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Topic · Sociology and Political Science

Human Rights and Development

Human Rights and Development is a research topic within Sociology and Political Science. Science Explorer counts 17k research works in it since 1951. 10.2% 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 and development within the context of global governance, focusing on the critique and implementation of Millennium Development Goals, challenges in achieving sustainable development, social inequality, and the use of indicators to measure progress. It also delves into the implications of a rights-based approach, international cooperation, and the evolving landscape of human rights in the pursuit of equitable development.

  • Human Rights
  • Development
  • Global Governance
  • Millennium Development Goals
  • Social Inequality
  • Indicators
  • Sustainable Development Goals
  • Aid and Development
  • Rights-Based Approach
  • International Cooperation
Research works
17k
fractional, since 1951
In the world top 10%
1.7k
per year above
Top-10% rate
10.2%
share of its works in the world top 10%
Growth, 2018-21 → 2022-25
+8%
the tick is no change
Largest producer
United States
23% of the 10 largest, 2022-now
Human Rights and Development

Which countries lead Human Rights and Development research?

By volume, the United States and the United Kingdom publish the most (538 and 327 works in 2022-now).

By volume, 2022-now

  1. 1 United States 538 works
  2. 2 United Kingdom 327 works
  3. 3 India 279 works
  4. 4 South Africa 270 works
  5. 5 Brazil 250 works
  6. 6 Germany 210 works
  7. 7 Indonesia 123 works
  8. 8 Nigeria 120 works
  9. 9 Canada 109 works
  10. 10 Australia 107 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: 23.1%United Kingdom: 14.0%India: 12.0%South Africa: 11.6%6 others listed: 39.4%23%largest
United States538 · 23.1%United Kingdom327 · 14.0%India279 · 12.0%South Africa270 · 11.6%6 others listed918 · 39.4%

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

Which institutions lead Human Rights and Development research?

By volume in 2022-now, Institute for Peace Research and Security Policy publishes the most Human Rights and Development research, followed by University of Pretoria and University of the Western Cape.

By volume, 2022-now

  1. 1 Institute for Peace Research and Security PolicyGermany 80 works
  2. 2 University of PretoriaSouth Africa 36 works
  3. 3 University of the Western CapeSouth Africa 25 works
  4. 4 University of South AfricaSouth Africa 24 works
  5. 5 University of the WitwatersrandSouth Africa 24 works
  6. 6 University of OxfordUnited Kingdom 23 works
  7. 7 University of JohannesburgSouth Africa 21 works
  8. 8 North-West UniversitySouth Africa 19 works
  9. 9 University of the Free StateSouth Africa 19 works
  10. 10 Centre National de la Recherche ScientifiqueFrance 17 works

Who are the leading researchers in Human Rights and Development?

The most-cited researchers publishing on Human Rights and Development include Christopher J L Murray, Simon Iain Hay and Ali H. Mokdad.

  1. 1 Christopher J L Murray United States 583k citations
  2. 2 Simon Iain Hay United States 452k citations
  3. 3 Ali H. Mokdad United States 429k citations
  4. 4 Zulfiqar Ahmed Bhutta Pakistan 371k citations
  5. 5 Martin McKee United Kingdom 270k 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 Human Rights and Development?

The most cited paper in Human Rights and Development is "Unpacking 'Participation': models, meanings and practices" (Andréa Cornwall, 2008), with 1,711 citations. Next come "World Poverty and Human Rights" (1,635) and "Human Rights and Gender Violence: Translating International Law into Local Justice" (1,591).

Most cited papers
#PaperReleasedCitations
1 Unpacking 'Participation': models, meanings and practices Andréa Cornwall · Community Development Journal Open access 5 Jun 2008 1,711
2 World Poverty and Human Rights Thomas W Pogge · Ethics & International Affairs Mar 2005 1,635
3 Human Rights and Gender Violence: Translating International Law into Local Justice Stacy K. McGoldrick · Contemporary Sociology A Journal of Reviews 2007 1,591
4 Do Human Rights Treaties Make a Difference? Oona A. Hathaway · The Yale Law Journal Jun 2002 1,357
5 Gender Planning and Development: Theory, Practice and Training Devaki Jain, Caroline O. N. Moser · Feminist Review 1995 1,288
All 100 most cited papers, with filters and sorting

Where is Human Rights and Development research done?

The largest centres of Human Rights and Development research in 2022-now are Hamburg (Germany), London (United Kingdom), Pretoria (South Africa) and New York (United States). Among places with at least 20 works in it, it is an unusually large share of all research in Cape Town, Pretoria and Hamburg.

Largest cities, 2022-now

  1. 1 HamburgGermany 88 works
  2. 2 LondonUnited Kingdom 85 works
  3. 3 PretoriaSouth Africa 69 works
  4. 4 New YorkUnited States 61 works
  5. 5 Washington D.C.United States 53 works
  6. 6 JohannesburgSouth Africa 48 works
  7. 7 ParisFrance 36 works
  8. 8 São PauloBrazil 35 works
  9. 9 GenevaSwitzerland 33 works
  10. 10 NairobiKenya 32 works

Where it is the local speciality

  1. Cape TownZA · 29.4 works19×
  2. PretoriaZA · 69.0 works15×
  3. HamburgDE · 88.2 works15×
← less than its size predicts1×more →

Location quotient: how much more of its research is in Human Rights and Development than the world average.

See Human Rights and Development on the map

Where is the best place to study Human Rights and Development?

Among universities, judged by research, Sapienza University of Rome, University of Amsterdam and London School of Economics and Political Science 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%25%50%75%mean 20.15%fractional works in this field (log) →share of work in the world top 10% →Sapienza University …University of Amster…London School of Eco…University of Johann…
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.

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
1Sapienza University of RomeItaly 66.067.0%3.1×12 +242.5%
2University of AmsterdamNetherlands 56.235.8%5.6×11 +23.3%
3London School of Economics and Political ScienceUnited Kingdom 54.827.5%18.6×15 +10.1%
4University of JohannesburgSouth Africa 51.514.0%9.8×21 +10.3%
5University of OxfordUnited Kingdom 51.316.7%4.7×23 -8.2%
6University of PretoriaSouth Africa 49.93.4%24.8×36 -25.2%
7University of the WitwatersrandSouth Africa 49.616.2%16.4×24 -14.6%
8University of the Western CapeSouth Africa 49.26.8%48.7×25 +10.1%
9University of South AfricaSouth Africa 46.96.5%16.4×24 +9.6%
10University of the Free StateSouth Africa 44.67.6%23.3×19 +9.5%

Universities only. The score blends 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 Human Rights and Development, country by country

Is Human Rights and Development research growing?

Output in 2022-2025 was 8% higher than in 2018-2021, peaking in 2025. The fastest-growing topics are Human Rights and Development.

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 Human Rights and Development as a percentage of every work published that year, 0.018% in 2024.

still counting0.010%0.020%0.030%Human Rights and Development0.017% in 202519801990200020102020

Fractional works of Human Rights and Development 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%Human Rights and Development10.5% 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.

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