Science Explorer Interactive view Map

Homelessness and Social Issues

Homelessness and Social Issues is a research topic within General Health Professions. Science Explorer counts 46k research works in it since 1950. 29.7% of them reached the world's top 10% most cited for their field and year.

This cluster of papers explores the impact of homelessness on health, with a focus on mental illness, substance abuse, and the effectiveness of interventions such as Housing First. It also examines the challenges faced by homeless individuals in accessing healthcare and the prevalence of HIV risk behaviors among this population.

  • Homelessness
  • Health
  • Mental Illness
  • Substance Abuse
  • Housing First
  • Public Health
  • Social Support
  • Youth Homelessness
  • Health Care Utilization
  • HIV Risk Behaviors
Research works
46k
fractional, since 1950
In the world top 10%
14k
per year above
Top-10% rate
29.7%
share of its works in the world top 10%
Growth, 2013–17 → 2018–22
+35%
the tick is no change

This ranks research output and citation impact. It says nothing about the quality of diagnosis, treatment or care.

Which countries lead Homelessness and Social Issues research?

By volume, the United States and the United Kingdom publish the most (3.6k and 1.1k works in 2022–2025).

By volume, 2022–2025

  1. 1 United States 3.6k works
  2. 2 United Kingdom 1.1k works
  3. 3 Canada 702 works
  4. 4 Australia 553 works
  5. 5 Brazil 316 works
  6. 6 India 195 works
  7. 7 Germany 182 works
  8. 8 South Africa 182 works
  9. 9 Nigeria 144 works
  10. 10 China 128 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: 50.6%United Kingdom: 15.6%Canada: 9.9%Australia: 7.8%6 others listed: 16.1%51%largest
United States3,595 · 50.6%United Kingdom1,109 · 15.6%Canada702 · 9.9%Australia553 · 7.8%6 others listed1,147 · 16.1%

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

Which institutions lead Homelessness and Social Issues research?

By volume in 2022–2025, University of Toronto publishes the most Homelessness and Social Issues research, followed by University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and University College London.

By volume, 2022–2025

  1. 1 University of TorontoCanada 60 works
  2. 2 University of North Carolina at Chapel HillUnited States 55 works
  3. 3 University College LondonUnited Kingdom 43 works
  4. 4 Johns Hopkins UniversityUnited States 40 works
  5. 5 The Ohio State UniversityUnited States 38 works
  6. 6 University of California, San FranciscoUnited States 37 works
  7. 7 University of Southern CaliforniaUnited States 37 works
  8. 8 The University of MelbourneAustralia 36 works
  9. 9 New York UniversityUnited States 36 works
  10. 10 University of CalgaryCanada 36 works

Who are the leading researchers in Homelessness and Social Issues?

The most-cited researchers publishing on Homelessness and Social Issues include John J. McGrath, Robert J. Sampson and Don C. Des Jarlais.

  1. 1 John J. McGrath Australia 5.3k citations
  2. 2 Robert J. Sampson United States 4k citations
  3. 3 Don C. Des Jarlais United States 4k citations

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

Where is Homelessness and Social Issues research done?

The largest centres of Homelessness and Social Issues research in 2022–2025 are London (United Kingdom), New York (United States), Toronto (Canada) and Melbourne (Australia). Among places with at least 20 works in it, it is an unusually large share of all research in Portsmouth.

Largest cities, 2022–2025

  1. 1 London United Kingdom 239 works
  2. 2 New York United States 173 works
  3. 3 Toronto Canada 152 works
  4. 4 Melbourne Australia 138 works
  5. 5 Washington D.C. United States 115 works
  6. 6 Los Angeles United States 113 works
  7. 7 Boston United States 109 works
  8. 8 Chicago United States 93 works
  9. 9 Sydney Australia 91 works
  10. 10 Baltimore United States 83 works

Where it is the local speciality

  1. PortsmouthGB · 33.2 works20×
← less than its size predictsmore →

Location quotient: how much more of its research is in Homelessness and Social Issues than the world average.

See Homelessness and Social Issues on the map

Where is the best place to study Homelessness and Social Issues?

Among universities, judged by research, Manchester Metropolitan University, Portland State University and Northumbria 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%20%40%mean 32.49%fractional works in this node (log) →share in the world top 10% →Manchester Metropolitan University: 17, 30.0%Portland State University: 12, 41.4%Northumbria University: 21, 21.3%The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston: 20, 27.7%University College London: 43, 36.7%University of Toronto: 60, 32.1%Charles Sturt University: 11, 42.1%Liverpool John Moores University: 12, 32.9%University of California, San Francisco: 37, 26.4%University of Zimbabwe: 9, 34.3%Portland State Unive…Manchester Metropoli…The University of Te…Northumbria 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
1 Manchester Metropolitan UniversityUnited Kingdom 64.430.0%12.1×17 +88.2%
2 Portland State UniversityUnited States 63.641.4%11.9×12 +81.4%
3 Northumbria UniversityUnited Kingdom 61.621.3%10.5×21 +95.5%
4 The University of Texas Health Science Center at HoustonUnited States 61.627.7%7.9×20 +214.9%
5 University College LondonUnited Kingdom 60.636.7%3.6×43 +77.7%
6 University of TorontoCanada 60.332.1%4.9×60 +35.6%
7 Charles Sturt UniversityAustralia 59.642.1%9.1×11 +37.1%
8 Liverpool John Moores UniversityUnited Kingdom 59.332.9%9.3×12 +42.8%
9 University of California, San FranciscoUnited States 58.626.4%6.8×37 +99.8%
10 University of ZimbabweZimbabwe 58.434.3%13.9×9 +54.8%

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 Homelessness and Social Issues research growing?

Output in 2018–2022 was 35% higher than in 2013–2017, peaking in 2024. The fastest-growing topics are Homelessness and Social Issues.

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.