ESTSS President Professor Dominic Murphy has been recognised as one of the world’s most prolific researchers in the field of moral injury in a recently published bibliometric analysis.
The study, published in the Journal of Religion and Health, examined 2,081 Scopus-indexed publications on moral injury published between 1992 and 2025. It analysed global research trends and the contributions of authors, institutions, countries, sponsors and journals to this rapidly developing field.
Across the different search methods used by the researchers, Professor Murphy consistently appeared among the world’s leading contributors. He ranked second globally in the analysis of publications containing moral injury in their abstracts and was also identified as one of the two most prolific UK-based authors in the broader analysis of titles, abstracts and keywords.
Moral injury refers to the psychological distress that can arise after experiencing, witnessing or failing to prevent events that conflict with an individual’s deeply held moral values. Although it is not itself classified as a mental health condition, it is increasingly recognised as an important factor affecting the wellbeing of military personnel, veterans and others exposed to morally challenging situations.
Professor Murphy is Head of Research at Combat Stress and leads the Combat Stress Centre for Applied Military Health Research. His work and international collaborations have contributed to advancing understanding of moral injury among veterans and strengthening the evidence available to inform assessment, treatment and support.
This recognition highlights both Professor Murphy’s contribution and the growing international importance of moral injury research within psychotraumatology.
The article, Trends and Thematic Clusters in Moral Injury Research: A Bibliometric Analysis, is available through Springer Nature.
