The impact of Jürgen Habermas’s scientific production: a scientometric review

Abstract

The use of bibliometrics, based on statistical and mathematical tools, makes it possible to measure the contributions of researchers to science. This is a widely used tool to assess scientific production in several areas of knowledge. Such methodology analyzes publication trends, author networks, structures of co-citation, journals and even the scientific contribution of renowned scholars in science. The precursor of bibliometrics, Eugene Garfield, who proposes the retrieval of information from the indexing of citations, was the object of a scientometric review aimed at assessing his impact on science. Given such relevance, this article presents the academic contribution of Jürgen Habermas based on a preliminary scientometric review of his studies. Jürgen Habermas is regarded not only as an active scholar in the social and political process, but also as a productive, controversial and influential contemporary author. The correct understanding of his works is a great challenge, as the bases of his thinking are so broad that they allow an interface between different approaches. We elaborated a design of his scientific work with the advancement to a connection between his main ideas through the use of bibliometric software. Bibliometrics, of the scientometric type, allows the understanding of how recognized patterns in citations can develop information relevant to the scientific field. The results confirm the multidisciplinary contribution of Habermas’s studies and highlight his main fields of research and works, which serve as a foundation for clearly understanding and applying his concepts.