The Academic Influence of the Camino de Santiago: A Bibliometric Analysis of Doctoral Research and Indexed Manuscripts

Abstract

The Camino de Santiago is one of the most recognised cultural pilgrimage routes in the world. Notably, its current influence transcends the strictly inspirational and religious aspects, constituting also a socio-economic, cultural, historical, heritage and tourism cornerstone. This paper analyses, from an innovative bibliometric perspective, the influence of the Camino de Santiago on the academic literature in the period from 1980 to the present. For this purpose, two data sources have been used comparatively: manuscripts indexed in Scopus and doctoral theses. The results reveal a growth of its academic relevance in the last decade, especially in indexed publications. The analysis also reflects the leading sources, authors, countries and institutions, as well as their patterns of scientific collaboration, thus being extremely useful to improve both our knowledge of the Camino and its management, preservation and dissemination. The conceptual structure of the academic field, which differs between theses and indexed papers, also confirms the Camino as a crossroads not only of people but also of academic disciplines and scientific perspectives.