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Topic · Sociology and Political Science

Religious and Theological Studies

Religious and Theological Studies is a research topic within Sociology and Political Science. Science Explorer counts 16k research works in it since 1950. 9.9% of them reached the world's top 10% most cited for their field and year.

This cluster of papers explores the interplay between religion, theology, and social dynamics, with a focus on liberation theology, Catholicism in Latin America, ethics, education, and philosophy. It delves into the impact of religious beliefs on societal structures and individual behavior, particularly within the context of Latin American culture.

  • Religion
  • Social Dynamics
  • Theology
  • Liberation
  • Catholicism
  • Latin America
  • Ethics
  • Education
  • Philosophy
  • Sociology
Research works
16k
fractional, since 1950
In the world top 10%
1.6k
per year above
Top-10% rate
9.9%
share of its works in the world top 10%
Growth, 2018-21 → 2022-25
-26%
the tick is no change
Largest producer
Spain
26% of the 10 largest, 2022-now
Religious and Theological Studies

Which countries lead Religious and Theological Studies research?

By volume, Spain and Brazil publish the most (656 and 580 works in 2022-now).

By volume, 2022-now

  1. 1 Spain 656 works
  2. 2 Brazil 580 works
  3. 3 Chile 293 works
  4. 4 Argentina 222 works
  5. 5 Mexico 205 works
  6. 6 Colombia 205 works
  7. 7 United States 133 works
  8. 8 Peru 109 works
  9. 9 Italy 87 works
  10. 10 Venezuela 51 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.

Spain: 25.8%Brazil: 22.8%Chile: 11.5%Argentina: 8.7%6 others listed: 31.1%26%largest
Spain656 · 25.8%Brazil580 · 22.8%Chile293 · 11.5%Argentina222 · 8.7%6 others listed790 · 31.1%

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

Which institutions lead Religious and Theological Studies research?

By volume in 2022-now, Universidad de Navarra publishes the most Religious and Theological Studies research, followed by Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile and Pontifícia Universidade Católica de São Paulo.

By volume, 2022-now

  1. 1 Universidad de NavarraSpain 108 works
  2. 2 Pontificia Universidad Católica de ChileChile 70 works
  3. 3 Pontifícia Universidade Católica de São PauloBrazil 65 works
  4. 4 Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio de JaneiroBrazil 59 works
  5. 5 Pontifícia Universidade Católica do ParanáBrazil 48 works
  6. 6 Universidad Complutense de MadridSpain 44 works
  7. 7 Universidad Católica de la Santísima ConcepciónChile 42 works
  8. 8 Pontificia Universidad Católica ArgentinaArgentina 38 works
  9. 9 Consejo Superior de Investigaciones CientíficasSpain 38 works
  10. 10 Universidad Peruana UniónPeru 38 works

Who are the leading researchers in Religious and Theological Studies?

The most-cited researchers publishing on Religious and Theological Studies include Noam Chomsky, David Hume and Sigmund Freud.

  1. 1 Noam Chomsky United States 141k citations
  2. 2 David Hume Australia 107k citations
  3. 3 Sigmund Freud Brazil 97k 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 Religious and Theological Studies?

The most cited paper in Religious and Theological Studies is "The Labyrinth of Solitude. Life and Thought in Mexico" (Irving A. Leonard, 1962), with 187 citations. Next come "Expansão pentecostal no Brasil: o caso da Igreja Universal" (158) and "A política da Igreja Universal e seus reflexos nos campos religioso e político brasileiros" (144).

Most cited papers
#PaperReleasedCitations
1 The Labyrinth of Solitude. Life and Thought in Mexico Irving A. Leonard · Hispanic American Historical Review Nov 1962 187
2 Expansão pentecostal no Brasil: o caso da Igreja Universal Ricardo Mariano · Estudos Avançados Open access Dec 2004 158
3 A política da Igreja Universal e seus reflexos nos campos religioso e político brasileiros Ari Pedro Oro · Revista Brasileira de Ciências Sociais Open access Oct 2003 144
4 La descolonización y el giro des-colonial Nelson. Guest Editor Maldonado-Torres · Tabula rasa Open access 30 Dec 2008 113
5 Social participation as a factor in the moral development of preadolescents. Charles Blake Keasey · Developmental Psychology Sep 1971 91
All 100 most cited papers, with filters and sorting

Where is Religious and Theological Studies research done?

The largest centres of Religious and Theological Studies research in 2022-now are Madrid (Spain), Santiago (Chile), Buenos Aires (Argentina) and São Paulo (Brazil). Among places with at least 20 works in it, it is an unusually large share of all research in San Salvador, Pamplona and Valdivia.

Largest cities, 2022-now

  1. 1 MadridSpain 197 works
  2. 2 SantiagoChile 146 works
  3. 3 Buenos AiresArgentina 115 works
  4. 4 São PauloBrazil 114 works
  5. 5 PamplonaSpain 110 works
  6. 6 BogotáColombia 102 works
  7. 7 Mexico CityMexico 88 works
  8. 8 Rio de JaneiroBrazil 85 works
  9. 9 LimaPeru 82 works
  10. 10 CuritibaBrazil 59 works

Where it is the local speciality

  1. San SalvadorSV · 31.0 works98×
  2. PamplonaES · 109.9 works84×
  3. ValdiviaCL · 31.7 works67×
  4. ConcepciónCL · 52.9 works66×
  5. CaracasVE · 38.6 works58×
  6. La PazBO · 27.8 works55×
← less than its size predicts1×more →

Location quotient: how much more of its research is in Religious and Theological Studies than the world average.

See Religious and Theological Studies on the map

Where is the best place to study Religious and Theological Studies?

Among universities, judged by research, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Universidad Loyola and Universidad Loyola Andalucía score highest, combining citation 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%30%mean 18.73%fractional works in this field (log) →share of work in the world top 10% →Universidad Loyola A…Universidad LoyolaUniversidad Católica…Pontificia Universid…
above the meannear itbelow it

One dot per university in the first ten of the table below, at the default weights. The upper left is the interesting corner: small places doing unusually strong work.

Citation 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
1Pontificia Universidad Católica de ChileChile 76.217.7%87.6×70 -4.1%
2Universidad LoyolaBolivia 75.522.1%512.3×15 +157.9%
3Universidad Loyola AndalucíaSpain 74.625.4%216.0×18 +323.5%
4Universidad Católica de la Santísima ConcepciónChile 74.520.1%316.4×42 +147.0%
5Universidad de NavarraSpain 63.511.7%157.6×108 -60.9%
6Universidad Católica Silva HenríquezChile 63.023.5%285.6×12 +51.2%
7Alberto Hurtado UniversityChile 60.215.4%110.0×14 -7.6%
8Universidad Complutense de MadridSpain 60.012.3%19.4×44 +13.2%
9Pontificia Universidad JaverianaColombia 58.418.3%80.8×30 -27.7%
10Universidad de ValladolidSpain 56.920.8%15.9×12 +58.0%

Universities only. The score blends citation 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 Religious and Theological Studies, country by country

Is Religious and Theological Studies research growing?

Output in 2022-2025 was 26% lower than in 2018-2021, peaking in 2018.

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 Religious and Theological Studies as a percentage of every work published that year, 0.014% in 2024.

still counting0.020%0.040%Religious and Theological Studies0.012% in 202519801990200020102020

Fractional works of Religious and Theological 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 counting5%10%15%Religious and Theological Studies9.5% 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.

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