The aim of this study is to analyze the body of knowledge in this field and to identify research gaps in the literature by comprehensively examining academic publications on the sport of curling. Curling, a team sport played on ice, is a game requiring strategy and skill in which players try to reach the nearest point by sliding specially designed stones towards a circular target. The origins of the game date back to 16th century Scotland, and it has gained popularity over time and has become one of the Olympic sports. The study is expected to guide further research on curling and provide new sources of information for academics, coaches and athletes working in this field.

This study was conducted using the content analysis model, one of the qualitative research methods. In the data collection process, the Council of Higher Education National Thesis Center and Web of Science databases were used. As a result of the first search with the keyword “curling”, 958 publications were identified in the Web of Science database and 15 publications were identified in the YÖK Thesis database. In order to narrow the scope of the research, predetermined inclusion and exclusion criteria were applied and the search was limited to the category of “Sport Sciences”. After this limitation, a total of 469 publications were included and analyzed.

The analysis revealed that the majority of the studies on curling were published in English, especially in the SCI-Expanded index, and were more common in countries such as USA, UK, Canada, Switzerland and Australia. It was determined that the studies conducted in Turkey were mostly limited to master's theses and there were fewer studies at the doctoral level. The publications were mainly shaped around keywords such as “resistance training,” “strength,” “muscle,” “exercise,” and “performance”; in addition, it was observed that concepts such as training and injury were frequently emphasized in the abstracts.

In conclusion, this study reveals that curling is being studied with increasing academic interest at both national and international levels and offers a multidisciplinary research field. The diversity of studies on curling allows the examination of different aspects of this sport such as physical endurance, mental strategy and team dynamics, and deepens this field with an expanding research framework. Considering the limited number of academic publications on curling in Turkey, it is necessary to conduct more interdisciplinary research in this field and enrich the curling literature. It is thought that this study will be a guide for future research with the aim of expanding the scientific knowledge on the sport of curling.