Profiling institutes: Identifying high research performance and social relevance in the social and behavioral sciences

This study focuses on the identification of high output research and high impact research in the social and behavioral sciences. A second objective is to monitor developments in research that is related to societal needs and problems. For each topic, we identify institutes and authors that have contributed a considerable number of SSCI articles and/or several (relatively) highly cited articles on a topic. To identify papers with a (relatively) high impact, the present study used two citation thresholds, each based upon a combination of a statistically determined minimum number of 'external' citations (by others than the authors of a paper), and a statistical comparison with world average citation levels. Topics were categorised according to social relevance. Detailed profiles of bath large and small institutes are obtained, showing strengths and weaknesses in research performance that lend to be obscured by standard indicators focusing on 'average' research performance. Socially relevant topics tend to be concentrated in multidisciplinary clusters, whereas clusters dominated by one or two disciplines contain more basic research. The results provide a first insight in the extent to which institutes and authors address socially relevant topics. Use of the results by policy bodies seems dependent upon which organisational level of research they tend to address.