Historical, Religious, and Philosophical Studies
Historical, Religious, and Philosophical Studies is a research topic within Archeology. Science Explorer counts 18k research works in it since 1950. 13.8% of them reached the world's top 10% most cited for their field and year.
This cluster of papers explores various aspects of ancient magical practices and beliefs, including Gnosticism, Hermeticism, alchemy, astrology, Manichaeism, rituals, divination, cultural transmission, and religious syncretism.
- Ancient Magic
- Gnosticism
- Hermeticism
- Alchemy
- Astrology
- Manichaeism
- Rituals
- Divination
- Cultural Transmission
- Religious Syncretism
- Research works
- 18k fractional, since 1950
- In the world top 10%
- 2.5k per year above
- Top-10% rate
- 13.8% share of its works in the world top 10%
- Growth, 2013–17 → 2018–22
- +32% the tick is no change
Which countries lead Historical, Religious, and Philosophical Studies research?
By volume, the United States and France publish the most (599 and 430 works in 2022–2025).
By volume, 2022–2025
- 1 United States 599 works
- 2 France 430 works
- 3 Italy 298 works
- 4 United Kingdom 273 works
- 5 Germany 239 works
- 6 Spain 145 works
- 7 Russia 113 works
- 8 Poland 99 works
- 9 Canada 68 works
- 10 Greece 66 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.
Shares of the rows listed above, not of the whole node.
Which institutions lead Historical, Religious, and Philosophical Studies research?
By volume in 2022–2025, Ca' Foscari University of Venice publishes the most Historical, Religious, and Philosophical Studies research, followed by University of Oxford and University of Cambridge.
By volume, 2022–2025
- 1 Ca' Foscari University of VeniceItaly 42 works
- 2 University of OxfordUnited Kingdom 40 works
- 3 University of CambridgeUnited Kingdom 29 works
- 4 Universidad Complutense de MadridSpain 25 works
- 5 Sapienza University of RomeItaly 24 works
- 6 Université de LilleFrance 22 works
- 7 Université Toulouse - Jean JaurèsFrance 20 works
- 8 École Pratique des Hautes ÉtudesFrance 20 works
- 9 Histoire et Sources des Mondes AntiquesFrance 20 works
- 10 KU LeuvenBelgium 19 works
Who are the leading researchers in Historical, Religious, and Philosophical Studies?
The most-cited researchers publishing on Historical, Religious, and Philosophical Studies include Stuart Hall.
- 1 Stuart Hall United Kingdom 1.9k citations
Ranked by citations received across their whole record, among researchers with at least three works on this topic.
Where is Historical, Religious, and Philosophical Studies research done?
The largest centres of Historical, Religious, and Philosophical Studies research in 2022–2025 are Paris (France), Rome (Italy), Moscow (Russia) and Madrid (Spain). Among places with at least 20 works in it, it is an unusually large share of all research in Venice, Nanterre and Lyon.
Largest cities, 2022–2025
Where it is the local speciality
- VeniceIT · 42.6 works40×
- NanterreFR · 24.9 works25×
- LyonFR · 42.8 works14×
- JerusalemIL · 28.6 works13×
Location quotient: how much more of its research is in Historical, Religious, and Philosophical Studies than the world average.
Where is the best place to study Historical, Religious, and Philosophical Studies?
Among universities, judged by research, University of Oxford, University of Vienna and University of Exeter 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.
One dot per university in the table below. The upper left is the interesting corner: small places doing unusually strong work.
| # | University | Score | Top 10% | Specialisation | Works | Growth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | University of OxfordUnited Kingdom | 75.8 | 15.7% | 9.8× | 40 | +63.5% |
| 2 | University of ViennaAustria | 70.6 | 11.6% | 12.0× | 19 | +203.9% |
| 3 | University of ExeterUnited Kingdom | 69.2 | 16.6% | 13.4× | 18 | +96.1% |
| 4 | Ca' Foscari University of VeniceItaly | 67.8 | 4.4% | 54.3× | 42 | +743.3% |
| 5 | École Pratique des Hautes ÉtudesFrance | 65.7 | 15.4% | 84.1× | 20 | +55.8% |
| 6 | KU LeuvenBelgium | 64.0 | 19.3% | 6.9× | 20 | +76.6% |
| 7 | University of St AndrewsUnited Kingdom | 60.1 | 18.6% | 12.9× | 9 | +79.6% |
| 8 | University of WürzburgGermany | 59.6 | 11.6% | 12.1× | 9 | +566.7% |
| 9 | Sapienza University of RomeItaly | 59.0 | 9.8% | 6.9× | 24 | +236.5% |
| 10 | University of CambridgeUnited Kingdom | 58.9 | 12.5% | 8.3× | 29 | -2.4% |
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 Historical, Religious, and Philosophical Studies research growing?
Output in 2018–2022 was 32% higher than in 2013–2017, peaking in 2021. The fastest-growing topics are Historical, Religious, and Philosophical Studies.
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.