The Past and Present of Thought Experiments' Research at Glancy: Bibliometric Review and Analysis

Abstract

In the development of physical theories, thought experiments play a crucial role. This topic has been the subject of study since 1976, and its progress has continued until the present. This study aims to provide a more complete picture of the progress of thought experiments over the past two decades. This study employs bibliometric mapping methods. There were a total of 679 published papers analyzed, including articles (504), conference papers (92), and book Chaps. (83) from numerous sources. This data was retrieved from the Scopus database. The study's findings reveal that research and publications on thought experiments are of interest and have gotten a lot of attention during the last eight years. According to the findings, 85% of the top 20 publishers contributing to thought experiments are from journals in the first and second quartiles (Q1 and Q2). This level shows the quality and significant influence of a journal. The geographical distribution then reveals that the United States contributes the most to thought experiments research, with 213 documents, 2592 citations, and 47 links. We also discovered several prospective keywords that could be the focus of future academics based on our bibliometric study, including artificial intelligence, physics education, fiction, god, theology, productive imagination, technology, speculative design, and critical design. Therefore, this study contributes to providing a thorough picture of thought experiment research trends and future directions of potential topics that can be the focus of future researchers.