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Topic · Law

Freedom of Expression and Defamation

Freedom of Expression and Defamation is a research topic within Law. Science Explorer counts 5.8k research works in it since 1950. 14.8% of them reached the world's top 10% most cited for their field and year.

This cluster of papers explores the intersection of human rights law, freedom of expression, and the regulation of speech in various contexts such as defamation, internet governance, surveillance, and social media. It also delves into the ethical considerations in scientific research and the implications for international law.

  • Human Rights
  • Defamation
  • Internet Regulation
  • Freedom of Expression
  • Surveillance
  • Authorship Studies
  • Social Media
  • Cybercrime
  • Ethics in Science
  • International Law
Research works
5.8k
fractional, since 1950
In the world top 10%
857
per year above
Top-10% rate
14.8%
share of its works in the world top 10%
Growth, 2013–17 → 2018–22
+23%
the tick is no change

Which countries lead Freedom of Expression and Defamation research?

By volume, the United States and the United Kingdom publish the most (217 and 89 works in 2022–2025).

By volume, 2022–2025

  1. 1 United States 217 works
  2. 2 United Kingdom 89 works
  3. 3 Germany 73 works
  4. 4 Australia 56 works
  5. 5 India 45 works
  6. 6 China 39 works
  7. 7 Indonesia 34 works
  8. 8 Türkiye 28 works
  9. 9 Canada 28 works
  10. 10 France 27 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: 34.2%United Kingdom: 13.9%Germany: 11.5%Australia: 8.8%6 others listed: 31.5%34%largest
United States217 · 34.2%United Kingdom89 · 13.9%Germany73 · 11.5%Australia56 · 8.8%6 others listed201 · 31.5%

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

Which institutions lead Freedom of Expression and Defamation research?

By volume in 2022–2025, University of Cambridge publishes the most Freedom of Expression and Defamation research, followed by The University of Melbourne and The University of Sydney.

By volume, 2022–2025

  1. 1 University of CambridgeUnited Kingdom 7 works
  2. 2 The University of MelbourneAustralia 5 works
  3. 3 The University of SydneyAustralia 5 works
  4. 4 University of AmsterdamNetherlands 5 works
  5. 5 University of OxfordUnited Kingdom 5 works
  6. 6 American Civil Liberties UnionUnited States 4 works
  7. 7 Heinrich Heine University DüsseldorfGermany 4 works
  8. 8 Utrecht UniversityNetherlands 3 works
  9. 9 KU LeuvenBelgium 3 works
  10. 10 University College LondonUnited Kingdom 3 works

Who are the leading researchers in Freedom of Expression and Defamation?

The most-cited researchers publishing on Freedom of Expression and Defamation include David Hume.

  1. 1 David Hume Australia 1.9k citations

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

Where is Freedom of Expression and Defamation research done?

The largest centres of Freedom of Expression and Defamation research in 2022–2025 are New York (United States), London (United Kingdom), Sydney (Australia) and Melbourne (Australia). Among places with at least 20 works in it, it is an unusually large share of all research in New York.

Largest cities, 2022–2025

  1. 1 New York United States 21 works
  2. 2 London United Kingdom 19 works
  3. 3 Sydney Australia 16 works
  4. 4 Melbourne Australia 14 works
  5. 5 Washington D.C. United States 11 works
  6. 6 Beijing China 11 works
  7. 7 Paris France 9 works
  8. 8 Istanbul Türkiye 9 works
  9. 9 Cambridge United Kingdom 9 works
  10. 10 Berlin Germany 8 works

Where it is the local speciality

  1. New YorkUS · 20.6 works3.1×
← less than its size predicts1×more →

Location quotient: how much more of its research is in Freedom of Expression and Defamation than the world average.

See Freedom of Expression and Defamation on the map

Is Freedom of Expression and Defamation research growing?

Output in 2018–2022 was 23% higher than in 2013–2017, peaking in 2025. The fastest-growing topics are Freedom of Expression and Defamation.

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.