Mapping the scientific study of rituals: a bibliometric analysis of research published 2000–2020

ABSTRACT This paper presents a bibliometric study and general overview of research on ritual. I searched the Web of Science Core Collection on Nov 22, 2020 for studies published between 2000 and 2020 with the term “ritual*” in the title, keywords or abstract. A data corpus of 16,600 English-language publications was further analysed using publication statistics, citation metrics, co-citation networks and network analyses of keywords. Evolutionary research on religious ritual with an emphasis on signaling was identified as a central area of research with strong impact on the study of ritual overall. Distinct clusters of clinical, neuroscience, developmental and health research using rituals were also identified and these clusters showed high citation metrics. Concerning publication outlets, archaeology journals publish a large number of papers on ritual, but the impact of these publications as measured by citations weakens over time. Changes in research trends suggest a maturation and specialization of ritualistic research over the last 20 years, with greater isolation and disconnectedness of individual research themes. The list of key publications based on contemporary impact metrics and historical co-citation networks can be used to provide a common language and theoretical lens for researchers to facilitate interaction between different disciplines.