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Bibliometric analysis reveals growth and high collaboration levels in the futures studies community, suggesting thriving together.
Inspired by the WFSF 2025 conference motto, we ask: is the futures studies community thriving together? We use bibliometric methods to examine the last 54 years of futures studies with regard to the growth of the number of publications (as the quantitative equivalent to thriving ), and to the connectedness as expressed in co-publication, in general, and specifically across borders (as the quantitative equivalent to together ). We find that the field has experienced rapid growth, especially from 2005 on, and that its level of collaboration and international cooperation are comparatively high. In that sense we can claim that the futures studies community is, indeed, thriving together.
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Koch et al. (2026) studied this question.
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