The 100 Most Cited Articles in Qualitative Research: A Bibliometric Analysis
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17921/2447-8938.2026v28n2p75-86Abstract
Objective: This study aimed to retrieve and analyze the 100 most-cited articles on qualitative research published in leading scientific journals, in order to identify methodological trends and key bibliometric parameters associated with these publications.
Materials and Methods: A bibliometric, quali-quantitative study was conducted in February 2025. The selection of the 100 most-cited articles was based on publications from journals listed in the Journal of Citation Reports within the Thomson Reuters Web of Science (WoS), with no restrictions on language or publication year. Conference proceedings were excluded. Screening was performed independently by two researchers, and full texts were obtained for analysis. For each article, data were extracted on title, number of citations, authorship, country, continent, year of publication, and main topic. Bibliometric networks were generated using VOSviewer, and statistical analyses were performed using SPSS for Windows.
Results: The initial screening identified 417,752 records, and the 100 most-cited articles accumulated 361,702 citations in WoS Core Collection (WoS-CC). The most-cited paper was by Braun & Clarke (2020), with 97,318 citations. Topic distribution showed a strong emphasis on Thematic Analysis and qualitative methods. Most articles were published during the 2000s, and the most-cited authors were Braun and Clarke, totaling 101,996 citations. Co-authorship mapping revealed interconnected author clusters, with the University of Auckland leading in both publications and citations. Geographical analysis indicated the highest impact in Europe, followed by North America. The most frequent keywords were “qualitative research,” “qualitative methods,” and “interviews,” reflecting a methodological focus and the prominence of approaches such as “thematic analysis” and “grounded theory.”
Conclusion: Qualitative research has been widely discussed over recent decades, with a marked concentration of highly cited publications in Thematic Analysis and qualitative methods. The predominance of contributions from Europe and North America reflects strong academic output in these regions. Although rigor and validity are extensively addressed, future studies may expand into less explored areas, such as qualitative synthesis methods and research instruments. In addition, health remains a major field of application for qualitative methods, emphasizing data collection strategies and the credibility of findings.
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