R shiny web applications in the sports field: a scoping review

R shiny is a popular open-source platform for developing web applications using R, and its use in sports has grown rapidly in recent years. The aim of this review is to summarize the current state of the art on the use of R shiny in sports and to identify their benefits and limitations. From various databases and repositories, a total of 310 applications, created in or after 2014, were detected. Of these, 48.7% have been developed by a US based developer, 91.03% include a database, 70% aim to perform a statistical analysis, and 1% come from a scientific article. The most represented sport is basketball (n = 70; 22.9%). Only 3 apps were specifically referred to female's sport, while 79.2% were focused on the professional setting. Little information on used statistical techniques was observed (n = 67; 21.6%), and almost none presented scientific reference (n = 19; 6.1%). Regarding their implementation, 20% (n = 62) had a help page and 9.7% (n = 30) returned an execution error. The quality of Shiny web applications in sports needs improvement in transparency, scientific rigor, and homogeneity to better support statistical communication.