Science Explorer Back to mapMap
Discussion
Topic · Literature and Literary Theory

Crime and Detective Fiction Studies

Crime and Detective Fiction Studies is a research topic within Literature and Literary Theory. Science Explorer counts 4.8k research works in it since 1950. 10.5% of them reached the world's top 10% most cited for their field and year.

This cluster of papers explores the evolution of crime fiction in modern literature, with a focus on iconic detectives like Sherlock Holmes, forensic science, societal fascination with criminality, and the intersection of crime narratives with urban geography, racial representation, and feminist perspectives. The cluster also delves into the influence of globalization on crime fiction and its portrayal of identity.

  • Sherlock Holmes
  • Detective Stories
  • Forensic Science
  • Criminality
  • Gothic Literature
  • Identity
  • Urban Geography
  • Racial Representation
  • Feminist Crime Fiction
  • Globalization
Research works
4.8k
fractional, since 1950
In the world top 10%
504
per year above
Top-10% rate
10.5%
share of its works in the world top 10%
Growth, 2018-21 → 2022-25
+6%
the tick is no change
Largest producer
United States
29% of the 10 largest, 2022-now
Crime and Detective Fiction Studies

Which countries lead Crime and Detective Fiction Studies research?

By volume, the United States and the United Kingdom publish the most (236 and 159 works in 2022-now).

By volume, 2022-now

  1. 1 United States 236 works
  2. 2 United Kingdom 159 works
  3. 3 France 68 works
  4. 4 Germany 67 works
  5. 5 Australia 66 works
  6. 6 India 47 works
  7. 7 Spain 46 works
  8. 8 China 43 works
  9. 9 Canada 38 works
  10. 10 Russia 37 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: 29.2%United Kingdom: 19.7%France: 8.4%Germany: 8.3%6 others listed: 34.4%29%largest
United States236 · 29.2%United Kingdom159 · 19.7%France68 · 8.4%Germany67 · 8.3%6 others listed277 · 34.4%

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

Which institutions lead Crime and Detective Fiction Studies research?

By volume in 2022-now, Film Independent publishes the most Crime and Detective Fiction Studies research, followed by Monash University and Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique.

By volume, 2022-now

  1. 1 Film IndependentUnited States 13 works
  2. 2 Monash UniversityAustralia 13 works
  3. 3 Centre National de la Recherche ScientifiqueFrance 10 works
  4. 4 University of HullUnited Kingdom 8 works
  5. 5 Max Planck SocietyGermany 7 works
  6. 6 University of NottinghamUnited Kingdom 7 works
  7. 7 University of St AndrewsUnited Kingdom 6 works
  8. 8 Sheffield Hallam UniversityUnited Kingdom 6 works
  9. 9 Russian Academy of SciencesRussia 6 works
  10. 10 University of CambridgeUnited Kingdom 5 works

Who are the leading researchers in Crime and Detective Fiction Studies?

The most-cited researchers publishing on Crime and Detective Fiction Studies include Paul Elliott and Norman K. Denzin.

  1. 1 Paul Elliott United Kingdom 154k citations
  2. 2 Norman K. Denzin United States 130k citations

Ranked by citations received across their whole record, among researchers with at least three works on this topic.

What are the most cited papers in Crime and Detective Fiction Studies?

The most cited paper in Crime and Detective Fiction Studies is "Constructing the Ownership of Social Problems: Fun and Profit in the Welfare State" (Joseph R. Gusfield, 1989), with 253 citations. Next come "Ten Theses about Fictionality" (232) and "Doubt Is Their Product" (224).

Most cited papers
#PaperReleasedCitations
1 Constructing the Ownership of Social Problems: Fun and Profit in the Welfare State Joseph R. Gusfield · Social Problems Dec 1989 253
2 Ten Theses about Fictionality Henrik Skov Nielsen, James Blackwell Phelan, Richard Walsh · Narrative 21 Dec 2014 232
3 Doubt Is Their Product David Michaels, Mindy Jones · Scientific American Jun 2005 224
4 Bartleby, the Scrivener: A Story of Wall-Street Herman Melville · Northwestern University Press eBooks Book chapterOpen access 1987 221
5 Mad matters: a critical reader in Canadian mad studies Mark Anthony Castrodale · Scandinavian Journal of Disability Research Open access 10 Mar 2014 220
All 101 most cited papers, with filters and sorting

Where is Crime and Detective Fiction Studies research done?

The largest centres of Crime and Detective Fiction Studies research in 2022-now are Melbourne (Australia), London (United Kingdom), Moscow (Russia) and Los Angeles (United States). Among places with at least 20 works in it, it is an unusually large share of all research in Melbourne.

Largest cities, 2022-now

  1. 1 MelbourneAustralia 24 works
  2. 2 LondonUnited Kingdom 21 works
  3. 3 MoscowRussia 18 works
  4. 4 Los AngelesUnited States 15 works
  5. 5 ParisFrance 13 works
  6. 6 New YorkUnited States 11 works
  7. 7 DublinIreland 10 works
  8. 8 WarsawPoland 10 works
  9. 9 MadridSpain 9 works
  10. 10 BrisbaneAustralia 9 works

Where it is the local speciality

  1. MelbourneAU · 23.7 works5.7×
← less than its size predicts1×more →

Location quotient: how much more of its research is in Crime and Detective Fiction Studies than the world average.

See Crime and Detective Fiction Studies on the map

Where is the best place to study Crime and Detective Fiction Studies?

Among universities, judged by research, Monash University and University of Hull 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.

Excellenceshare of its work in the world top 10%, 2022-now and all time averaged
40%
Specialisationhow much of its work is in this field, counted up to 10× the world share
10%
Sizeits output in this field, on a log scale
30%
Growthoutput growth, counted from -20% to +20%
10%
Internationalshare of its work with a co-author abroad
10%
Each slider sets a weight; the share it gets of the score is beside it.
#UniversityScoreTop 10%SpecialisationWorksGrowth
1Monash UniversityAustralia 90.016.1%13.7×13 +157.0%
2University of HullUnited Kingdom 10.02.8%72.3×8 +160.0%

Universities only. The score blends excellence (40%), size (30%), specialisation (10%), growth (10%), international reach (10%), 2022-now; growth compares 2018-21 with 2022-25 and counts up to +20%, since a jump from a small base is mostly noise.

Every institution in Crime and Detective Fiction Studies, country by country

Is Crime and Detective Fiction Studies research growing?

Output in 2022-2025 was 6% higher than in 2018-2021, peaking in 2025. The fastest-growing topics are Crime and Detective Fiction Studies.

still counting19801990200020102020
grewheldshrank

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

Its share of all research

Growing output can still be a shrinking share: all of science grows. This is Crime and Detective Fiction Studies as a percentage of every work published that year, 0.0046% in 2024.

still counting0.0025%0.0050%0.0075%Crime and Detective Fiction Studies0.0053% in 202519801990200020102020

Fractional works of Crime and Detective Fiction Studies over all fractional works that year. How the balance of science has shifted.

How much of it reaches the world top 10%

Year by year.

still counting10%20%Crime and Detective Fiction Studies10.0% in 2025200020102020

Of each year's works in it, the share that reached the world's 10% most cited for their field and year. A field is the world for its own topics, so there is no other line to hold it against.

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.

Discussion

Ask a question or share a note about Crime and Detective Fiction Studies. Posts are plain text and can be reported.