Science Explorer Back to mapMap
Discussion
Topic · Sociology and Political Science

Australian History and Society

Australian History and Society is a research topic within Sociology and Political Science. Science Explorer counts 23k research works in it since 1950. 10.2% of them reached the world's top 10% most cited for their field and year.

This cluster of papers explores the complex interplay of British imperialism, Australian history, and national identity. It delves into topics such as colonialism, imperial networks, settler discourse, convict transportation, and the cultural turn in understanding the impact of British imperialism on Australia and beyond.

  • British imperialism
  • Australian history
  • national identity
  • colonialism
  • imperial networks
  • settler discourse
  • transnational history
  • empire and identity
  • convict transportation
  • cultural turn
Research works
23k
fractional, since 1950
In the world top 10%
2.3k
per year above
Top-10% rate
10.2%
share of its works in the world top 10%
Growth, 2018-21 → 2022-25
-4%
the tick is no change
Largest producer
Australia
38% of the 10 largest, 2022-now
Australian History and Society

Which countries lead Australian History and Society research?

By volume, Australia and the United States publish the most (810 and 489 works in 2022-now).

By volume, 2022-now

  1. 1 Australia 810 works
  2. 2 United States 489 works
  3. 3 United Kingdom 430 works
  4. 4 Canada 117 works
  5. 5 New Zealand 60 works
  6. 6 Germany 50 works
  7. 7 China 46 works
  8. 8 France 45 works
  9. 9 India 41 works
  10. 10 South Africa 25 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.

Australia: 38.3%United States: 23.1%United Kingdom: 20.4%Canada: 5.5%6 others listed: 12.6%38%largest
Australia810 · 38.3%United States489 · 23.1%United Kingdom430 · 20.4%Canada117 · 5.5%6 others listed267 · 12.6%

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

Which institutions lead Australian History and Society research?

By volume in 2022-now, The University of Melbourne publishes the most Australian History and Society research, followed by Australian National University and The University of Queensland.

By volume, 2022-now

  1. 1 The University of MelbourneAustralia 85 works
  2. 2 Australian National UniversityAustralia 83 works
  3. 3 The University of QueenslandAustralia 65 works
  4. 4 The University of SydneyAustralia 48 works
  5. 5 Film IndependentUnited States 39 works
  6. 6 Monash UniversityAustralia 38 works
  7. 7 Macquarie UniversityAustralia 38 works
  8. 8 UNSW SydneyAustralia 35 works
  9. 9 Deakin UniversityAustralia 34 works
  10. 10 University of CambridgeUnited Kingdom 33 works

Who are the leading researchers in Australian History and Society?

The most-cited researchers publishing on Australian History and Society include George Davey Smith, Victoria Clarke and Paul M. Thompson.

  1. 1 George Davey Smith United Kingdom 435k citations
  2. 2 Victoria Clarke United Kingdom 285k citations
  3. 3 Paul M. Thompson United States 196k citations
  4. 4 Joseph E. Stiglitz United States 167k citations

Ranked by citations received across their whole record, among researchers with at least three works on this topic.

What are the most cited papers in Australian History and Society?

The most cited paper in Australian History and Society is "The Second Industrial Divide: Possibilities for Prosperity" (William H. Becker, Michael J. Piore, Charles Frederick Sabel, 1987), with 4,355 citations. Next come "Race, nation, class: ambiguous identities" (1,688) and "Discovering the News: A Social History of American Newspapers" (1,465).

Most cited papers
#PaperReleasedCitations
1 The Second Industrial Divide: Possibilities for Prosperity William H. Becker, Michael J. Piore, Charles Frederick Sabel · Journal of American History Mar 1987 4,355
2 Race, nation, class: ambiguous identities Robert Miles · International Affairs Jul 1992 1,688
3 Discovering the News: A Social History of American Newspapers Thomas C. Leonard, Michael S. Schudson · Journal of American History Sep 1979 1,465
4 Women, Race and Class Karen Tucker Anderson, Angela Y. Davis · Journal of American History Dec 1982 1,088
5 THE IMPERIALISM OF FREE TRADE John Robert Gallagher, Ronald C. Robinson · The Economic History Review Aug 1953 821
All 100 most cited papers, with filters and sorting

Where is Australian History and Society research done?

The largest centres of Australian History and Society research in 2022-now are Melbourne (Australia), Sydney (Australia), Brisbane (Australia) and Canberra (Australia). Among places with at least 20 works in it, it is an unusually large share of all research in Burwood, Canberra and Brisbane.

Largest cities, 2022-now

  1. 1 MelbourneAustralia 175 works
  2. 2 SydneyAustralia 155 works
  3. 3 BrisbaneAustralia 119 works
  4. 4 CanberraAustralia 110 works
  5. 5 LondonUnited Kingdom 86 works
  6. 6 AdelaideAustralia 44 works
  7. 7 Los AngelesUnited States 43 works
  8. 8 PerthAustralia 41 works
  9. 9 CambridgeUnited Kingdom 37 works
  10. 10 BurwoodAustralia 34 works

Where it is the local speciality

  1. BurwoodAU · 34.0 works33×
  2. CanberraAU · 110.5 works33×
  3. BrisbaneAU · 118.8 works26×
← less than its size predicts1×more →

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

See Australian History and Society on the map

Where is the best place to study Australian History and Society?

Among universities, judged by research, Australian National University, The University of Melbourne and University of Cambridge score highest, combining citation 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%30%mean 13.65%fractional works in this field (log) →share of work in the world top 10% →The University of Me…Australian National …University of Cambri…The University of Qu…
above the meannear itbelow it

One dot per university in the first ten of the table below, at the default weights. The upper left is the interesting corner: small places doing unusually strong work.

Citation excellenceshare of its work in the world top 10%, 2022-now and all time averaged
40%
Specialisationhow much of its work is in this field, counted up to 10× the world share
10%
Sizeits output in this field, on a log scale
30%
Growthoutput growth, counted from -20% to +20%
10%
Internationalshare of its work with a co-author abroad
10%
Each slider sets a weight; the share it gets of the score is beside it.
#UniversityScoreTop 10%SpecialisationWorksGrowth
1Australian National UniversityAustralia 64.510.8%79.1×83 -1.0%
2The University of MelbourneAustralia 60.413.1%36.8×85 -18.9%
3University of CambridgeUnited Kingdom 59.18.1%13.4×33 +48.4%
4The University of QueenslandAustralia 59.04.4%33.1×65 +80.4%
5Swinburne University of TechnologyAustralia 59.023.4%25.5×15 +111.2%
6Monash UniversityAustralia 58.514.8%18.8×38 -3.5%
7Deakin UniversityAustralia 56.711.9%36.8×34 +11.6%
8University of BirminghamUnited Kingdom 55.524.9%6.7×9 +87.7%
9University of OxfordUnited Kingdom 55.410.8%9.8×28 +50.8%
10Macquarie UniversityAustralia 55.314.3%49.7×38 -10.1%

Universities only. The score blends citation excellence (40%), size (30%), specialisation (10%), growth (10%), international reach (10%), 2022-now; growth compares 2018-21 with 2022-25 and counts up to +20%, since a jump from a small base is mostly noise.

Every institution in Australian History and Society, country by country

Is Australian History and Society research growing?

Output in 2022-2025 was 4% lower than in 2018-2021, peaking in 2014.

still counting19801990200020102020
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 Australian History and Society as a percentage of every work published that year, 0.010% in 2024.

still counting0.025%0.050%0.075%Australian History and Society0.0094% in 202519801990200020102020

Fractional works of Australian History and Society 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.

still counting5%10%15%Australian History and Society9.9% in 2025200020102020

Of each year's works in it, the share that reached the world's 10% most cited for their field and year. A field is the world for its own topics, so there is no other line to hold it against.

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.

Discussion

Ask a question or share a note about Australian History and Society. Keep it to the research: no personal attacks, advertising or links. Any reader can report a post, which collapses it for everyone until it is opened.