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Subfield · Arts and Humanities

Philosophy research

Philosophy is a subfield of Arts and Humanities. Science Explorer counts 502k 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: study of the truths and principles of being, knowledge, or conduct.

Research works
502k
fractional, since 1950
In the world top 10%
80k
per year above
Top-10% rate
16.0%
share of its works in the world top 10%
Topics
49
Growth, 2013–17 → 2018–22
+27%
the tick is no change

What is Philosophy research about, and what is growing?

By the world's output in 2019–23, its most used keywords are Ethics, Philosophy, Cultural Studies, History, Education, Phenomenology. Gaining share since 2009–13: Metaphors, Teaching, Professional Development, Education, Memory. Losing share: DSM, Psychiatric Disorders, Aristotle, Plato.

▲ 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. Ethics37k◆ 0.94×19 topics
  2. Philosophy37k◆ 0.98×23 topics
  3. Cultural Studies28k◆ 1.11×5 topics
  4. History21k◆ 1.11×6 topics
  5. Education19k▲ 1.63×8 topics
  6. Phenomenology18k◆ 0.88×2 topics
  7. Religion18k◆ 0.96×6 topics
  8. Colonialism17k◆ 1.13×3 topics
  9. Identity17k▲ 1.21×5 topics
  10. Cultural Identity16k◆ 1.14×2 topics
  11. Globalization14k◆ 1.14×3 topics
  12. Narrative14k▲ 1.20×2 topics
  13. Anthropology14k◆ 1.13×2 topics
  14. Rhetoric13k▼ 0.80×2 topics
  15. Multiculturalism13k◆ 1.14×1 topic
  16. Post-Modernity13k◆ 1.14×1 topic
  17. Hermeneutics11k◆ 1.07×1 topic
  18. Interpretation11k◆ 1.07×1 topic
  19. Argumentation11k▼ 0.83×1 topic
  20. Discourse Analysis11k▼ 0.83×1 topic
  21. Metaphysics10k▼ 0.81×4 topics
  22. Professional Development9,247▲ 4.6×2 topics
  23. Literature9,206◆ 0.93×9 topics
  24. Metaphors9,055▲ 5.3×1 topic
  25. Teaching9,055▲ 5.3×1 topic
  26. Aesthetics7,483◆ 0.92×7 topics
  27. Social Justice6,512◆ 1.00×3 topics
  28. Community6,437▲ 1.19×2 topics
  29. DSM6,425▼ 0.66×1 topic
  30. Psychiatric Disorders6,425▼ 0.66×1 topic
  31. Aristotle5,713▼ 0.72×1 topic
  32. Plato5,713▼ 0.72×1 topic
  33. Responsibility5,434▼ 0.82×2 topics
  34. Culture5,310◆ 0.98×3 topics
  35. Virtue Ethics5,151▼ 0.79×2 topics
  36. Truth5,109▼ 0.74×2 topics
  37. Human Dignity4,503▼ 0.80×2 topics
  38. Memory4,248▲ 1.56×2 topics
  39. Sociology4,190◆ 1.06×3 topics
  40. Divine Providence4,068▼ 0.81×2 topics

Which countries lead Philosophy research?

On research quality in 2022–2025, the United States, the United Kingdom and Türkiye rank highest in Philosophy. By volume, the United States and Brazil publish the most (15k and 9.9k works in 2022–2025).

By research quality, 2022–2025

  1. 1 United States · #1 all time 16.2% top 10% · 15k works
  2. 2 United Kingdom · #2 all time 21.4% top 10% · 5.1k works
  3. 3 Türkiye · #5 all time 26.0% top 10% · 7.3k works
  4. 4 Germany · #3 all time 14.1% top 10% · 5.3k works
  5. 5 China · #15 all time 15.6% top 10% · 1.8k works
  6. 6 Canada · #4 all time 17.2% top 10% · 2k works
  7. 7 Netherlands · #7 all time 23.0% top 10% · 1.1k works
  8. 8 Australia · #6 all time 14.6% top 10% · 1.7k works
  9. 9 India · #16 all time 13.3% top 10% · 4.7k works
  10. 10 France · #8 all time 9.0% top 10% · 6.1k 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 49 countries ranked in Philosophy. Composite of field-normalised excellence (50%), output (30%) and citations (20%); the bracket is the all-time rank.

All countries ranked in Philosophy

By volume, 2022–2025

  1. 1 United States 15k works
  2. 2 Brazil 9.9k works
  3. 3 Türkiye 7.3k works
  4. 4 France 6.1k works
  5. 5 Germany 5.3k works
  6. 6 United Kingdom 5.1k works
  7. 7 India 4.7k works
  8. 8 Spain 3.2k works
  9. 9 Poland 3.1k works
  10. 10 Italy 2.1k 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: 24.7%Brazil: 15.8%Türkiye: 11.7%France: 9.8%6 others listed: 37.9%25%largest
United States15k · 24.7%Brazil9,900 · 15.8%Türkiye7,326 · 11.7%France6,140 · 9.8%6 others listed24k · 37.9%

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

Which institutions lead Philosophy research?

University of Oxford (United Kingdom) ranks first in Philosophy on research quality in 2022–2025, followed by Mi̇lli̇ Eği̇ti̇m Bakanliği and University of Cambridge.

By research quality, 2022–2025

  1. 1 University of Oxford United Kingdom · Oxford · #1 all time 22.3% top 10% · 424 works
  2. 2 Mi̇lli̇ Eği̇ti̇m Bakanliği Türkiye · Ankara · #39 all time 30.4% top 10% · 534 works
  3. 3 University of Cambridge United Kingdom · Cambridge · #3 all time 16.7% top 10% · 311 works
  4. 4 University of California, Irvine United States · Irvine · #40 all time 40.7% top 10% · 73 works
  5. 5 University of Edinburgh United Kingdom · Edinburgh · #2 all time 27.0% top 10% · 174 works
  6. 6 University of Zurich Switzerland · Zurich · #67 all time 24.2% top 10% · 133 works
  7. 7 University of Vienna Austria · Vienna · #75 all time 24.9% top 10% · 223 works
  8. 8 Uppsala University Sweden · Uppsala · #68 all time 28.1% top 10% · 97 works
  9. 9 University of Toronto Canada · Toronto · #5 all time 17.5% top 10% · 276 works
  10. 10 University College London United Kingdom · London · #9 all time 25.1% top 10% · 155 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 290 institutions above the floor of 40 fractional works in Philosophy.

Top 100 Philosophy institutions

By volume, 2022–2025

  1. 1 Weatherford CollegeUnited States 793 works
  2. 2 Comparative Aircraft Flight Efficiency FoundationUnited States 763 works
  3. 3 Herbalife (Australia)Australia 535 works
  4. 4 Mi̇lli̇ Eği̇ti̇m BakanliğiTürkiye 534 works
  5. 5 Universidade de São PauloBrazil 453 works
  6. 6 University of OxfordUnited Kingdom 424 works
  7. 7 Universidad Complutense de MadridSpain 346 works
  8. 8 Universidade Federal do Rio de JaneiroBrazil 336 works
  9. 9 University of CambridgeUnited Kingdom 311 works
  10. 10 Jagiellonian UniversityPoland 305 works

Who are the leading researchers in Philosophy?

Among the most productive authors in Philosophy, Pierre Bourdıeu, Michel Foucault and Noam Chomsky rank highest on the composite score.

  1. 1 Pierre Bourdıeu France · #2 worldwide 10k citations · 235 works
  2. 2 Michel Foucault Poland · #5 worldwide 4.6k citations · 194 works
  3. 3 Noam Chomsky United States · #7 worldwide 3.7k citations · 239 works
  4. 4 Norman K. Denzin United States · #16 worldwide 8.6k citations · 169 works
  5. 5 Sigmund Freud United States · #25 worldwide 2.7k citations · 174 works
  6. 6 Amartya Sen United States · #28 worldwide 4.9k citations · 190 works
  7. 7 Sander L. Gilman United States · #37 worldwide 4.2k citations · 154 works
  8. 8 Bruno Latour France · #46 worldwide 2k citations · 198 works
  9. 9 Niklas Luhmann Germany · #53 worldwide 2.3k citations · 277 works
  10. 10 Judith Butler United States · #70 worldwide 6.7k citations · 132 works

Re-ranked on the composite score from the 4,650 highest-output authors in Philosophy. Identities come from OpenAlex author disambiguation, which occasionally merges or splits people.

Top 100 Philosophy researchers

Where is Philosophy research done?

The largest centres of Philosophy research in 2022–2025 are Paris (France), São Paulo (Brazil), Ankara (Türkiye) and London (United Kingdom). Among places with at least 20 works in it, it is an unusually large share of all research in Sebastopol, Camerton and Chicago Heights.

Largest cities, 2022–2025

  1. 1 Paris France 2k works
  2. 2 São Paulo Brazil 1.5k works
  3. 3 Ankara Türkiye 1.4k works
  4. 4 London United Kingdom 1.1k works
  5. 5 Madrid Spain 1k works
  6. 6 Rio de Janeiro Brazil 979 works
  7. 7 Istanbul Türkiye 908 works
  8. 8 New York United States 828 works
  9. 9 Weatherford United States 793 works
  10. 10 Sydney Australia 791 works

Where it is the local speciality

  1. SebastopolUS · 763.0 works75×
  2. CamertonGB · 23.0 works62×
  3. Chicago HeightsUS · 21.2 works36×
  4. WellfleetUS · 49.9 works30×
← less than its size predicts1×more →

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

See Philosophy on the map

Philosophy research by country

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

Where is the best place to study Philosophy?

Among universities, judged by research, Anadolu University, Amasya Üniversitesi and Bayburt 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%mean 28.37%fractional works in this node (log) →share in the world top 10% →Anadolu University: 103, 29.4%Amasya Üniversitesi: 69, 32.7%Bayburt University: 71, 28.3%Muş Alparslan University: 61, 29.7%Ankara Sosyal Bilimler Üniversitesi: 127, 21.0%University of Vienna: 223, 24.9%Necmettin Erbakan University: 128, 27.9%Nevşehir Hacı Bektaş Veli University: 55, 33.4%Trabzon University: 71, 31.0%Yozgat Bozok Üniversitesi: 92, 25.4%Amasya ÜniversitesiMuş Alparslan Univer…Anadolu UniversityBayburt 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
1 Anadolu UniversityTürkiye 66.329.4%9.1×103 +196.3%
2 Amasya ÜniversitesiTürkiye 63.032.7%8.1×69 +411.4%
3 Bayburt UniversityTürkiye 62.928.3%12.0×71 +172.0%
4 Muş Alparslan UniversityTürkiye 60.829.7%8.5×61 +1194.0%
5 Ankara Sosyal Bilimler ÜniversitesiTürkiye 60.121.0%8.7×127 +239.9%
6 University of ViennaAustria 59.824.9%5.2×223 +140.3%
7 Necmettin Erbakan UniversityTürkiye 58.627.9%6.0×128 +880.1%
8 Nevşehir Hacı Bektaş Veli UniversityTürkiye 58.633.4%6.9×55 +1056.9%
9Trabzon University?? 57.931.0%17.4×71 —
10 Yozgat Bozok ÜniversitesiTürkiye 57.425.4%7.3×92 +900.7%

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 Philosophy research growing?

Output in 2018–2022 was 27% higher than in 2013–2017, peaking in 2022. The fastest-growing topics are Education Practices and Challenges, Polish-Jewish Holocaust Memory Studies and Cultural, Media, and Literary Studies.

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. Education Practices and Challenges+1184%
  2. Polish-Jewish Holocaust Memory Studies+628%
  3. Cultural, Media, and Literary Studies+312%
  4. Philosophy and Historical Thought+209%
  5. Spanish Culture and Identity+205%
  6. Media, Religion, Digital Communication+188%
← shrinkingno changegrowing →

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

What does Philosophy include?

Linguistics and Discours…44kLinguistics and Discourse Analysis: 44k fractional worksCultural, Media, and Lit…42kCultural, Media, and Literary Studies: 42k fractional worksMental Health and Psychi…41kMental Health and Psychiatry: 41k fractional worksHermeneutics and Narrati…38kHermeneutics and Narrative Identity: 38k fractional worksClassical Philosophy and Thought: 31k fractional worksEpistemology, Ethics, and Metaphysics: 19k fractional worksPhilosophical Ethics and Theory: 19k fractional worksEducation Practices and Challenges: 18k fractional worksReligious Studies and Spiritual Practices: 16k fractional worksRhetoric and Communication Studies: 14k fractional worksPhilosophy, Ethics, and Existentialism: 14k fractional worksTheology and Philosophy of Evil: 13k fractional works

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