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Subfield · Arts and Humanities

Museology research

Museology is a subfield of Arts and Humanities. Science Explorer counts 105k research works in it since 1950. 17.1% of them reached the world's top 10% most cited for their field and year.

In short: study of museums.

Research works
105k
fractional, since 1950
In the world top 10%
18k
per year above
Top-10% rate
17.1%
share of its works in the world top 10%
Topics
9
Growth, 2013–17 → 2018–22
+50%
the tick is no change

What is Museology research about, and what is growing?

By the world's output in 2019–23, its most used keywords are Cultural Heritage, Folklore, Turkish Culture, Sustainability, Identity, Cultural Studies. Gaining share since 2009–13: Folklore, Turkish Culture, Cultural Heritage, Literature, Museum. Losing share: Communication Theory, Cultural Product Design, Artistic Exchange, Cultural Transfer.

▲ 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 22 words, with their numbers
  1. Cultural Heritage10k▲ 2.4×2 topics
  2. Folklore7,964▲ 5.3×1 topic
  3. Turkish Culture7,964▲ 5.3×1 topic
  4. Sustainability7,138▼ 0.74×3 topics
  5. Identity7,099▼ 0.75×2 topics
  6. Cultural Studies6,420▼ 0.71×2 topics
  7. Informal Education4,864▼ 0.83×1 topic
  8. Museum Learning4,864▼ 0.83×1 topic
  9. Clothing4,509▼ 0.69×1 topic
  10. Fashion4,509▼ 0.69×1 topic
  11. Artistic Exchange3,554▼ 0.58×1 topic
  12. Cultural Transfer3,554▼ 0.58×1 topic
  13. Literature2,804▲ 1.28×1 topic
  14. Museum2,804▲ 1.28×1 topic
  15. Cultural History2,590◆ 0.87×1 topic
  16. Photography2,590◆ 0.87×1 topic
  17. Craftivism2,460◆ 0.88×1 topic
  18. Handicraft2,460◆ 0.88×1 topic
  19. CSR Communication1,910▼ 0.76×1 topic
  20. Transmedia Storytelling1,910▼ 0.76×1 topic
  21. Communication Theory169▼ 0.47×1 topic
  22. Cultural Product Design169▼ 0.47×1 topic

Which countries lead Museology research?

On research quality in 2022–2025, the United States, the United Kingdom and China rank highest in Museology. By volume, Türkiye and the United States publish the most (6.2k and 2.7k works in 2022–2025).

By research quality, 2022–2025

  1. 1 United States · #1 all time 16.0% top 10% · 2.7k works
  2. 2 United Kingdom · #2 all time 23.4% top 10% · 1.5k works
  3. 3 China · #7 all time 25.2% top 10% · 888 works
  4. 4 Türkiye · #8 all time 14.5% top 10% · 6.2k works
  5. 5 Italy · #6 all time 25.0% top 10% · 606 works
  6. 6 India · #10 all time 25.9% top 10% · 658 works
  7. 7 Germany · #4 all time 8.9% top 10% · 2.1k works
  8. 8 Spain · #9 all time 17.0% top 10% · 1.3k works
  9. 9 Australia · #3 all time 26.4% top 10% · 427 works
  10. 10 Portugal · #19 all time 22.6% top 10% · 298 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 24 countries ranked in Museology. Composite of field-normalised excellence (50%), output (30%) and citations (20%); the bracket is the all-time rank.

All countries ranked in Museology

By volume, 2022–2025

  1. 1 Türkiye 6.2k works
  2. 2 United States 2.7k works
  3. 3 Germany 2.1k works
  4. 4 United Kingdom 1.5k works
  5. 5 Spain 1.3k works
  6. 6 France 1.1k works
  7. 7 Brazil 948 works
  8. 8 China 889 works
  9. 9 India 658 works
  10. 10 Italy 607 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.

Türkiye: 34.2%United States: 15.2%Germany: 11.5%United Kingdom: 8.2%6 others listed: 30.8%34%largest
Türkiye6,183 · 34.2%United States2,748 · 15.2%Germany2,080 · 11.5%United Kingdom1,486 · 8.2%6 others listed5,570 · 30.8%

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

Which institutions lead Museology research?

Ankara Sosyal Bilimler Üniversitesi (Türkiye) ranks first in Museology on research quality in 2022–2025, followed by Selçuk University and Ankara Hacı Bayram Veli University.

By research quality, 2022–2025

  1. 1 Ankara Sosyal Bilimler Üniversitesi Türkiye · Ankara · #26 all time 14.2% top 10% · 185 works
  2. 2 Selçuk University Türkiye · Konya · #46 all time 22.5% top 10% · 115 works
  3. 3 Ankara Hacı Bayram Veli University Türkiye · Ankara · #58 all time 14.7% top 10% · 167 works
  4. 4 Mi̇lli̇ Eği̇ti̇m Bakanliği Türkiye · Ankara · #54 all time 16.5% top 10% · 125 works
  5. 5 Hacettepe University Türkiye · Ankara · #52 all time 17.6% top 10% · 119 works
  6. 6 Universidad Complutense de Madrid Spain · Madrid · #19 all time 13.7% top 10% · 114 works
  7. 7 Atatürk University Türkiye · Erzurum · #61 all time 13.0% top 10% · 121 works
  8. 8 Mardin Artuklu University Türkiye · Mardin 21.8% top 10% · 69 works
  9. 9 Ankara University Türkiye · Ankara · #45 all time 13.4% top 10% · 112 works
  10. 10 Kastamonu University Türkiye · Kastamonu · #68 all time 12.1% top 10% · 78 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 34 institutions above the floor of 40 fractional works in Museology.

Top 100 Museology institutions

By volume, 2022–2025

  1. 1 Ankara Sosyal Bilimler Üniversitesi Türkiye 185 works
  2. 2 Ankara Hacı Bayram Veli University Türkiye 167 works
  3. 3 Mi̇lli̇ Eği̇ti̇m Bakanliği Türkiye 125 works
  4. 4 Atatürk University Türkiye 121 works
  5. 5 Hacettepe University Türkiye 119 works
  6. 6 Selçuk University Türkiye 115 works
  7. 7 Universidad Complutense de Madrid Spain 114 works
  8. 8 Ankara University Türkiye 112 works
  9. 9 Istanbul University Türkiye 97 works
  10. 10 Sivas Cumhuriyet Üniversitesi Türkiye 95 works

Who are the leading researchers in Museology?

Among the most productive authors in Museology, Sander L. Gilman, Walter Benjamín and William H. Sewell rank highest on the composite score.

  1. 1 Sander L. Gilman United States · #37 worldwide 4.2k citations · 154 works
  2. 2 Walter Benjamín France · #726 worldwide 1.3k citations · 106 works
  3. 3 William H. Sewell United States · #1,183 worldwide 1.6k citations · 90 works
  4. 4 David Hume Australia · #1,397 worldwide 1.9k citations · 378 works
  5. 5 Roland Barthes Indonesia · #1,998 worldwide 739 citations · 84 works
  6. 6 George E. Marcus United States · #2,256 worldwide 1.1k citations · 96 works
  7. 7 John Locke United States · #2,559 worldwide 1.3k citations · 285 works
  8. 8 Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel Spain · #3,241 worldwide 445 citations · 82 works
  9. 9 Ian S. McLean United States · #3,775 worldwide 1.7k citations · 139 works
  10. 10 Richard Handler United States · #3,881 worldwide 627 citations · 71 works

Re-ranked on the composite score from the 2,664 highest-output authors in Museology. Identities come from OpenAlex author disambiguation, which occasionally merges or splits people.

Top 100 Museology researchers

Where is Museology research done?

The largest centres of Museology research in 2022–2025 are Ankara (Türkiye), Istanbul (Türkiye), Paris (France) and London (United Kingdom). Among places with at least 20 works in it, it is an unusually large share of all research in Wellfleet, Ardahan and Nevşehir.

Largest cities, 2022–2025

  1. 1 Ankara Türkiye 1,000 works
  2. 2 Istanbul Türkiye 840 works
  3. 3 Paris France 385 works
  4. 4 London United Kingdom 362 works
  5. 5 Madrid Spain 347 works
  6. 6 Berlin Germany 267 works
  7. 7 Izmir Türkiye 222 works
  8. 8 New York United States 206 works
  9. 9 Konya Türkiye 204 works
  10. 10 São Paulo Brazil 199 works

Where it is the local speciality

  1. WellfleetUS · 24.7 works51×
  2. ArdahanTR · 36.7 works37×
  3. NevşehirTR · 81.1 works36×
  4. Furtwangen im SchwarzwaldDE · 22.9 works35×
  5. MardinTR · 68.8 works31×
  6. TurkestanKZ · 25.4 works26×
← less than its size predicts1×more →

Location quotient: how much more of its research is in Museology than the world average.

See Museology on the map

Museology research by country

The best places for Museology research inside each country, with that country's researchers and world standing.

Where is the best place to study Museology?

Among universities, judged by research, Selçuk University, Ankara Sosyal Bilimler Üniversitesi and Manchester Metropolitan University 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%20%40%60%mean 25.11%fractional works in this node (log) →share in the world top 10% →Selçuk University: 115, 22.5%Ankara Sosyal Bilimler Üniversitesi: 185, 14.2%Manchester Metropolitan University: 41, 32.7%Hacettepe University: 119, 17.6%Takoradi Technical University: 17, 51.2%University of the Arts London: 46, 30.9%Mardin Artuklu University: 69, 21.8%National Institute of Fashion Technology: 50, 33.8%Ankara University: 112, 13.4%Atatürk University: 121, 13.0%Manchester Metropoli…Selçuk UniversityHacettepe UniversityAnkara Sosyal Biliml…
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
1Selçuk University Türkiye 70.022.5%14.4×115 +324.8%
2Ankara Sosyal Bilimler Üniversitesi Türkiye 68.114.2%44.4×185 +589.5%
3Manchester Metropolitan University United Kingdom 66.632.7%10.0×41 +102.9%
4Hacettepe University Türkiye 66.517.6%9.5×119 +348.9%
5Takoradi Technical University Ghana 66.051.2%35.2×17 —
6University of the Arts London United Kingdom 65.430.9%48.5×46 +128.4%
7Mardin Artuklu University Türkiye 65.321.8%31.3×69 +1341.7%
8National Institute of Fashion Technology India 65.333.8%80.0×50 +108.0%
9Ankara University Türkiye 64.913.4%10.0×112 +194.4%
10Atatürk University Türkiye 64.713.0%13.4×121 +394.3%

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 Museology research growing?

Output in 2018–2022 was 50% higher than in 2013–2017, peaking in 2024. The fastest-growing topics are Cultural and Sociopolitical Studies, Photographic and Visual Arts and Literature, Culture, and Aesthetics.

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. Cultural and Sociopolitical Studies+808%
  2. Photographic and Visual Arts+363%
  3. Literature, Culture, and Aesthetics+265%
  4. Libraries and Information Services+226%
  5. Museums and Cultural Heritage+177%
  6. Crafts, Textile, and Design+174%
← shrinkingno changegrowing →

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

What does Museology include?

Fashion and Cultural Textiles: 19k fractional worksMuseums and Cultural Heritage: 18k fractional worksHistorical Art and Culture Studies: 17k fractional worksCultural and Sociopoliti…16kCultural and Sociopolitical Studies: 16k fractional worksLibraries and Informatio…10kLibraries and Information Services: 10k fractional worksCrafts, Textile, and Design: 9,064 fractional worksPhotographic and Visual Arts: 8,619 fractional worksLiterature, Culture, and…6,902Literature, Culture, and Aesthetics: 6,902 fractional worksCultural and Communication Design Research: 1,037 fractional works

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