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Topic · General Social Sciences

Social Sciences and Policies

Social Sciences and Policies is a research topic within General Social Sciences. Science Explorer counts 36k research works in it since 1950. 9.8% of them reached the world's top 10% most cited for their field and year.

This cluster of papers covers a wide range of topics related to social work, welfare state, and community intervention in Spain. It includes discussions on gender differences, the impact of economic crisis, family support for vulnerable populations, migrant integration, and ethical challenges in social work practice. The papers also explore the role of the third sector, participation in social policies, and the evolving landscape of social welfare in Spain.

  • Social Work
  • Welfare State
  • Community Intervention
  • Gender Differences
  • Third Sector
  • Participation
  • Economic Crisis
  • Family Support
  • Migrant Integration
  • Ethical Challenges
Research works
36k
fractional, since 1950
In the world top 10%
3.6k
per year above
Top-10% rate
9.8%
share of its works in the world top 10%
Growth, 2018-21 → 2022-25
+8%
the tick is no change
Largest producer
Spain
38% of the 10 largest, 2022-now
Social Sciences and Policies

Which countries lead Social Sciences and Policies research?

By volume, Spain and Mexico publish the most (2.3k and 902 works in 2022-now).

By volume, 2022-now

  1. 1 Spain 2.3k works
  2. 2 Mexico 902 works
  3. 3 Argentina 618 works
  4. 4 Chile 552 works
  5. 5 Colombia 491 works
  6. 6 Brazil 361 works
  7. 7 Ecuador 318 works
  8. 8 Peru 238 works
  9. 9 United States 212 works
  10. 10 France 113 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.

Spain: 38.2%Mexico: 14.7%Argentina: 10.0%Chile: 9.0%6 others listed: 28.2%38%largest
Spain2,349 · 38.2%Mexico902 · 14.7%Argentina618 · 10.0%Chile552 · 9.0%6 others listed1,733 · 28.2%

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

Which institutions lead Social Sciences and Policies research?

By volume in 2022-now, Universidad Complutense de Madrid publishes the most Social Sciences and Policies research, followed by Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas and Universitat de Barcelona.

By volume, 2022-now

  1. 1 Universidad Complutense de MadridSpain 203 works
  2. 2 Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y TécnicasArgentina 107 works
  3. 3 Universitat de BarcelonaSpain 106 works
  4. 4 Universidad de Buenos AiresArgentina 97 works
  5. 5 Universidad Nacional Autónoma de MéxicoMexico 95 works
  6. 6 Universitat de ValènciaSpain 93 works
  7. 7 University of the Basque CountrySpain 82 works
  8. 8 University of ChileChile 81 works
  9. 9 Consejo Superior de Investigaciones CientíficasSpain 73 works
  10. 10 Universidad de GranadaSpain 72 works

Who are the leading researchers in Social Sciences and Policies?

The most-cited researchers publishing on Social Sciences and Policies include Albert Bandura, Pierre Bourdıeu and Rafael Lozano.

  1. 1 Albert Bandura United States 370k citations
  2. 2 Pierre Bourdıeu France 268k citations
  3. 3 Rafael Lozano United States 224k citations
  4. 4 Michel Foucault France 208k citations
  5. 5 Jordi Alonso Spain 171k 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 Social Sciences and Policies?

The most cited paper in Social Sciences and Policies is "Autonomia de professores" (Marcelo Valério, 2017), with 493 citations. Next come ""Crear capacidades. Propuesta para el desarrollo humano"" (389) and "Changes in the Form of Knowledge in Social Work: From the 'Social' to the 'Informational'?" (367).

Most cited papers
#PaperReleasedCitations
1 Autonomia de professores Marcelo Valério · Educar em Revista Open access Dec 2017 493
2 "Crear capacidades. Propuesta para el desarrollo humano" Rosa Colmenarejo Fernández · Revista de Fomento Social Open access 31 Dec 2012 389
3 Changes in the Form of Knowledge in Social Work: From the 'Social' to the 'Informational'? Nigel Ashmore Parton · The British Journal of Social Work 27 Oct 2006 367
4 Critical Communicative Methodology: Informing Real Social Transformation Through Research Aitor Gómez, Lídia Puigvert, Ramón Flecha · Qualitative Inquiry 4 Feb 2011 331
5 Un mundo ch’ixi es posible. Ensayos desde un presente en crisis Nicolás Gómez Núñez · Polis (Santiago) Open access 15 Sep 2020 277
All 98 most cited papers, with filters and sorting

Where is Social Sciences and Policies research done?

The largest centres of Social Sciences and Policies research in 2022-now are Madrid (Spain), Mexico City (Mexico), Santiago (Chile) and Buenos Aires (Argentina). Among places with at least 20 works in it, it is an unusually large share of all research in Ciudad Juárez and Maracaibo.

Largest cities, 2022-now

  1. 1 MadridSpain 592 works
  2. 2 Mexico CityMexico 302 works
  3. 3 SantiagoChile 293 works
  4. 4 Buenos AiresArgentina 253 works
  5. 5 BogotáColombia 219 works
  6. 6 BarcelonaSpain 191 works
  7. 7 LimaPeru 129 works
  8. 8 ValenciaSpain 126 works
  9. 9 SevilleSpain 116 works
  10. 10 São PauloBrazil 91 works

Where it is the local speciality

  1. Ciudad JuárezMX · 32.5 works73×
  2. MaracaiboVE · 25.4 works50×
← less than its size predicts1×more →

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

See Social Sciences and Policies on the map

Where is the best place to study Social Sciences and Policies?

Among universities, judged by research, University of the Americas, Universitat de Barcelona and Universidad Complutense de Madrid 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 18.79%fractional works in this field (log) →share of work in the world top 10% →Universidad César Va…University of the Am…Universitat de Barce…Universidad Complute…
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
1University of the AmericasChile 72.025.9%62.2×10 +252.1%
2Universitat de BarcelonaSpain 68.613.5%22.9×106 +23.1%
3Universidad Complutense de MadridSpain 67.610.0%38.2×203 +19.4%
4Universidad César VallejoPeru 66.026.3%17.8×29 +780.6%
5Universitat de ValènciaSpain 64.713.6%28.3×93 +27.1%
6University of CaldasColombia 63.939.6%41.0×13 +33.6%
7Universidad de MálagaSpain 62.112.2%38.7×72 +43.6%
8Universidad Nacional de Educación a DistanciaSpain 62.012.6%60.5×67 +26.2%
9University of Castilla-La ManchaSpain 60.718.6%19.1×31 +29.1%
10Universidad de SevillaSpain 60.615.6%18.8×64 +9.1%

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 Social Sciences and Policies, country by country

Is Social Sciences and Policies research growing?

Output in 2022-2025 was 8% higher than in 2018-2021, peaking in 2024. The fastest-growing topics are Social Sciences and Policies.

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 Social Sciences and Policies as a percentage of every work published that year, 0.045% in 2024.

still counting0.020%0.040%0.060%Social Sciences and Policies0.030% in 202519801990200020102020

Fractional works of Social Sciences and Policies 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%Social Sciences and Policies9.6% 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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