Science Explorer Interactive view Map
Subfield · Social Sciences

Law research

Law is a subfield of Social Sciences. Science Explorer counts 509k research works in it since 1950. 14.4% of them reached the world's top 10% most cited for their field and year.

In short: system of rules and guidelines, generally backed by governmental authority.

Research works
509k
fractional, since 1950
In the world top 10%
73k
per year above
Top-10% rate
14.4%
share of its works in the world top 10%
Topics
40
Growth, 2013–17 → 2018–22
+53%
the tick is no change

What is Law research about, and what is growing?

By the world's output in 2019–23, its most used keywords are Human Rights, Social Justice, Restorative Justice, Criminal Law, Environmental Law, Legal Research. Gaining share since 2009–13: Ethical Norms, Healthcare Regulation, Child Protection, Juvenile Justice, Legal Framework. Losing share: Legal Education, Contract Law, Consumer Protection, Legal Methodology.

▲ 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. Human Rights58k◆ 1.08×18 topics
  2. Social Justice34k▲ 2.2×5 topics
  3. Restorative Justice33k▲ 4.3×3 topics
  4. Criminal Law31k▲ 5.3×2 topics
  5. Environmental Law30k▲ 1.87×4 topics
  6. Legal Research28k▲ 2.9×2 topics
  7. Hukum Agraria Indonesia25k▲ 7.2×1 topic
  8. Normative Methodology25k▲ 7.2×1 topic
  9. Criminal Justice25k▲ 1.41×4 topics
  10. Data Privacy19k▲ 3.1×2 topics
  11. Legal Framework16k▲ 7.4×2 topics
  12. Constitutional Law16k▲ 1.30×4 topics
  13. Child Protection16k▲ 8.9×1 topic
  14. Juvenile Justice16k▲ 8.9×1 topic
  15. Public Administration16k▲ 1.39×2 topics
  16. Legal Theory16k▲ 1.38×2 topics
  17. Civil Rights15k▲ 1.41×1 topic
  18. Judicial Activism15k▲ 1.41×1 topic
  19. International Law15k▲ 2.6×7 topics
  20. Globalization14k◆ 0.97×5 topics
  21. Intellectual Property Rights14k▲ 2.9×2 topics
  22. Legal Pluralism13k▲ 4.0×3 topics
  23. Artificial Intelligence12k▲ 3.1×2 topics
  24. Cybersecurity12k▲ 3.1×2 topics
  25. Ethical Norms12k▲ 11×1 topic
  26. Healthcare Regulation12k▲ 11×1 topic
  27. Constitutional Reform9,643▲ 7.1×1 topic
  28. Legal Modernization9,643▲ 7.1×1 topic
  29. Contract Law7,764▼ 0.41×2 topics
  30. European Union7,214▼ 0.61×6 topics
  31. Inclusive Education6,786▲ 2.2×2 topics
  32. Consumer Protection6,666▼ 0.48×2 topics
  33. Legal Education6,500▼ 0.34×2 topics
  34. Legal Methodology6,130▼ 0.49×2 topics
  35. Education5,980▲ 2.5×1 topic
  36. Legal Reform5,980▲ 2.5×1 topic
  37. Legal Semiotics5,913▼ 0.65×1 topic
  38. Visual Jurisprudence5,913▼ 0.65×1 topic
  39. Rule of Law5,502▼ 0.53×3 topics
  40. Judicial Independence5,495▼ 0.55×2 topics

Which countries lead Law research?

On research quality in 2022–2025, Indonesia, the United States and the United Kingdom rank highest in Law. By volume, Indonesia and Brazil publish the most (50k and 10k works in 2022–2025).

By research quality, 2022–2025

  1. 1 Indonesia · #2 all time 13.7% top 10% · 50k works
  2. 2 United States · #1 all time 13.6% top 10% · 8.5k works
  3. 3 United Kingdom · #3 all time 17.7% top 10% · 3.4k works
  4. 4 Germany · #4 all time 12.1% top 10% · 4.4k works
  5. 5 South Africa · #7 all time 25.0% top 10% · 1.5k works
  6. 6 Brazil · #9 all time 6.3% top 10% · 10k works
  7. 7 Netherlands · #8 all time 21.0% top 10% · 1.1k works
  8. 8 Australia · #5 all time 16.4% top 10% · 1.6k works
  9. 9 Russia · #11 all time 11.1% top 10% · 5.2k works
  10. 10 Italy · #10 all time 19.5% top 10% · 1.3k 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 48 countries ranked in Law. Composite of field-normalised excellence (50%), output (30%) and citations (20%); the bracket is the all-time rank.

All countries ranked in Law

By volume, 2022–2025

  1. 1 Indonesia 50k works
  2. 2 Brazil 10k works
  3. 3 United States 8.5k works
  4. 4 Russia 5.2k works
  5. 5 Germany 4.4k works
  6. 6 Poland 3.6k works
  7. 7 United Kingdom 3.4k works
  8. 8 Spain 3.3k works
  9. 9 Ecuador 2.7k works
  10. 10 ?? 2.1k 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.

Indonesia: 53.7%Brazil: 11.0%United States: 9.0%Russia: 5.5%6 others listed: 20.8%54%largest
Indonesia50k · 53.7%Brazil10k · 11.0%United States8,471 · 9.0%Russia5,189 · 5.5%6 others listed19k · 20.8%

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

Which institutions lead Law research?

Diponegoro University (Indonesia) ranks first in Law on research quality in 2022–2025, followed by University of Indonesia and Bandung Islamic University.

By research quality, 2022–2025

  1. 1 Diponegoro University Indonesia · Semarang · #4 all time 14.5% top 10% · 867 works
  2. 2 University of Indonesia Indonesia · Depok · #14 all time 15.8% top 10% · 1.1k works
  3. 3 Bandung Islamic University Indonesia · Bandung · #52 all time 13.4% top 10% · 553 works
  4. 4 Institut Agama Islam Negeri Bengkulu Indonesia · Bengkulu · #38 all time 12.3% top 10% · 1.3k works
  5. 5 Padjadjaran University Indonesia · Bandung · #8 all time 19.0% top 10% · 735 works
  6. 6 Sebelas Maret University Indonesia · Surakarta · #42 all time 15.0% top 10% · 870 works
  7. 7 State University of Semarang Indonesia · Semarang · #31 all time 17.5% top 10% · 545 works
  8. 8 Universitas Gadjah Mada Indonesia · Yogyakarta · #65 all time 21.4% top 10% · 460 works
  9. 9 Universitas Sumatera Utara Indonesia · Medan 15.3% top 10% · 601 works
  10. 10 University of Oxford United Kingdom · Oxford · #2 all time 18.7% top 10% · 233 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 431 institutions above the floor of 40 fractional works in Law.

Top 100 Law institutions

By volume, 2022–2025

  1. 1 Institut Agama Islam Negeri Bengkulu Indonesia 1.3k works
  2. 2 University of Indonesia Indonesia 1.1k works
  3. 3 Tarumanagara University Indonesia 1k works
  4. 4 Sebelas Maret University Indonesia 870 works
  5. 5 Diponegoro University Indonesia 867 works
  6. 6 Universitas Islam Negeri Sumatera Utara Indonesia 857 works
  7. 7 Padjadjaran University Indonesia 735 works
  8. 8 Universitas Pembangunan Nasional Veteran Jakarta Indonesia 656 works
  9. 9 University of Mataram Indonesia 648 works
  10. 10 Universidad Regional Autónoma de Los Andes Ecuador 640 works

Who are the leading researchers in Law?

Among the most productive authors in Law, Niklas Luhmann, Richard A. Posner and Martha C. Nussbaum rank highest on the composite score.

  1. 1 Niklas Luhmann Germany · #53 worldwide 2.3k citations · 277 works
  2. 2 Richard A. Posner United States · #212 worldwide 1.9k citations · 228 works
  3. 3 Martha C. Nussbaum United States · #279 worldwide 1.6k citations · 260 works
  4. 4 Fritz W. Scharpf Germany · #718 worldwide 1.3k citations · 128 works
  5. 5 Franco Ferrari United States · #827 worldwide 661 citations · 139 works
  6. 6 Ingeborg Schwenzer Switzerland · #964 worldwide 654 citations · 124 works
  7. 7 András Jakab Switzerland · #1,312 worldwide 1.3k citations · 93 works
  8. 8 David Hume Australia · #1,397 worldwide 1.9k citations · 378 works
  9. 9 Tom R. Tyler United States · #1,668 worldwide 1.8k citations · 102 works
  10. 10 Steven Shavell United States · #1,827 worldwide 1.4k citations · 85 works

Re-ranked on the composite score from the 4,229 highest-output authors in Law. Identities come from OpenAlex author disambiguation, which occasionally merges or splits people.

Top 100 Law researchers

Where is Law research done?

The largest centres of Law research in 2022–2025 are Jakarta (Indonesia), Medan (Indonesia), Surabaya (Indonesia) and Bandung (Indonesia). Among places with at least 20 works in it, it is an unusually large share of all research in Espírito Santo, Nova Lima and Otavalo.

Largest cities, 2022–2025

  1. 1 Jakarta Indonesia 6.5k works
  2. 2 Medan Indonesia 3.6k works
  3. 3 Surabaya Indonesia 3.4k works
  4. 4 Bandung Indonesia 2.7k works
  5. 5 Semarang Indonesia 2.6k works
  6. 6 Moscow Russia 2.4k works
  7. 7 Yogyakarta Indonesia 2.4k works
  8. 8 Makassar Indonesia 2k works
  9. 9 Bengkulu Indonesia 1.6k works
  10. 10 Malang Indonesia 1.5k works

Where it is the local speciality

  1. Espírito Santo47.0 works64×
  2. Nova LimaBR · 34.9 works44×
  3. OtavaloEC · 25.5 works32×
  4. ChatuchakTH · 29.3 works30×
  5. Gorontalo71.7 works29×
  6. ItaúnaBR · 31.8 works27×
  7. BocholtDE · 21.3 works25×
  8. CaçadorBR · 152.8 works25×
← less than its size predicts1×more →

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

See Law on the map

Law research by country

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

Where is the best place to study Law?

Among universities, judged by research, Islamic University of Indonesia, Sunan Gunung Djati State Islamic University Bandung and University of Indonesia 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%20%40%mean 18.33%fractional works in this node (log) →share in the world top 10% →Islamic University of Indonesia: 510, 19.3%Sunan Gunung Djati State Islamic University Bandung: 430, 17.2%University of Indonesia: 1,122, 15.8%Diponegoro University: 867, 14.5%Universitas Wijaya Putra: 174, 24.4%Tarumanagara University: 1,036, 10.8%State University of Gorontalo: 517, 15.1%Padjadjaran University: 735, 19.0%International University of Batam: 208, 29.9%Universitas Bhayangkara Jakarta Raya: 335, 17.3%Islamic University o…Sunan Gunung Djati S…University of Indone…Diponegoro University
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
1Islamic University of Indonesia Indonesia 72.119.3%12.6×510 +289.7%
2Sunan Gunung Djati State Islamic University Bandung Indonesia 68.817.2%10.0×430 +886.7%
3University of Indonesia Indonesia 68.515.8%7.9×1,122 +369.5%
4Diponegoro University Indonesia 68.514.5%9.1×867 +734.1%
5Universitas Wijaya Putra Indonesia 68.524.4%9.5×174 +487.5%
6Tarumanagara University Indonesia 68.110.8%16.4×1,036 +1141.8%
7State University of Gorontalo Indonesia 67.715.1%10.6×517 +2338.9%
8Padjadjaran University Indonesia 67.519.0%7.4×735 +1119.9%
9International University of Batam Indonesia 67.229.9%12.1×208 —
10Universitas Bhayangkara Jakarta Raya Indonesia 67.017.3%12.6×335 +3155.6%

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 Law research growing?

Output in 2018–2022 was 53% higher than in 2013–2017, peaking in 2023. The fastest-growing topics are Legal Studies and Policies, Legal and Social Justice Studies and Legal and Policy Analysis in Indonesia.

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. Legal Studies and Policies+1704%
  2. Legal and Social Justice Studies+1641%
  3. Legal and Policy Analysis in Indonesia+1551%
  4. Legal and Policy Issues+1336%
  5. Brazilian Legal Issues+592%
  6. Social Issues and Policies in Latin America+520%
  7. Legal principles and applications-4%
  8. Property Rights and Legal Doctrine-9%
  9. Legal Education and Practice Innovations-9%
  10. Criminal Law and Evidence-15%
← shrinkingno changegrowing →

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

What does Law include?

Legal Studies and Policies: 50k fractional worksBrazilian Legal Issues: 42k fractional worksLegal and Social Justice Studies: 30k fractional worksLegal Education and Practice Innovations: 29k fractional worksLegal principles and app…27kLegal principles and applications: 27k fractional worksLaw in Society and Culture: 26k fractional worksJudicial and Constitutional Studies: 24k fractional worksLegal and Policy Analysi…23kLegal and Policy Analysis in Indonesia: 23k fractional worksCriminal Law and Evidence: 18k fractional worksEuropean and International Contract Law: 18k fractional worksLaw and Political Science: 17k fractional worksLegal and Policy Issues: 16k fractional works

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