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Research facility · Leiden · Netherlands

African Studies Centre

In research, African Studies Centre stands highest in Social Sciences (#5,362 of 9,585 worldwide) and Social Sciences (#4,566 of 5,988 worldwide), 2022-now. Relative to its size it is most specialised in Sociology and Political Science (Sociology and Political Science is 6.1× its share of world research).

ascleiden.nlROR OpenAlex
World rank, 2022-now
#15,069
of 22,385 · #6,913 all time
Rank in Netherlands
#130
of 197
Research works
1.3k
▼ 22% vs 2018-21
Citations
23k
17.2 per fractional work
Top-10% rate
13.3%
all institutions 10.0%
vs its own fields
0.93×
1.00× is exactly expected
Open access
34%
world 40%
International
32%
world 18%
African Studies Centre

What is African Studies Centre known for in research?

The fields where it stands highest, 2022-now, ranked among every institution above the floor in each field.

FieldWorld rankWhere that sitsTop-10% rateWorksAll time
Social SciencesDomain #5,362 of 9,585 15.7%111 #1509
Social SciencesField #4,566 of 5,988 17.5%75 #1320

Each strip is that field's whole ranked pool, with the notch where African Studies Centre sits in it, in the colour of the band that rank falls in. The track under the rate is the rate itself: it carries no average mark, because the average differs by field (from about 6% in Dentistry to 21% in Economics).

Which fields of science does African Studies Centre work in?

In 2022-now, 80% of research at African Studies Centre is in Social Sciences, 11% in Physical Sciences. Its largest fields are Social Sciences (55%), Arts and Humanities (13%), Environmental Science (5%). It does 3.1× the world's share of Social Sciences.

Social Sciences: 147 fractional works · 80.1% of its workSocial Sciences: 101 fractional works · 54.9% of its workSociology and Political Science: 40 fractional works · 21.8% of its workAnthropology: 17 fractional works · 9.3% of its workPolitical Science and International Relations: 16 fractional works · 8.8% of its workDevelopment: 5 fractional works · 2.9% of its workEducation: 4 fractional works · 2.0% of its workLaw: 3 fractional works · 1.5% of its workLinguistics and Language: 3 fractional works · 1.4% of its workCommunication: 2 fractional works · 1.3% of its workUrban Studies: 2 fractional works · 1.2% of its workCultural Studies: 2 fractional works · 0.9% of its workDemography: 2 fractional works · 0.9% of its workSafety Research: 2 fractional works · 0.9% of its workGender Studies: 1 fractional works · 0.7% of its workGeography, Planning and Development: 1 fractional works · 0.3% of its workGeneral Social Sciences: 1 fractional works · 0.3% of its workArcheology: 0 fractional works · 0.2% of its workTransportation: 0 fractional works · 0.2% of its workArts and Humanities: 24 fractional works · 12.9% of its workLiterature and Literary Theory: 8 fractional works · 4.2% of its workHistory: 3 fractional works · 1.8% of its workPhilosophy: 3 fractional works · 1.6% of its workLanguage and Linguistics: 3 fractional works · 1.5% of its workReligious studies: 2 fractional works · 1.3% of its workArcheology: 2 fractional works · 1.1% of its workVisual Arts and Performing Arts: 1 fractional works · 0.8% of its workMusic: 1 fractional works · 0.6% of its workEconomics, Econometrics and Finance: 8 fractional works · 4.4% of its workEconomics and Econometrics: 5 fractional works · 2.8% of its workGeneral Economics, Econometrics and Finance: 2 fractional works · 0.9% of its workFinance: 1 fractional works · 0.7% of its workBusiness, Management and Accounting: 6 fractional works · 3.0% of its workStrategy and Management: 2 fractional works · 0.9% of its workManagement of Technology and Innovation: 1 fractional works · 0.7% of its workAccounting: 1 fractional works · 0.6% of its workManagement Information Systems: 1 fractional works · 0.3% of its workSmaller subfields together: 1 fractional works · 0.5% of its workPsychology: 5 fractional works · 2.9% of its workSocial Psychology: 3 fractional works · 1.7% of its workClinical Psychology: 1 fractional works · 0.6% of its workExperimental and Cognitive Psychology: 1 fractional works · 0.5% of its workSmaller subfields together: 0 fractional works · 0.1% of its workDecision Sciences: 4 fractional works · 2.1% of its workStatistics, Probability and Uncertainty: 2 fractional works · 1.1% of its workInformation Systems and Management: 2 fractional works · 1.0% of its workSmaller subfields together: 0 fractional works · 0.1% of its workPhysical Sciences: 21 fractional works · 11.3% of its workEnvironmental Science: 8 fractional works · 4.6% of its workManagement, Monitoring, Policy and Law: 4 fractional works · 2.0% of its workGlobal and Planetary Change: 2 fractional works · 1.3% of its workHealth, Toxicology and Mutagenesis: 1 fractional works · 0.4% of its workEcology: 1 fractional works · 0.3% of its workPollution: 0 fractional works · 0.3% of its workSmaller subfields together: 1 fractional works · 0.5% of its workComputer Science: 6 fractional works · 3.3% of its workInformation Systems: 4 fractional works · 2.0% of its workComputer Science Applications: 1 fractional works · 0.6% of its workArtificial Intelligence: 1 fractional works · 0.6% of its workSmaller subfields together: 0 fractional works · 0.1% of its workEngineering: 4 fractional works · 2.2% of its workSafety, Risk, Reliability and Quality: 1 fractional works · 0.5% of its workBuilding and Construction: 1 fractional works · 0.5% of its workBiomedical Engineering: 1 fractional works · 0.4% of its workSmaller subfields together: 1 fractional works · 0.8% of its workEarth and Planetary Sciences: 1 fractional works · 0.4% of its workAtmospheric Science: 0 fractional works · 0.2% of its workSmaller subfields together: 0 fractional works · 0.2% of its workPhysics and Astronomy: 1 fractional works · 0.4% of its workStatistical and Nonlinear Physics: 0 fractional works · 0.3% of its workSmaller subfields together: 0 fractional works · 0.1% of its workMathematics: 0 fractional works · 0.2% of its workChemistry: 0 fractional works · 0.1% of its workEnergy: 0 fractional works · 0.1% of its workMaterials Science: 0 fractional works · 0.0% of its workHealth Sciences: 9 fractional works · 4.7% of its workMedicine: 7 fractional works · 3.7% of its workSurgery: 1 fractional works · 0.7% of its workPublic Health, Environmental and Occupational Health: 1 fractional works · 0.6% of its workRadiology, Nuclear Medicine and Imaging: 1 fractional works · 0.5% of its workPediatrics, Perinatology and Child Health: 1 fractional works · 0.4% of its workEpidemiology: 1 fractional works · 0.3% of its workPulmonary and Respiratory Medicine: 0 fractional works · 0.3% of its workInfectious Diseases: 0 fractional works · 0.2% of its workSmaller subfields together: 1 fractional works · 0.7% of its workHealth Professions: 2 fractional works · 0.9% of its workGeneral Health Professions: 2 fractional works · 0.8% of its workSmaller subfields together: 0 fractional works · 0.1% of its workNursing: 0 fractional works · 0.1% of its workLife Sciences: 7 fractional works · 3.8% of its workAgricultural and Biological Sciences: 5 fractional works · 2.9% of its workGeneral Agricultural and Biological Sciences: 2 fractional works · 0.9% of its workEcology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics: 2 fractional works · 0.9% of its workSoil Science: 1 fractional works · 0.4% of its workFood Science: 1 fractional works · 0.3% of its workSmaller subfields together: 1 fractional works · 0.3% of its workBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology: 2 fractional works · 0.9% of its workGenetics: 0 fractional works · 0.3% of its workMolecular Biology: 0 fractional works · 0.2% of its workSmaller subfields together: 1 fractional works · 0.4% of its workImmunology and Microbiology: 0 fractional works · 0.1% of its workNeuroscience: 0 fractional works · 0.1% of its workALL ITS WORKAfrican StudiesCentre184fractional works, 2022-now
Life Sciences4%Physical Sciences11%Health Sciences5%Social Sciences80%

Each ring splits the one inside it: the four domains of science, their fields, their subfields. Size is fractional works in 2022-now. Every slice is a page; the interactive view zooms down to single topics and colours each by how much more of it this institution does than the world.

Its 4 domains and 24 fields, with their numbers
    1. Social Sciences10154.9%
    2. Arts and Humanities2412.9%
    3. Economics, Econometrics and Finance84.4%
    4. Business, Management and Accounting63.0%
    5. Psychology52.9%
    6. Decision Sciences42.1%
    1. Environmental Science84.6%
    2. Computer Science63.3%
    3. Engineering42.2%
    4. Earth and Planetary Sciences10.4%
    5. Physics and Astronomy10.4%
    6. Mathematics00.2%
    7. Chemistry00.1%
    8. Energy00.1%
    9. Materials Science00.0%
    10. Chemical Engineering00.0%
    1. Medicine73.7%
    2. Health Professions20.9%
    3. Nursing00.1%
    4. Veterinary00.0%
    1. Agricultural and Biological Sciences52.9%
    2. Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology20.9%
    3. Immunology and Microbiology00.1%
    4. Neuroscience00.1%
All of science, and how each field's share has moved since 1950: the Science domain explorer

What does African Studies Centre specialise in?

Where its research is concentrated relative to its size: Sociology and Political Science takes 6.1× the share of its output that it takes of world research.

  1. Sociology and Political ScienceSubfield · 40.0 works6.1×
← less than its size predicts1×more →

Location quotient, a volume reading rather than an impact one. It surfaces small, lopsided specialities.

Field profile

Location quotient across every field it publishes in: outside the ring is more than an institution of this size would be expected to publish, inside it is less.

Agricultural and Biological Sciences: 0.60× its world share, 5 worksAgricultural and Bio…Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology: 0.16× its world share, 2 worksBiochemistry, Geneti…Immunology and Microbiology: 0.07× its world share, 0 worksImmunology and Micro…Neuroscience: 0.03× its world share, 0 worksNeuroscienceChemical Engineering: 0.05× its world share, 0 worksChemical EngineeringChemistry: 0.08× its world share, 0 worksChemistryComputer Science: 0.42× its world share, 6 worksComputer ScienceEarth and Planetary Sciences: 0.28× its world share, 1 worksEarth and Planetary …Energy: 0.10× its world share, 0 worksEnergyEngineering: 0.14× its world share, 4 worksEngineeringEnvironmental Science: 0.93× its world share, 8 worksEnvironmental ScienceMaterials Science: 0.01× its world share, 0 worksMaterials ScienceMathematics: 0.17× its world share, 0 worksMathematicsPhysics and Astronomy: 0.16× its world share, 1 worksPhysics and AstronomyHealth Professions: 0.36× its world share, 2 worksHealth ProfessionsMedicine: 0.19× its world share, 7 worksMedicineNursing: 0.18× its world share, 0 worksNursingVeterinary: 0.12× its world share, 0 worksVeterinaryArts and Humanities: 4.46× its world share, 24 worksArts and HumanitiesBusiness, Management and Accounting: 0.93× its world share, 6 worksBusiness, Management…Decision Sciences: 2.20× its world share, 4 worksDecision SciencesEconomics, Econometrics and Finance: 2.05× its world share, 8 worksEconomics, Econometr…Psychology: 0.94× its world share, 5 worksPsychologySocial Sciences: 4.34× its world share, 101 worksSocial Sciences1×world share
more than its size predictsabout as predictedless

Rings at 0.5×, 1× and 2×. Widest outward: Arts and Humanities, 4.5×. Every wedge is a field page.

All 24 fields, with their numbers
  1. Arts and Humanities4.46×24 works
  2. Social Sciences4.34×101 works
  3. Decision Sciences2.20×4 works
  4. Economics, Econometrics and Finance2.05×8 works
  5. Psychology0.94×5 works
  6. Environmental Science0.93×8 works
  7. Business, Management and Accounting0.93×6 works
  8. Agricultural and Biological Sciences0.60×5 works
  9. Computer Science0.42×6 works
  10. Health Professions0.36×2 works
  11. Earth and Planetary Sciences0.28×1 works
  12. Medicine0.19×7 works
  13. Nursing0.18×0 works
  14. Mathematics0.17×0 works
  15. Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology0.16×2 works
  16. Physics and Astronomy0.16×1 works
  17. Engineering0.14×4 works
  18. Veterinary0.12×0 works
  19. Energy0.10×0 works
  20. Chemistry0.08×0 works
  21. Immunology and Microbiology0.07×0 works
  22. Chemical Engineering0.05×0 works
  23. Neuroscience0.03×0 works
  24. Materials Science0.01×0 works

Who are the top researchers at African Studies Centre?

Ranked on the quality score, Stephen Ellis, Jon G. Abbink and Marleen Dekker lead among researchers whose main affiliation is African Studies Centre.

  1. 1 Stephen Ellis Netherlands · #173,585 worldwide 9.7k citations · 181 works
  2. 2 Jon G. Abbink Netherlands · #797,976 worldwide 2.9k citations · 227 works
  3. 3 Marleen Dekker Netherlands · #1,037,923 worldwide 1.7k citations · 113 works
  4. 4 Rijk A. Van Dijk Netherlands · #1,119,706 worldwide 2.2k citations · 116 works
  5. 5 Benjamin Soares Netherlands · #1,220,633 worldwide 430 citations · 26 works
  6. 6 Amanda Hammar Netherlands · #1,707,439 worldwide 861 citations · 46 works
  7. 7 Jan Kees van Donge Netherlands · #1,821,321 worldwide 1.1k citations · 118 works
  8. 8 M.M.E.M. Rutten Netherlands · #2,181,447 worldwide 754 citations · 67 works
  9. 9 James Suzman Netherlands · #2,255,090 worldwide 270 citations · 41 works
  10. 10 Ineke van Kessel Netherlands · #2,535,946 worldwide 702 citations · 56 works
All ranked researchers at African Studies Centre

What are the most cited papers from African Studies Centre?

The most cited paper from African Studies Centre is "From Louvain to Leiden: guaranteeing well-connected communities" (V. A. Traag, L. Waltman, Nees Jan van Eck, 2019), with 5,618 citations. Next come "Explaining African Economic Performance" (1,311) and "Exploring the Frontier of Livelihoods Research" (704).

Most cited papers
#PaperReleasedCitations
1 From Louvain to Leiden: guaranteeing well-connected communities V. A. Traag, L. Waltman, Nees Jan van Eck · Scientific Reports Open access 26 Mar 2019 5,618
2 Explaining African Economic Performance Paul Collier, Jan Willem Gunning · Journal of Economic Literature Mar 1999 1,311
3 Exploring the Frontier of Livelihoods Research Leo de Haan, Annelies Zoomers · Development and Change 2005 704
4 The Scramble in Africa: Reorienting Rural Livelihoods Deborah Fahy Bryceson · World Development May 2002 686
5 Witchcraft, Violence, and Democracy in South Africa Stephen Ellis · American Anthropologist 25 May 2006 567
All 60 most cited papers, with filters and sorting

Which keywords describe research at African Studies Centre?

By fractional works in 2022-now, weighted toward what it does more of than the world: Globalization, Colonialism, Nationalism, Human Rights, Governance, Social Impact, Economic Growth and Religion.

▲ more of its work than of the world's◆ about the world's share▼ less than the world's

Size is fractional works in 2022-now in the topics tagged with each word; colour is the word's share of this institution's work against its share of the world's. The 40 words are chosen for being large and distinctive. Each links to the topic it comes from most.

All 40 words, with their numbers
  1. Globalization26▲ 7.3×56 topics
  2. Colonialism19▲ 22×20 topics
  3. Nationalism19▲ 23×16 topics
  4. Human Rights18▲ 9.8×30 topics
  5. Governance11▲ 19×8 topics
  6. Sustainability11▲ 2.4×25 topics
  7. Climate Change10▲ 2.1×34 topics
  8. Economic Growth10▲ 6.8×11 topics
  9. Social Impact10▲ 14×5 topics
  10. Religion9▲ 11×16 topics
  11. Cultural Studies9▲ 13×5 topics
  12. Imperialism9▲ 62×2 topics
  13. NGOs9▲ 51×3 topics
  14. Feminism9▲ 16×11 topics
  15. Identity8▲ 6.2×15 topics
  16. African History8▲ 189×1 topic
  17. Post-Colonial Africa8▲ 189×1 topic
  18. Political Economy7▲ 16×11 topics
  19. Democracy7▲ 11×15 topics
  20. Gender7▲ 7.0×15 topics
  21. China-Africa Relations7▲ 92×2 topics
  22. Postcolonialism7▲ 25×7 topics
  23. Poverty Reduction7▲ 28×4 topics
  24. Politics7▲ 14×8 topics
  25. Social Justice6▲ 5.9×19 topics
  26. Neoliberalism6▲ 9.4×13 topics
  27. Cultural Exchange6▲ 26×4 topics
  28. History6▲ 4.8×9 topics
  29. Literature6▲ 5.8×10 topics
  30. Development Policies5▲ 89×1 topic
  31. Foreign Aid5▲ 89×1 topic
  32. Development5▲ 7.7×6 topics
  33. Global Governance5▲ 11×8 topics
  34. Migration5▲ 7.8×10 topics
  35. Civil Society5▲ 24×5 topics
  36. Inequality5▲ 11×6 topics
  37. Race5▲ 22×7 topics
  38. Adaptation5▲ 8.5×6 topics
  39. Cosmopolitanism4▲ 22×3 topics
  40. Archaeological Evidence4▲ 50×2 topics

Which research topics does African Studies Centre publish most on?

By volume in 2022-now: African history and culture studies, International Development and Aid, Postcolonial and Cultural Literary Studies and Global Maritime and Colonial Histories.

African history and cult…8African history and culture studies: 8 fractional worksInternational Development and Aid: 5 fractional worksPostcolonial and Cultura…4Postcolonial and Cultural Literary Studies: 4 fractional worksGlobal Maritime and Colo…4Global Maritime and Colonial Histories: 4 fractional worksRangeland Management and Livestock Ecology: 3 fractional worksAfrican Sexualities and LGBTQ+ Issues: 3 fractional worksCorruption and Economic …2Corruption and Economic Development: 2 fractional worksReligion, Society, and Development: 2 fractional worksAfrican Studies and Geopolitics: 2 fractional worksSouth African History and Culture: 2 fractional works
AnthropologyDevelopmentLiterature and Literary TheoryManagement, Monitoring, Policy and Law1 others

Area is fractional works; colour is the subfield each topic belongs to.

  1. 1 African history and culture studies Anthropology 8 works
  2. 2 International Development and Aid Development 5 works
  3. 3 Postcolonial and Cultural Literary Studies Literature and Literary Theory 4 works
  4. 4 Global Maritime and Colonial Histories Anthropology 4 works
  5. 5 Rangeland Management and Livestock Ecology Management, Monitoring, Policy and Law 3 works
  6. 6 African Sexualities and LGBTQ+ Issues Sociology and Political Science 3 works
  7. 7 Corruption and Economic Development Sociology and Political Science 2 works
  8. 8 Religion, Society, and Development Sociology and Political Science 2 works
  9. 9 African Studies and Geopolitics Anthropology 2 works
  10. 10 South African History and Culture Sociology and Political Science 2 works

How open and international is its research?

Against the world's own shares: the tick on each track. Both are shares of its output, so they sit on one scale and can be read against each other as well as against the world.

openly available34.4%not open65.6%

World: 40% of research is openly available.

with international co-authors32.2%domestic only67.8%

World: 18% is written across borders.

How has African Studies Centre's research output changed?

Output in 2022-2025 was 22% lower than in 2018-2021.

still counting1990200020102020
grewheldshrank

The same series as a ribbon: one cell per year, darker for more. The line above answers how much; this answers when.

Its share of all research

Growing output can still be a shrinking share: all of science grows. This is African Studies Centre as a percentage of every work published that year, 0.00051% in 2024.

still counting0.0020%0.0040%0.0060%African Studies Centre0.00081% in 202519801990200020102020

Fractional works of African Studies Centre over all fractional works that year. How the balance of science has shifted.

How much of it reaches the world top 10%

Year by year, against all institutions in the same year.

still counting20%40%African Studies Centre11.9% in 2025all institutions10.0% in 2025200020102020

Of each year's output, the share that reached the world's 10% most cited for its field and year. Peak 31.2% in 1995.

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African Studies Centre on Science Explorer

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