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Subfield · Arts and Humanities

History and Philosophy of Science research

History and Philosophy of Science is a subfield of Arts and Humanities. Science Explorer counts 221k research works in it since 1950. 16.0% of them reached the world's top 10% most cited for their field and year.

In short: academic discipline.

Research works
221k
fractional, since 1950
In the world top 10%
35k
per year above
Top-10% rate
16.0%
share of its works in the world top 10%
Topics
19
Growth, 2013–17 → 2018–22
+21%
the tick is no change

What is History and Philosophy of Science research about, and what is growing?

By the world's output in 2019–23, its most used keywords are Innovation, Scientific History, Technological Development, Medicine, Science, History. Gaining share since 2009–13: Colonialism, Knowledge Production, Neuroscience, Cultural Techniques, Media Theory. Losing share: Acceptance, Evolutionary Theory, Religion, Academic Writing.

▲ gaining share of this field◆ holding its share▼ losing share

Size is the world's fractional works in 2019–23 in the topics tagged with each word; colour compares the word's share of this field with 2009–13. Each links to the topic it comes from most.

All 40 words, with their numbers
  1. Innovation22k▲ 1.18×3 topics
  2. Scientific History15k▲ 1.18×1 topic
  3. Technological Development15k▲ 1.18×1 topic
  4. Medicine11k▲ 1.21×4 topics
  5. Science9,920▲ 1.20×4 topics
  6. History9,724▲ 1.26×5 topics
  7. Philosophy of Science9,645◆ 0.90×3 topics
  8. Philosophy7,973▲ 1.19×2 topics
  9. Technology7,680◆ 1.10×3 topics
  10. Culture7,126▲ 1.18×3 topics
  11. Society6,308▲ 1.28×2 topics
  12. Biography6,090▲ 1.29×1 topic
  13. Observations6,090▲ 1.29×1 topic
  14. Education5,351▼ 0.84×6 topics
  15. Evolutionary Synthesis5,013▼ 0.74×1 topic
  16. Mechanistic Explanation5,013▼ 0.74×1 topic
  17. Peer Review3,678▼ 0.80×2 topics
  18. Research3,440◆ 1.10×2 topics
  19. Publication2,663◆ 0.89×1 topic
  20. Scientific Writing2,663◆ 0.89×1 topic
  21. Healthcare2,622▲ 1.29×1 topic
  22. Physical Training2,622▲ 1.29×1 topic
  23. Logical Empiricism2,393◆ 0.92×1 topic
  24. Vienna Circle2,393◆ 0.92×1 topic
  25. Colonialism2,239▲ 1.73×1 topic
  26. Knowledge Production2,239▲ 1.73×1 topic
  27. Natural Philosophy1,883◆ 0.96×1 topic
  28. Scientific Culture1,883◆ 0.96×1 topic
  29. Global History1,360▼ 0.70×1 topic
  30. Science Circulation1,360▼ 0.70×1 topic
  31. Religion1,321▼ 0.48×2 topics
  32. Acceptance1,103▼ 0.43×1 topic
  33. Evolutionary Theory1,103▼ 0.43×1 topic
  34. Neuroscience1,103▲ 1.53×2 topics
  35. Academic Writing1,015▼ 0.63×1 topic
  36. Scholarly Publishing1,015▼ 0.63×1 topic
  37. Social Sciences1,004▼ 0.81×2 topics
  38. Cultural Techniques872▲ 1.38×1 topic
  39. Media Theory872▲ 1.38×1 topic
  40. Development818▼ 0.74×1 topic

Which countries lead History and Philosophy of Science research?

On research quality in 2022–2025, the United States, the United Kingdom and Germany rank highest in History and Philosophy of Science. By volume, the United States and France publish the most (8.3k and 4.6k works in 2022–2025).

By research quality, 2022–2025

  1. 1 United States · #1 all time 12.3% top 10% · 8.3k works
  2. 2 United Kingdom · #2 all time 14.5% top 10% · 3.1k works
  3. 3 Germany · #3 all time 12.4% top 10% · 2.9k works
  4. 4 France · #5 all time 7.1% top 10% · 4.6k works
  5. 5 Canada · #4 all time 10.8% top 10% · 1.5k works
  6. 6 Italy · #8 all time 15.8% top 10% · 1.1k works
  7. 7 Netherlands · #7 all time 18.8% top 10% · 532 works
  8. 8 Australia · #6 all time 17.5% top 10% · 643 works
  9. 9 Spain · #10 all time 14.5% top 10% · 831 works
  10. 10 China · #15 all time 12.2% top 10% · 571 works

The track on each row is that row’s top-10% rate. The ranking itself is the composite score, which the rate is only one part of.

Of 25 countries ranked in History and Philosophy of Science. Composite of field-normalised excellence (50%), output (30%) and citations (20%); the bracket is the all-time rank.

All countries ranked in History and Philosophy of Science

By volume, 2022–2025

  1. 1 United States 8.3k works
  2. 2 France 4.6k works
  3. 3 United Kingdom 3.1k works
  4. 4 Germany 2.9k works
  5. 5 Canada 1.5k works
  6. 6 Italy 1.1k works
  7. 7 Russia 883 works
  8. 8 Spain 831 works
  9. 9 Brazil 752 works
  10. 10 Australia 643 works

How concentrated that is

The same countries as shares of everything the list above accounts for. A node where two countries do two thirds of the work and one spread evenly across twelve read alike as a ranking and not at all alike here.

United States: 33.8%France: 18.8%United Kingdom: 12.4%Germany: 11.8%6 others listed: 23.1%34%largest
United States8,313 · 33.8%France4,617 · 18.8%United Kingdom3,057 · 12.4%Germany2,901 · 11.8%6 others listed5,673 · 23.1%

Shares of the rows listed above, not of the whole node.

Which institutions lead History and Philosophy of Science research?

University of Cambridge (United Kingdom) ranks first in History and Philosophy of Science on research quality in 2022–2025, followed by University of Oxford and University of Vienna.

By research quality, 2022–2025

  1. 1 University of Cambridge United Kingdom · Cambridge · #1 all time 19.0% top 10% · 235 works
  2. 2 University of Oxford United Kingdom · Oxford · #2 all time 16.5% top 10% · 227 works
  3. 3 University of Vienna Austria · Vienna · #39 all time 19.1% top 10% · 156 works
  4. 4 Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique France · Paris · #29 all time 14.4% top 10% · 160 works
  5. 5 University of Edinburgh United Kingdom · Edinburgh · #15 all time 16.8% top 10% · 120 works
  6. 6 University of Pittsburgh United States · Pittsburgh · #3 all time 17.4% top 10% · 78 works
  7. 7 Durham University United Kingdom · Durham · #20 all time 11.3% top 10% · 123 works
  8. 8 University of Toronto Canada · Toronto · #8 all time 13.8% top 10% · 146 works
  9. 9 The University of Sydney Australia · Sydney · #13 all time 20.2% top 10% · 76 works
  10. 10 University of Manchester United Kingdom · Manchester · #31 all time 19.9% top 10% · 66 works

The track on each row is that row’s top-10% rate. The ranking itself is the composite score, which the rate is only one part of.

Of 54 institutions above the floor of 40 fractional works in History and Philosophy of Science.

Top 100 History and Philosophy of Science institutions

By volume, 2022–2025

  1. 1 University of Cambridge United Kingdom 235 works
  2. 2 University of Oxford United Kingdom 227 works
  3. 3 Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique France 160 works
  4. 4 University of Vienna Austria 156 works
  5. 5 University of Toronto Canada 146 works
  6. 6 Film Independent United States 143 works
  7. 7 Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne France 134 works
  8. 8 Ca' Foscari University of Venice Italy 131 works
  9. 9 Durham University United Kingdom 123 works
  10. 10 École des hautes études en sciences sociales France 122 works

Who are the leading researchers in History and Philosophy of Science?

Among the most productive authors in History and Philosophy of Science, Charles Tilly, Stanley Hoffmann and Bruno Latour rank highest on the composite score.

  1. 1 Charles Tilly United States · #8 worldwide 3.7k citations · 238 works
  2. 2 Stanley Hoffmann United States · #21 worldwide 2.3k citations · 197 works
  3. 3 Bruno Latour France · #46 worldwide 2k citations · 198 works
  4. 4 Niklas Luhmann Germany · #53 worldwide 2.3k citations · 277 works
  5. 5 Herbert A. Simon United States · #65 worldwide 4.2k citations · 188 works
  6. 6 Steven Weinberg United States · #121 worldwide 5.1k citations · 151 works
  7. 7 Fritz Stern United States · #126 worldwide 1.2k citations · 183 works
  8. 8 Peter Burke United States · #136 worldwide 997 citations · 191 works
  9. 9 Jean Piaget Switzerland · #208 worldwide 1.6k citations · 144 works
  10. 10 E. P. Wigner United States · #214 worldwide 2.8k citations · 203 works

Re-ranked on the composite score from the 4,427 highest-output authors in History and Philosophy of Science. Identities come from OpenAlex author disambiguation, which occasionally merges or splits people.

Top 100 History and Philosophy of Science researchers

Where is History and Philosophy of Science research done?

The largest centres of History and Philosophy of Science research in 2022–2025 are Paris (France), London (United Kingdom), New York (United States) and Moscow (Russia). Among places with at least 20 works in it, it is an unusually large share of all research in Mont-Saint-Aignan and Aubervilliers.

Largest cities, 2022–2025

  1. 1 Paris France 1.8k works
  2. 2 London United Kingdom 612 works
  3. 3 New York United States 403 works
  4. 4 Moscow Russia 376 works
  5. 5 Los Angeles United States 286 works
  6. 6 Oxford United Kingdom 278 works
  7. 7 Berlin Germany 271 works
  8. 8 Toronto Canada 267 works
  9. 9 Cambridge United Kingdom 255 works
  10. 10 Vienna Austria 251 works

Where it is the local speciality

  1. Mont-Saint-Aignan24.0 works44×
  2. AubervilliersFR · 64.0 works34×
← less than its size predicts1×more →

Location quotient: how much more of its research is in History and Philosophy of Science than the world average.

See History and Philosophy of Science on the map

History and Philosophy of Science research by country

The best places for History and Philosophy of Science research inside each country, with that country's researchers and world standing.

Where is the best place to study History and Philosophy of Science?

Among universities, judged by research, University of Vienna, Ca' Foscari University of Venice and University of Cambridge score highest, combining excellence, specialisation, size, growth and international reach. Research strength is one signal when choosing where to study; it does not measure teaching.

0%10%20%mean 16.38%fractional works in this node (log) →share in the world top 10% →University of Vienna: 156, 19.1%Ca' Foscari University of Venice: 131, 17.1%University of Cambridge: 235, 19.0%Durham University: 123, 11.3%University of Wuppertal: 39, 20.1%University of St Andrews: 70, 12.3%University of Geneva: 80, 18.5%Metropolitan State University of Denver: 17, 20.3%Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne: 134, 9.6%University of Oxford: 227, 16.5%University of ViennaUniversity of Cambri…Ca' Foscari Universi…Durham University
above the meannear itbelow it

One dot per university in the table below. The upper left is the interesting corner: small places doing unusually strong work.

#UniversityScoreTop 10%SpecialisationWorksGrowth
1University of Vienna Austria 75.419.1%10.2×156 +170.7%
2Ca' Foscari University of Venice Italy 72.017.1%17.2×131 +741.1%
3University of Cambridge United Kingdom 62.519.0%6.9×235 +34.4%
4Durham University United Kingdom 60.911.3%11.0×123 +76.1%
5University of Wuppertal Germany 60.820.1%8.6×39 +185.1%
6University of St Andrews United Kingdom 60.712.3%10.2×70 +135.9%
7University of Geneva Switzerland 59.218.5%7.7×80 +84.5%
8Metropolitan State University of Denver United States 58.520.3%24.9×17 +197.1%
9Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne France 58.49.6%26.2×134 +69.1%
10University of Oxford United Kingdom 57.316.5%5.7×227 +39.2%

Universities only. Score blends excellence (30%), specialisation (25%), size (20%), growth (15%) and international reach (10%), 2015–2022; growth compares 2010–14 with 2015–19.

Is History and Philosophy of Science research growing?

Output in 2018–2022 was 21% higher than in 2013–2017, peaking in 2019. The fastest-growing topics are Sports Science and Education, Interdisciplinary Studies: Technology, Society, and Humanities and Aviation History and Innovations.

19801990200020102020
grewheldshrank

The same series as a ribbon — one cell per year, darker for more. The line above answers how much; this answers when.

Which topics inside it are moving

Growth and decline on one axis around a shared zero. Two lists side by side hide the thing that matters: whether the growth dwarfs the decline, or the other way round.

  1. Sports Science and Education+377%
  2. Interdisciplinary Studies: Technology, Society, and Humanities+374%
  3. Aviation History and Innovations+304%
  4. Diverse Historical and Scientific Studies+245%
  5. History of Science and Medicine+150%
  6. Graphic Design and Typography+149%
  7. Evolution and Science Education-8%
← shrinkingno changegrowing →

Growth in output from 2005–09 to 2015–19. Every topic is a page of its own.

What does History and Philosophy of Science include?

Historical Studies and S…56kHistorical Studies and Socio-cultural Analysis: 56k fractional worksPhilosophy and History of Science: 31k fractional worksHistory of Science and Medicine: 27k fractional worksAcademic Writing and Publishing: 15k fractional worksPhilosophy, Science, and History: 13k fractional worksSports Science and Education: 12k fractional worksHistory of Science and Natural History: 10k fractional worksHistorical Philosophy and Science: 9,792 fractional worksEvolution and Science Education: 9,314 fractional worksDiverse Historical and Scientific Studies: 8,584 fractional worksPublishing and Scholarly Communication: 7,108 fractional worksTwentieth Century Scientific Developments: 6,666 fractional works

Area is fractional works in that topic. Every name below is a page of its own.