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Subfield · Arts and Humanities

History research

History is a subfield of Arts and Humanities. Science Explorer counts 442k research works in it since 1950. 13.4% of them reached the world's top 10% most cited for their field and year.

In short: past events and their tracks or records.

Research works
442k
fractional, since 1950
In the world top 10%
59k
per year above
Top-10% rate
13.4%
share of its works in the world top 10%
Topics
44
Growth, 2013–17 → 2018–22
+13%
the tick is no change

What is History research about, and what is growing?

By the world's output in 2019–23, its most used keywords are History, Gender, Cultural Identity, Church History, Urban Development, Literature. Gaining share since 2009–13: Disease Control, Global Health, Medical History, Healthcare, Urban Development. Losing share: Globalization, Literature, Religion, Early Modern Europe.

▲ 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. History22k◆ 0.87×11 topics
  2. Gender15k◆ 0.98×7 topics
  3. Cultural Identity12k▼ 0.85×4 topics
  4. Church History11k◆ 0.94×2 topics
  5. Urban Development9,571▲ 1.53×3 topics
  6. Literature8,161▼ 0.79×5 topics
  7. Social History8,134▼ 0.85×3 topics
  8. Colonialism7,924◆ 1.01×4 topics
  9. Eugenics7,706◆ 0.92×3 topics
  10. Early Modern Europe7,631▼ 0.83×2 topics
  11. Calvinism7,466▼ 0.83×1 topic
  12. Reformation7,466▼ 0.83×1 topic
  13. Historiography7,361▲ 1.19×4 topics
  14. Material Culture7,257◆ 0.99×2 topics
  15. Rituals7,216◆ 1.02×2 topics
  16. Healthcare7,019▲ 1.88×2 topics
  17. Social Movements6,965◆ 0.94×2 topics
  18. Globalization6,456▼ 0.77×3 topics
  19. Decolonization6,262▲ 1.20×2 topics
  20. Medical History6,203▲ 2.1×2 topics
  21. Late Antiquity5,931▲ 1.25×2 topics
  22. Ceremonial5,929▲ 1.25×2 topics
  23. Cultural Exchange5,738◆ 0.98×2 topics
  24. Religion5,647▼ 0.80×2 topics
  25. Identity5,485◆ 0.92×5 topics
  26. Civil Rights5,342◆ 1.08×2 topics
  27. Education5,340◆ 0.94×4 topics
  28. France5,252◆ 0.96×1 topic
  29. Sociopolitical5,252◆ 0.96×1 topic
  30. Archaeology5,170◆ 0.94×2 topics
  31. Disease Control4,917▲ 4.0×2 topics
  32. Global Health4,917▲ 4.0×2 topics
  33. Scandinavia4,880◆ 0.96×1 topic
  34. Viking Age4,880◆ 0.96×1 topic
  35. French Revolution4,832▼ 0.86×1 topic
  36. Napoleonic Wars4,832▼ 0.86×1 topic
  37. Human Rights4,734▲ 1.17×1 topic
  38. Humanitarianism4,734▲ 1.17×1 topic
  39. Cultural Practices4,634▲ 1.20×3 topics
  40. Political Conflict4,472▲ 1.19×2 topics

Which countries lead History research?

On research quality in 2022–2025, the United States, the United Kingdom and Spain rank highest in History. By volume, the United States and France publish the most (11k and 7.2k works in 2022–2025).

By research quality, 2022–2025

  1. 1 United States · #1 all time 11.2% top 10% · 11k works
  2. 2 United Kingdom · #2 all time 14.4% top 10% · 6.6k works
  3. 3 Spain · #6 all time 15.0% top 10% · 6.5k works
  4. 4 Germany · #3 all time 11.4% top 10% · 3.6k works
  5. 5 Brazil · #5 all time 12.4% top 10% · 3.4k works
  6. 6 Türkiye · #11 all time 14.4% top 10% · 3.7k works
  7. 7 France · #8 all time 7.7% top 10% · 7.2k works
  8. 8 Italy · #10 all time 11.7% top 10% · 2.5k works
  9. 9 Canada · #4 all time 12.2% top 10% · 1.5k works
  10. 10 Poland · #17 all time 11.4% top 10% · 4.1k 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 38 countries ranked in History. Composite of field-normalised excellence (50%), output (30%) and citations (20%); the bracket is the all-time rank.

All countries ranked in History

By volume, 2022–2025

  1. 1 United States 11k works
  2. 2 France 7.2k works
  3. 3 United Kingdom 6.6k works
  4. 4 Spain 6.5k works
  5. 5 Poland 4.1k works
  6. 6 Türkiye 3.7k works
  7. 7 Germany 3.6k works
  8. 8 Brazil 3.4k works
  9. 9 Italy 2.5k works
  10. 10 Canada 1.5k 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.

United States: 22.7%France: 14.3%United Kingdom: 13.0%Spain: 12.9%6 others listed: 37.1%23%largest
United States11k · 22.7%France7,210 · 14.3%United Kingdom6,589 · 13.0%Spain6,528 · 12.9%6 others listed19k · 37.1%

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

Which institutions lead History research?

Universidad Complutense de Madrid (Spain) ranks first in History on research quality in 2022–2025, followed by University of Cambridge and University of Oxford.

By research quality, 2022–2025

  1. 1 Universidad Complutense de Madrid Spain · Madrid · #24 all time 15.1% top 10% · 646 works
  2. 2 University of Cambridge United Kingdom · Cambridge · #1 all time 13.1% top 10% · 376 works
  3. 3 University of Oxford United Kingdom · Oxford · #2 all time 13.2% top 10% · 420 works
  4. 4 Universitat de València Spain · Valencia · #51 all time 19.0% top 10% · 277 works
  5. 5 Universitat de Barcelona Spain · Barcelona · #87 all time 16.5% top 10% · 249 works
  6. 6 Universidad de Sevilla Spain · Seville · #90 all time 18.9% top 10% · 314 works
  7. 7 University of Glasgow United Kingdom · Glasgow · #7 all time 14.0% top 10% · 191 works
  8. 8 University of Warsaw Poland · Warsaw 12.0% top 10% · 283 works
  9. 9 King's College London United Kingdom · London · #20 all time 16.1% top 10% · 162 works
  10. 10 University of the Basque Country Spain · Leioa · #80 all time 17.1% top 10% · 200 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 204 institutions above the floor of 40 fractional works in History.

Top 100 History institutions

By volume, 2022–2025

  1. 1 Universidad Complutense de MadridSpain 646 works
  2. 2 University of OxfordUnited Kingdom 420 works
  3. 3 University of CambridgeUnited Kingdom 375 works
  4. 4 Jagiellonian UniversityPoland 333 works
  5. 5 Universidad de SevillaSpain 314 works
  6. 6 University of WarsawPoland 283 works
  7. 7 Film IndependentUnited States 283 works
  8. 8 Universitat de ValènciaSpain 277 works
  9. 9 Adam Mickiewicz University in PoznańPoland 269 works
  10. 10 Universitat de BarcelonaSpain 249 works

Who are the leading researchers in History?

Among the most productive authors in History, Charles Tilly, Stanley Hoffmann and Sander L. Gilman rank highest on the composite score.

  1. 1 Charles Tilly United States · #8 worldwide 3.7k citations · 238 works
  2. 2 Stanley Hoffmann United States · #21 worldwide 2.3k citations · 197 works
  3. 3 Sander L. Gilman United States · #37 worldwide 4.2k citations · 154 works
  4. 4 Stuart Hall United Kingdom · #115 worldwide 1.9k citations · 137 works
  5. 5 Fritz Stern United States · #126 worldwide 1.2k citations · 183 works
  6. 6 Peter Burke United States · #136 worldwide 997 citations · 191 works
  7. 7 Karl Marx Denmark · #180 worldwide 1.1k citations · 217 works
  8. 8 Bryan S. Turner United States · #337 worldwide 1.9k citations · 273 works
  9. 9 Gaddis Smith United States · #846 worldwide 886 citations · 130 works
  10. 10 Ronald Aylmer Fisher United Kingdom · #947 worldwide 2k citations · 229 works

Re-ranked on the composite score from the 4,287 highest-output authors in History. Identities come from OpenAlex author disambiguation, which occasionally merges or splits people.

Top 100 History researchers

Where is History research done?

The largest centres of History research in 2022–2025 are Paris (France), Madrid (Spain), London (United Kingdom) and Warsaw (Poland). Among places with at least 20 works in it, it is an unusually large share of all research in Mont-Saint-Aignan.

Largest cities, 2022–2025

  1. 1 Paris France 2.4k works
  2. 2 Madrid Spain 1.8k works
  3. 3 London United Kingdom 1.2k works
  4. 4 Warsaw Poland 1.1k works
  5. 5 Moscow Russia 722 works
  6. 6 Krakow Poland 714 works
  7. 7 New York United States 666 works
  8. 8 Istanbul Türkiye 636 works
  9. 9 São Paulo Brazil 589 works
  10. 10 Ankara Türkiye 571 works

Where it is the local speciality

  1. Mont-Saint-Aignan29.7 works26×
← less than its size predicts1×more →

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

See History on the map

History research by country

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

Where is the best place to study History?

Among universities, judged by research, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Ca' Foscari University of Venice and John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin 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 12.47%fractional works in this node (log) →share in the world top 10% →Universidad Complutense de Madrid: 646, 15.1%Ca' Foscari University of Venice: 228, 8.9%John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin: 204, 12.5%Universidad de Sevilla: 314, 18.9%Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia: 167, 13.0%Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań: 269, 11.8%Nicolaus Copernicus University: 149, 12.9%University of Warsaw: 283, 12.0%Maria Curie-Skłodowska University: 129, 10.0%Cardinal Stefan Wyszynski University in Warsaw: 155, 9.6%Universidad de SevillaUniversidad Complute…John Paul II Catholi…Ca' Foscari Universi…
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 Universidad Complutense de MadridSpain 60.115.1%13.0×646 +36.2%
2 Ca' Foscari University of VeniceItaly 59.58.9%14.4×228 +472.2%
3 John Paul II Catholic University of LublinPoland 57.512.5%18.5×204 +164.3%
4 Universidad de SevillaSpain 57.418.9%9.0×314 +68.1%
5 Universidad Nacional de Educación a DistanciaSpain 56.513.0%13.6×167 +146.4%
6 Adam Mickiewicz University in PoznańPoland 56.411.8%10.0×269 +113.1%
7 Nicolaus Copernicus UniversityPoland 56.112.9%9.6×149 +167.2%
8 University of WarsawPoland 55.612.0%8.3×283 +152.7%
9 Maria Curie-Skłodowska UniversityPoland 55.510.0%10.1×129 +200.2%
10 Cardinal Stefan Wyszynski University in WarsawPoland 54.49.6%18.1×155 +170.6%

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 History research growing?

Output in 2018–2022 was 13% higher than in 2013–2017, peaking in 2018. The fastest-growing topics are Ottoman and Turkish Studies, Historical and Cultural Studies of Poland and History of Education Research in Brazil.

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. Ottoman and Turkish Studies+848%
  2. Historical and Cultural Studies of Poland+420%
  3. History of Education Research in Brazil+324%
  4. Spanish History and Politics+196%
  5. Classical Studies and Legal History+187%
  6. Historical and Archaeological Studies+176%
← shrinkingno changegrowing →

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

What does History include?

Reformation and Early Modern Christianity: 43k fractional worksEuropean Political History Analysis: 26k fractional worksFrench Historical and Cultural Studies: 24k fractional worksHistorical and Archaeological Studies: 22k fractional worksHistorical and Contempor…20kHistorical and Contemporary Political Dynamics: 20k fractional worksMedical History and Innovations: 20k fractional worksScottish History and National Identity: 20k fractional worksHistorical Studies on Re…16kHistorical Studies on Reproduction, Gender, Health, and Societal Changes: 16k fractional worksHistorical and Religious Studies of Rome: 14k fractional worksHistory of Medicine Studies: 13k fractional worksHistorical and Cultural Studies of Poland: 13k fractional worksMedical History and Research: 11k fractional works

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