Research in Digital Methods: Global Production, Key Actors, and Field Tensions from a Bibliometric Perspective

Abstract

Digital methods have emerged as a critical approach for investigating social phenomena in environments deeply mediated by digital technologies. Although they are often associated with digital humanities or computational social sciences, they constitute a growing area of research. Based on 831 publications retrieved from Scopus, Web of Science, and SciELO, this study identifies the main thematic lines, key authors, institutions, and countries contributing to the field. The results show sustained growth since 2017, a high concentration of publications in Q1 journals, and a notable citation impact. They also highlight the centrality of the Global North, limited participation from the Global South, and the coexistence of critical, computational, and exploratory approaches. Far from presenting a homogeneous identity, digital methods emerge as a constellation of research practices, marked by epistemic, geographic, and linguistic tensions. This study thus offers an empirical overview of their consolidation as an interdisciplinary field.