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Subfield · Social Sciences

General Social Sciences research

General Social Sciences is a subfield of Social Sciences. Science Explorer counts 103k research works in it since 1950. 13.3% of them reached the world's top 10% most cited for their field and year.

In short: academic disciplines concerned with society and the relationships between individuals in society.

Research works
103k
fractional, since 1950
In the world top 10%
14k
per year above
Top-10% rate
13.3%
share of its works in the world top 10%
Topics
16
Growth, 2013–17 → 2018–22
+19%
the tick is no change

What is General Social Sciences research about, and what is growing?

By the world's output in 2019–23, its most used keywords are Education, Social Work, Welfare State, Innovation, Culture, Migration. Gaining share since 2009–13: Computational Text Analysis, Topic Modeling, Big Data, Economy, Management. Losing share: Economic Development, Consumer Behavior, Human Aging, Social Science.

▲ 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 40 words, with their numbers
  1. Education8,061▲ 1.20×7 topics
  2. Social Work7,743▼ 0.70×1 topic
  3. Welfare State7,743▼ 0.70×1 topic
  4. Innovation6,285▲ 1.31×3 topics
  5. Culture6,066▲ 1.43×2 topics
  6. Migration4,894▲ 1.95×3 topics
  7. Law4,264▲ 2.4×2 topics
  8. Big Data4,080▲ 3.5×2 topics
  9. Cultural Studies3,875▼ 0.77×4 topics
  10. Economy3,769▲ 3.5×1 topic
  11. Management3,769▲ 3.5×1 topic
  12. Social Science3,756▼ 0.68×2 topics
  13. Economic Development3,294▼ 0.65×2 topics
  14. History3,215▼ 0.74×3 topics
  15. Philosophy3,079▼ 0.71×3 topics
  16. Consumer Behavior3,075▼ 0.67×1 topic
  17. Human Aging3,075▼ 0.67×1 topic
  18. Globalization3,038◆ 1.13×4 topics
  19. Computational Text Analysis2,804▲ 3.8×1 topic
  20. Topic Modeling2,804▲ 3.8×1 topic
  21. Social Sciences2,647▼ 0.71×3 topics
  22. Ethics2,584▼ 0.72×2 topics
  23. Technology2,516▼ 0.68×2 topics
  24. Economics2,296▼ 0.72×1 topic
  25. Society2,296▼ 0.72×1 topic
  26. Image Processing1,936▲ 2.0×1 topic
  27. Ritual1,936▲ 2.0×1 topic
  28. Cultural Heritage1,771▲ 1.56×2 topics
  29. Healthcare1,276▲ 3.0×1 topic
  30. Sustainability1,276▲ 3.0×1 topic
  31. Sociology1,175▼ 0.69×2 topics
  32. Psychology782▼ 0.69×2 topics
  33. Qualitative Research681▼ 0.68×1 topic
  34. Research Methodology681▼ 0.68×1 topic
  35. Gender Studies651▲ 1.36×2 topics
  36. Identity630◆ 0.87×1 topic
  37. Power630◆ 0.87×1 topic
  38. Anthropology495▼ 0.71×1 topic
  39. Linguistics495▼ 0.71×1 topic
  40. Community Development427▲ 2.7×2 topics

Which countries lead General Social Sciences research?

On research quality in 2022–2025, the United States, China and the United Kingdom rank highest in General Social Sciences. By volume, Spain and Poland publish the most (3k and 2.1k works in 2022–2025).

By research quality, 2022–2025

  1. 1 United States · #1 all time 23.8% top 10% · 1.7k works
  2. 2 China · #6 all time 22.8% top 10% · 884 works
  3. 3 United Kingdom · #3 all time 24.5% top 10% · 423 works
  4. 4 Spain · #2 all time 10.7% top 10% · 3k works
  5. 5 Germany · #5 all time 25.2% top 10% · 440 works
  6. 6 Poland · #4 all time 9.3% top 10% · 2.1k works
  7. 7 India · #18 all time 17.6% top 10% · 466 works
  8. 8 Indonesia · #14 all time 6.9% top 10% · 1.7k works
  9. 9 Canada · #9 all time 21.3% top 10% · 208 works
  10. 10 Russia · #10 all time 10.9% top 10% · 1.5k 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 22 countries ranked in General Social Sciences. Composite of field-normalised excellence (50%), output (30%) and citations (20%); the bracket is the all-time rank.

All countries ranked in General Social Sciences

By volume, 2022–2025

  1. 1 Spain 3k works
  2. 2 Poland 2.1k works
  3. 3 Indonesia 1.7k works
  4. 4 United States 1.7k works
  5. 5 Russia 1.5k works
  6. 6 Mexico 1.4k works
  7. 7 Argentina 922 works
  8. 8 Brazil 908 works
  9. 9 China 884 works
  10. 10 Chile 781 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.

Spain: 20.4%Poland: 14.0%Indonesia: 11.4%United States: 11.3%6 others listed: 43.0%20%largest
Spain3,000 · 20.4%Poland2,061 · 14.0%Indonesia1,673 · 11.4%United States1,659 · 11.3%6 others listed6,328 · 43.0%

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

Which institutions lead General Social Sciences research?

Universidad Complutense de Madrid (Spain) ranks first in General Social Sciences on research quality in 2022–2025, followed by Universitat de Barcelona and Universidad Autónoma de Madrid.

By research quality, 2022–2025

  1. 1 Universidad Complutense de Madrid Spain · Madrid · #1 all time 9.6% top 10% · 266 works
  2. 2 Universitat de Barcelona Spain · Barcelona · #7 all time 10.8% top 10% · 130 works
  3. 3 Universidad Autónoma de Madrid Spain · Madrid · #5 all time 18.1% top 10% · 67 works
  4. 4 Universidad de Granada Spain · Granada · #4 all time 16.1% top 10% · 89 works
  5. 5 University of Chile Chile · Santiago · #6 all time 12.4% top 10% · 115 works
  6. 6 Universidad de Buenos Aires Argentina · Buenos Aires · #11 all time 8.2% top 10% · 167 works
  7. 7 Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań Poland · Poznan · #17 all time 10.4% top 10% · 134 works
  8. 8 Universitat de València Spain · Valencia · #13 all time 12.1% top 10% · 116 works
  9. 9 University of Łódź Poland · Lodz · #9 all time 13.4% top 10% · 96 works
  10. 10 Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México Mexico · Mexico City · #2 all time 6.7% top 10% · 163 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 29 institutions above the floor of 40 fractional works in General Social Sciences.

Top 100 General Social Sciences institutions

By volume, 2022–2025

  1. 1 Universidad Complutense de MadridSpain 267 works
  2. 2 Universidad de Buenos AiresArgentina 167 works
  3. 3 Universidad Nacional Autónoma de MéxicoMexico 163 works
  4. 4 Adam Mickiewicz University in PoznańPoland 133 works
  5. 5 Universitat de BarcelonaSpain 130 works
  6. 6 Universitat de ValènciaSpain 116 works
  7. 7 University of ChileChile 115 works
  8. 8 University of WarsawPoland 109 works
  9. 9 Universidad de SevillaSpain 101 works
  10. 10 Universidad Nacional de Educación a DistanciaSpain 99 works

Who are the leading researchers in General Social Sciences?

Among the most productive authors in General Social Sciences, Pierre Bourdıeu, Michel Foucault and Noam Chomsky rank highest on the composite score.

  1. 1 Pierre Bourdıeu France · #2 worldwide 10k citations · 235 works
  2. 2 Michel Foucault Poland · #5 worldwide 4.6k citations · 194 works
  3. 3 Noam Chomsky United States · #7 worldwide 3.7k citations · 239 works
  4. 4 Bruno Latour France · #46 worldwide 2k citations · 198 works
  5. 5 Niklas Luhmann Germany · #53 worldwide 2.3k citations · 277 works
  6. 6 Juan Ramón De La Fuente Mexico · #61 worldwide 1.5k citations · 228 works
  7. 7 Judith Butler United States · #70 worldwide 6.7k citations · 132 works
  8. 8 Émile Durkheim United States · #87 worldwide 2.5k citations · 135 works
  9. 9 Loïc Wacquant United States · #89 worldwide 3.1k citations · 153 works
  10. 10 Immanuel Wallerstein United States · #111 worldwide 1.7k citations · 232 works

Re-ranked on the composite score from the 3,100 highest-output authors in General Social Sciences. Identities come from OpenAlex author disambiguation, which occasionally merges or splits people.

Top 100 General Social Sciences researchers

Where is General Social Sciences research done?

The largest centres of General Social Sciences research in 2022–2025 are Madrid (Spain), Mexico City (Mexico), Moscow (Russia) and Warsaw (Poland). Among places with at least 20 works in it, it is an unusually large share of all research in Ciudad Juárez and Kutaisi.

Largest cities, 2022–2025

  1. 1 Madrid Spain 828 works
  2. 2 Mexico City Mexico 468 works
  3. 3 Moscow Russia 461 works
  4. 4 Warsaw Poland 446 works
  5. 5 Santiago Chile 424 works
  6. 6 Buenos Aires Argentina 419 works
  7. 7 Bogotá Colombia 316 works
  8. 8 Krakow Poland 302 works
  9. 9 Barcelona Spain 241 works
  10. 10 Lima Peru 235 works

Where it is the local speciality

  1. Ciudad JuárezMX · 38.1 works26×
  2. KutaisiGE · 20.5 works24×
← less than its size predicts1×more →

Location quotient: how much more of its research is in General Social Sciences than the world average.

See General Social Sciences on the map

General Social Sciences research by country

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

Where is the best place to study General Social Sciences?

Among universities, judged by research, Kazan Federal University, Universidade de Santiago de Compostela and The Maria Grzegorzewska University 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 11.47%fractional works in this node (log) →share in the world top 10% →Kazan Federal University: 70, 11.2%Universidade de Santiago de Compostela: 66, 10.0%The Maria Grzegorzewska University: 58, 10.7%Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań: 134, 10.4%John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin: 54, 10.6%University of Chile: 115, 12.4%Universidad Complutense de Madrid: 266, 9.6%Universidad Internacional De La Rioja: 40, 9.4%Valparaiso University: 16, 18.1%University of Guayaquil: 35, 12.3%Kazan Federal Univer…The Maria Grzegorzew…Adam Mickiewicz Univ…Universidade de Sant…
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 Kazan Federal UniversityRussia 58.411.2%11.5×70 +533.1%
2 Universidade de Santiago de CompostelaSpain 56.210.0%10.1×66 +156.9%
3 The Maria Grzegorzewska UniversityPoland 56.010.7%64.2×58 +252.7%
4 Adam Mickiewicz University in PoznańPoland 55.810.4%14.6×134 +99.1%
5 John Paul II Catholic University of LublinPoland 55.610.6%14.4×54 +221.7%
6 University of ChileChile 55.212.4%15.2×115 +60.7%
7 Universidad Complutense de MadridSpain 55.09.6%15.7×266 +10.6%
8 Universidad Internacional De La RiojaSpain 54.69.4%13.9×40 +368.1%
9 Valparaiso UniversityUnited States 54.218.1%19.9×16 +364.1%
10 University of GuayaquilEcuador 54.012.3%9.5×35 +353.1%

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 Social Sciences research growing?

Output in 2018–2022 was 19% higher than in 2013–2017, peaking in 2025. The fastest-growing topics are Islamic Social Reporting, Multidisciplinary Research Papers Compilation and Computational and Text Analysis Methods.

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. Islamic Social Reporting+2792%
  2. Multidisciplinary Research Papers Compilation+632%
  3. Computational and Text Analysis Methods+515%
  4. Social Issues in Poland+437%
  5. Religion and Sociopolitical Dynamics in Nigeria+310%
  6. Contemporary Social and Economic Issues+271%
← shrinkingno changegrowing →

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

What does General Social Sciences include?

Social Sciences and Poli…36kSocial Sciences and Policies: 36k fractional worksSocial Issues in Poland13kSocial Issues in Poland: 13k fractional worksPhilosophical Thought an…10kPhilosophical Thought and Analysis: 10k fractional worksComputational and Text Analysis Methods: 9,339 fractional worksCultural, Linguistic, Economic Studies: 8,024 fractional worksReligion and Sociopoliti…5,259Religion and Sociopolitical Dynamics in Nigeria: 5,259 fractional worksSocial Science and Policy Research: 4,460 fractional worksMultidisciplinary Research Papers Compilation: 3,288 fractional worksHume's philosophy and hair distribution: 2,891 fractional worksHIV, TB, and STIs Epidemiology: 2,429 fractional worksPhilosophy and Phenomenology Studies: 1,704 fractional worksInformation Society and Technology Trends: 1,545 fractional works

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