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Subfield · Arts and Humanities

General Arts and Humanities research

General Arts and Humanities is a subfield of Arts and Humanities. Science Explorer counts 20k research works in it since 1950. 7.4% of them reached the world's top 10% most cited for their field and year.

In short: study of the products of human culture such as art, historical artifacts etc.

Research works
20k
fractional, since 1950
In the world top 10%
1.5k
per year above
Top-10% rate
7.4%
share of its works in the world top 10%
Topics
4
Growth, 2013–17 → 2018–22
+21%
the tick is no change

What is General Arts and Humanities research about, and what is growing?

By the world's output in 2019–23, its most used keywords are Literature, Cultural Studies, Innovation, Art, Education, Music. Gaining share since 2009–13: Cultural Studies, Innovation. Losing share: Religion, Society, Music, Culture.

▲ gaining share of this field◆ holding its share▼ losing share

Size is the world's fractional works in 2019–23 in the topics tagged with each word; colour compares the word's share of this field with 2009–13. Each links to the topic it comes from most.

All 15 words, with their numbers
  1. Literature4,727◆ 0.99×3 topics
  2. Cultural Studies3,168▲ 1.17×1 topic
  3. Innovation3,168▲ 1.17×1 topic
  4. Art1,904▼ 0.80×3 topics
  5. Education1,904▼ 0.80×3 topics
  6. Music1,559▼ 0.75×2 topics
  7. Culture1,432▼ 0.76×2 topics
  8. History1,432▼ 0.76×2 topics
  9. Religion1,087▼ 0.69×1 topic
  10. Society1,087▼ 0.69×1 topic
  11. Media818◆ 1.03×2 topics
  12. Ethnography472◆ 0.98×1 topic
  13. Sociology472◆ 0.98×1 topic
  14. Cognition345◆ 1.12×1 topic
  15. Communication345◆ 1.12×1 topic

Which countries lead General Arts and Humanities research?

On research quality in 2022–2025, Italy, Brazil and Spain rank highest in General Arts and Humanities. By volume, Italy and Brazil publish the most (1.2k and 1k works in 2022–2025).

By research quality, 2022–2025

  1. 1 Italy · #1 all time 7.4% top 10% · 1.2k works
  2. 2 Brazil · #2 all time 7.5% top 10% · 1k works
  3. 3 Spain · #4 all time 8.4% top 10% · 528 works
  4. 4 United States · #3 all time 7.1% top 10% · 269 works
  5. 5 France · #6 all time 3.4% top 10% · 270 works

The track on each row is that row’s top-10% rate. The ranking itself is the composite score, which the rate is only one part of.

Of 5 countries ranked in General Arts and Humanities. Composite of field-normalised excellence (50%), output (30%) and citations (20%); the bracket is the all-time rank.

All countries ranked in General Arts and Humanities

By volume, 2022–2025

  1. 1 Italy 1.2k works
  2. 2 Brazil 1k works
  3. 3 Spain 527 works
  4. 4 France 270 works
  5. 5 United States 269 works
  6. 6 Argentina 153 works
  7. 7 Mexico 143 works
  8. 8 Germany 87 works
  9. 9 United Kingdom 83 works
  10. 10 Colombia 66 works

How concentrated that is

The same countries as shares of everything the list above accounts for. A node where two countries do two thirds of the work and one spread evenly across twelve read alike as a ranking and not at all alike here.

Italy: 30.8%Brazil: 26.7%Spain: 14.0%France: 7.2%6 others listed: 21.3%31%largest
Italy1,160 · 30.8%Brazil1,005 · 26.7%Spain527 · 14.0%France270 · 7.2%6 others listed800 · 21.3%

Shares of the rows listed above, not of the whole node.

Which institutions lead General Arts and Humanities research?

University of Bologna (Italy) ranks first in General Arts and Humanities on research quality in 2022–2025, followed by University of Milan and University of Florence.

By research quality, 2022–2025

  1. 1 University of Bologna Italy · Bologna · #1 all time 8.6% top 10% · 66 works
  2. 2 University of Milan Italy · Milan · #7 all time 5.4% top 10% · 78 works
  3. 3 University of Florence Italy · Florence · #9 all time 4.7% top 10% · 67 works
  4. 4 Ca' Foscari University of Venice Italy · Venice · #10 all time 4.1% top 10% · 74 works

The track on each row is that row’s top-10% rate. The ranking itself is the composite score, which the rate is only one part of.

Of 4 institutions above the floor of 40 fractional works in General Arts and Humanities.

Top 100 General Arts and Humanities institutions

By volume, 2022–2025

  1. 1 University of MilanItaly 78 works
  2. 2 Ca' Foscari University of VeniceItaly 74 works
  3. 3 University of FlorenceItaly 67 works
  4. 4 University of BolognaItaly 66 works
  5. 5 Sapienza University of RomeItaly 56 works
  6. 6 Universidad Complutense de MadridSpain 50 works
  7. 7 University of TurinItaly 47 works
  8. 8 Universidade de São PauloBrazil 46 works
  9. 9 Universidad de Buenos AiresArgentina 39 works
  10. 10 University of PaduaItaly 34 works

Who are the leading researchers in General Arts and Humanities?

Among the most productive authors in General Arts and Humanities, Pierre Bourdıeu, Steven Weinberg and Peter Burke rank highest on the composite score.

  1. 1 Pierre Bourdıeu France · #2 worldwide 10k citations · 235 works
  2. 2 Steven Weinberg United States · #121 worldwide 5.1k citations · 151 works
  3. 3 Peter Burke United States · #136 worldwide 997 citations · 191 works
  4. 4 Gilles Deleuze France · #166 worldwide 4.6k citations · 114 works
  5. 5 Martha C. Nussbaum United States · #279 worldwide 1.6k citations · 260 works
  6. 6 Richard Rorty United States · #462 worldwide 1.2k citations · 258 works
  7. 7 Walter Benjamín France · #726 worldwide 1.3k citations · 106 works
  8. 8 Franco Ferrari United States · #827 worldwide 661 citations · 139 works
  9. 9 Umberto Eco Italy · #1,841 worldwide 462 citations · 145 works
  10. 10 Edward W. Said United States · #2,266 worldwide 528 citations · 101 works

Re-ranked on the composite score from the 2,311 highest-output authors in General Arts and Humanities. Identities come from OpenAlex author disambiguation, which occasionally merges or splits people.

Top 100 General Arts and Humanities researchers

Where is General Arts and Humanities research done?

The largest centres of General Arts and Humanities research in 2022–2025 are São Paulo (Brazil), Rome (Italy), Madrid (Spain) and Milan (Italy). Among places with at least 20 works in it, it is an unusually large share of all research in Venice, Siena and Florence.

Largest cities, 2022–2025

  1. 1 São Paulo Brazil 179 works
  2. 2 Rome Italy 170 works
  3. 3 Madrid Spain 152 works
  4. 4 Milan Italy 139 works
  5. 5 Rio de Janeiro Brazil 95 works
  6. 6 Paris France 86 works
  7. 7 Florence Italy 86 works
  8. 8 Venice Italy 85 works
  9. 9 Buenos Aires Argentina 75 works
  10. 10 Bologna Italy 70 works

Where it is the local speciality

  1. VeniceIT · 85.0 works60×
  2. SienaIT · 31.2 works32×
  3. FlorenceIT · 85.8 works24×
  4. NanterreFR · 30.8 works24×
← less than its size predicts1×more →

Location quotient: how much more of its research is in General Arts and Humanities than the world average.

See General Arts and Humanities on the map

General Arts and Humanities research by country

The best places for General Arts and Humanities research inside each country, with that country's researchers and world standing.

Where is the best place to study General Arts and Humanities?

Among universities, judged by research, University of Verona, University of Macerata and University of Bologna score highest, combining excellence, specialisation, size, growth and international reach. Research strength is one signal when choosing where to study; it does not measure teaching.

0%10%20%mean 12.42%fractional works in this node (log) →share in the world top 10% →University of Verona: 13, 21.0%University of Macerata: 10, 23.8%University of Bologna: 66, 8.6%University of Cagliari: 10, 18.8%University of Salerno: 18, 14.5%Ca' Foscari University of Venice: 74, 4.1%University of Siena: 22, 11.6%University of Turin: 47, 7.0%Sapienza University of Rome: 56, 10.1%University of Florence: 67, 4.7%University of MacerataUniversity of VeronaUniversity of CagliariUniversity of Bologna
above the meannear itbelow it

One dot per university in the table below. The upper left is the interesting corner: small places doing unusually strong work.

#UniversityScoreTop 10%SpecialisationWorksGrowth
1 University of VeronaItaly 73.621.0%12.8×13 +287.0%
2 University of MacerataItaly 71.123.8%52.1×10 +419.0%
3 University of BolognaItaly 69.48.6%19.5×66 +124.6%
4 University of CagliariItaly 69.118.8%11.6×10 +205.9%
5 University of SalernoItaly 68.414.5%14.7×18 +222.0%
6 Ca' Foscari University of VeniceItaly 66.94.1%71.7×74 +354.9%
7 University of SienaItaly 66.611.6%27.5×22 +194.2%
8 University of TurinItaly 66.37.0%23.0×47 +141.9%
9 Sapienza University of RomeItaly 65.310.1%12.0×56 +90.3%
10 University of FlorenceItaly 63.34.7%30.4×67 +113.0%

Universities only. Score blends excellence (30%), specialisation (25%), size (20%), growth (15%) and international reach (10%), 2015–2022; growth compares 2010–14 with 2015–19.

Is General Arts and Humanities research growing?

Output in 2018–2022 was 21% higher than in 2013–2017, peaking in 2025. The fastest-growing topics are Corporeality, Perception, and Education, Schopenhauer and Stefan Zweig and Italian Literature and Culture.

19801990200020102020
grewheldshrank

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

Which topics inside it are moving

Growth and decline on one axis around a shared zero. Two lists side by side hide the thing that matters: whether the growth dwarfs the decline, or the other way round.

  1. Corporeality, Perception, and Education+272%
  2. Schopenhauer and Stefan Zweig+270%
  3. Italian Literature and Culture+260%
  4. Cultural and Mythological Studies+110%
← shrinkingno changegrowing →

Growth in output from 2005–09 to 2015–19. Every topic is a page of its own.

What does General Arts and Humanities include?

Italian Literature and C…11kItalian Literature and Culture: 11k fractional worksCultural and Mythologica…5,641Cultural and Mythological Studies: 5,641 fractional worksCorporeality, Perception, and Education: 1,998 fractional worksSchopenhauer and Stefan Zweig: 1,837 fractional works

Area is fractional works in that topic. Every name below is a page of its own.