Mapping the field of psychology: Trends in research topics 1995–2015

Oliver Wieczorek (), Saïd Unger, Jan Riebling, Lukas Erhard, Christian Koß and Raphael Heiberger
Additional contact information
Oliver Wieczorek: University of Bamberg
Saïd Unger: University of Stuttgart
Jan Riebling: University of Wuppertal
Lukas Erhard: University of Wuppertal
Christian Koß: University of Stuttgart
Raphael Heiberger: University of Stuttgart

Scientometrics, 2021, vol. 126, issue 12, No 21, 9699-9731

Abstract: Abstract We map the topic structure of psychology utilizing a sample of over 500,000 abstracts of research articles and conference proceedings spanning two decades (1995–2015). To do so, we apply structural topic models to examine three research questions: (i) What are the discipline’s most prevalent research topics? (ii) How did the scientific discourse in psychology change over the last decades, especially since the advent of neurosciences? (iii) And was this change carried by high impact (HI) or less prestigious journals? Our results reveal that topics related to natural sciences are trending, while their ’counterparts’ leaning to humanities are declining in popularity. Those trends are even more pronounced in the leading outlets of the field. Furthermore, our findings indicate a continued interest in methodological topics accompanied by the ascent of neurosciences and related methods and technologies (e.g. fMRI’s). At the same time, other established approaches (e.g. psychoanalysis) become less popular and indicate a relative decline of topics related to the social sciences and the humanities.

Keywords: Psychology; Natural language processing; Structural topic model; Science of science (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

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DOI: 10.1007/s11192-021-04069-9

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