Family and marital status: A bibliometric analysis based on research indexed in Web of Science

Abstract

Objective. A comprehensive analysis of the scientific production on family and marital status, as indexed in the Web of Science Core Collection from 2001 to 2024, was conducted. This analysis aimed to identify patterns of international and institutional collaboration, as well as the field’s predominant thematic structures.

Design/Methodology/Approach. A bibliometric approach was applied to a dataset of 8,457 articles classified under the Family Studies category in the Web of Science Core Collection. To this end, directed networks of country collaboration, institutional collaboration, and keyword co-occurrence were constructed and analyzed using Gephi. The analysis focused on weighted degree, betweenness centrality, and harmonic closeness centrality, while thematic communities were identified through modularity analysis.

Results/Discussion. The findings indicated a field characterized by extensive integration within a hierarchical structure. International and institutional collaboration networks exhibited a pronounced centralization around universities and countries in the Global North, particularly the United States. The thematic structure was organized around a stable relational and psychosocial core centered on family, parenting, marriage, and mental health, alongside specialized communities addressing family violence, inequality, gender and sexual diversity, professional intervention, and academic training.

Conclusions. The study of family and marital status is a mature and multidimensional field. While the phenomenon of collaboration is becoming increasingly transnational, the distribution of scientific visibility and agenda-setting remains uneven.