read the original claim in context.

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