This article tests whether the field of foresight and futures studies
shows significant variable selection biases in the modelling of the
future in general and the impact of function systems in particular. We
performed a word frequency analysis to measure the relative importance
of the political system, the economy, science, art, religion, law,
sport, health, education, and the mass media to three pertinent journals
in the field of futures studies and foresight. The results show that Futures, Long Range Planning, and Technological Forecasting and Social Change
have different and changing preferences for the above function systems,
an information which authors may find helpful in supporting decisions
on where to submit. Our results also show that all journals feature a
highly significant bias to the triple helix systems – the political
system, the economy, and science. While the latter bias may be adequate
to scientific journals, the dominant focus on the political system and
the economy as well as the corresponding neglect of the other systems
points at implicit presumptions about the importance of the individual
systems that may not be in line with their importance to the larger
society.