The most relevant works and authors in the scientific study of Film and Photography: teaching, academic impact, and co-citation analysis

Most bibliometric studies use indexed databases, such as Web of Science or Scopus, for their analysis. This text proposes the use of non-source items as a starting point to analyse which are the most relevant works and authors in the field of Film and Photography. Open Syllabus is used to identify the most widely used works in university teaching in these fields, and these are categorised according to whether they are essays, technical manuals, theoretical manuals or films. The identified works are consulted in Web of Science to measure their academic impact through the number of citations. A co-citation analysis is then performed. The results indicate that theoretical and practical manuals have little scientific impact, while essays are cited in scientific publications. A limited corpus of audiovisual works also has an impact, but this is limited to feature films by a small group of classic directors. In terms of subject matter, Film Theory and Photography prevail over other specialities. The co-citation analysis identifies six clusters of related topics. The list of the most cited books and the most prevalent authors in each cluster allows us to draw a map of essential documents for the study of Film and Photography.

Automated summary

This study highlights the limitations of using indexed databases in bibliometric studies and proposes the use of non-source items as a starting point. By utilizing Open Syllabus and Web of Science to determine academic impact and co-citation relationships, this study reveals the most relevant works and authors in the field of Film and Photography and provides a valuable literature map for research.