World's Best Scientists 2026 revealed!
Big Data and Society
H-index 22

Big Data and Society

Ranking & Metrics

Discipline name Position Best Scientists Publications D-Index
Social Sciences and Humanities 341 18 21 12
Computer Science 859 9 9 5

Additional Metrics

Number of Best Scientists*: 47
Documents by Best Scientists*: 51
Top 100 Ranked Scientists*: 1
SCIMAGO H-index: 78
SCIMAGO SJR: 2.207
Impact Factor: 5.9

Overview

Top Research Topics at Big Data & Society?

The aim of the journal is to expand the discussion of research in Big data, Data science, Social media, Internet privacy and Public relations. The Big data works featured in the journal incorporate elements from Media studies, Law, World Wide Web, Epistemology and Social science. The work on Law addressed in the journal expands to the thematically related Corporate governance.

The work tackled in the journal goes beyond the discipline of Data science as it also encompasses Critical data studies.

  • Big data (42.89%)
  • Data science (24.08%)
  • Social media (11.93%)

What are the most cited papers published in the journal?

  • Big Data, new epistemologies and paradigm shifts: (884 citations)
  • How the machine ‘thinks’: Understanding opacity in machine learning algorithms (580 citations)
  • The ethics of algorithms: Mapping the debate: (513 citations)

Research areas of the most cited articles at Big Data & Society:

The journal articles primarily focus on research topics in Big data, Data science, Social media, Public relations and Law. The published articles address concerns in Big data which are intertwined with other disciplines, such as Epistemology, Social science, Analytics and Management science. While Data science is the key highlight in the most cited articles, thet also covered some subjects on Data collection and External validity, Record linkage and Linkage (mechanical).

What topics the last edition of the journal is best known for?

  • Law
  • Social science
  • The Internet

The previous edition focused in particular on these issues:

The main research concerns discussed in the journal are Big data, Social media, Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), 2019-20 coronavirus outbreak and Data science. The journal facilitates discussions on Big data that incorporate concepts from other fields like Marketing and Corporate social responsibility. In it, Sentiment analysis, Internet privacy and Media studies are investigated in conjunction with one another to address concerns in Social media research.

Most of the Internet privacy studies addressed also intersect with Datafication. In addition to Media studies research, it aims to explore topics under Public discourse, Context (language use) and Topic model. Big Data & Society tackles research in Computational sociology as part of the general discipline of Data science, however, it also discusses concepts in Digital data.

The most cited articles from the last journal are:

  • The COVID-19 Infodemic: Twitter versus Facebook (12 citations)
  • Data sovereignty: A review: (8 citations)
  • Making sense of algorithms: Relational perception of contact tracing and risk assessment during COVID-19 (7 citations)

Papers citation over time

A key indicator for each journal is its effectiveness in reaching other researchers with the papers published at that venue.

The chart below presents the interquartile range (first quartile 25%, median 50% and third quartile 75%) of the number of citations of articles over time.

The top authors publishing in Big Data & Society (based on the number of publications) are:

  • Linnet Taylor (5 papers) absent at the last edition,
  • Tommaso Venturini (5 papers) published 1 paper at the last edition,
  • Andrew McStay (4 papers) published 1 paper at the last edition the same number as at the previous edition,
  • Matthew Zook (4 papers) absent at the last edition,
  • Ine Van Hoyweghen (4 papers) published 1 paper at the last edition, 1 less than at the previous edition.

The overall trend for top authors publishing in this journal is outlined below. The chart shows the number of publications at each edition of the journal for top authors.

Only papers with recognized affiliations are considered

The top affiliations publishing in Big Data & Society (based on the number of publications) are:

  • University of Amsterdam (20 papers) published 6 papers at the last edition, 5 more than at the previous edition,
  • University of Copenhagen (16 papers) published 4 papers at the last edition, 2 more than at the previous edition,
  • University of Oxford (14 papers) published 5 papers at the last edition, 4 more than at the previous edition,
  • University of Sydney (9 papers) published 1 paper at the last edition, 2 less than at the previous edition,
  • University of Edinburgh (8 papers) absent at the last edition.

The overall trend for top affiliations publishing in this journal is outlined below. The chart shows the number of publications at each edition of the journal for top affiliations.

Publication chance based on affiliation

The publication chance index shows the ratio of articles published by the best research institutions in the journal edition to all articles published within that journal. The best research institutions were selected based on the largest number of articles published during all editions of the journal.

The chart below presents the percentage ratio of articles from top institutions (based on their ranking of total papers).Top affiliations were grouped by their rank into the following tiers: top 1-10, top 11-20, top 21-50, and top 51+. Only articles with a recognized affiliation are considered.

During the most recent 2021 edition, 7.32% of publications had an unrecognized affiliation. Out of the publications with recognized affiliations, 28.95% were posted by at least one author from the top 10 institutions publishing in the journal. Another 9.21% included authors affiliated with research institutions from the top 11-20 affiliations. Institutions from the 21-50 range included 25.00% of all publications and 36.84% were from other institutions.

Returning Authors Index

A very common phenomenon observed among researchers publishing scientific articles is the intentional selection of journals they have already attended in the past. In particular, it is worth analyzing the case when the authors participate in the same journal from year to year.

The Returning Authors Index presented below illustrates the ratio of authors who participated in both a given as well as the previous edition of the journal in relation to all participants in a given year.

Returning Institution Index

The graph below shows the Returning Institution Index, illustrating the ratio of institutions that participated in both a given and the previous edition of the conference in relation to all affiliations present in a given year.

The experience to innovation index

Our experience to innovation index was created to show a cross-section of the experience level of authors publishing in a journal. The index includes the authors publishing at the last edition of a journal, grouped by total number of publications throughout their academic career (P) and the total number of citations of these publications ever received (C).

The group intervals were selected empirically to best show the diversity of the authors' experiences, their labels were selected as a convenience, not as judgment. The authors were divided into the following groups:

  • Novice - P < 5 or C < 25 (the number of publications less than 5 or the number of citations less than 25),
  • Competent - P < 10 or C < 100 (the number of publications less than 10 or the number of citations less than 100),
  • Experienced - P < 25 or C < 625 (the number of publications less than 25 or the number of citations less than 625),
  • Master - P < 50 or C < 2500 (the number of publications less than 50 or the number of citations less than 2500),
  • Star - P ≥ 50 and C ≥ 2500 (both the number of publications greater than 50 and the number of citations greater than 2500).

The chart below illustrates experience levels of first authors in cases of publications with multiple authors.

Career Opportunities in Big Data and Society

While the field of Big Data and Society is primarily research-oriented, it also opens up a plethora of career opportunities. For instance, Licensed Professional Counselors (LPC) who wish to specialize in Big Data can find numerous rewarding roles in this industry. Especially in Delaware, there are specific LPC requirements to transition into this field. To become an LPC specializing in Big Data, individuals must first complete a Master's degree in counseling or a related field. They would also need to complete a 3,200-hour supervised internship, pass the National Counselor Examination (NCE), the National Clinical Mental Health Counseling Examination (NCMHCE), and complete a two-year post-Master's supervised experience. After fulfilling these requirements, they can advance their careers in areas like data counseling or as data privacy consultants. To further clarify and analyze the role of LPC in Big Data, potential candidates can refer to the article on "LPC requirements in Delaware". This important source goes into detail about the requirements, opportunities, and challenges facing LPCs in Big Data. The Big Data field is constantly evolving, allowing professionals with a passion for data and societal impact to make a meaningful difference. By pursuing a career as an LPC in Big Data, one can contribute to this developing field while assisting others in navigating the complex world of data privacy and security.

Top Publications

  • The COVID-19 Infodemic: Twitter versus Facebook

    Kai-Cheng Yang;Francesco Pierri;Francesco Pierri;Pik-Mai Hui;David Axelrod

    (2021)
    170 Citations
  • COVID-19 is spatial: Ensuring that mobile Big Data is used for social good

    Age Poom;Age Poom;Olle Järv;Matthew Zook;Tuuli Toivonen

    (2020)
    67 Citations
  • Toxicity and verbal aggression on social media: Polarized discourse on wearing face masks during the COVID-19 pandemic

    Paola Pascual-Ferrá;Neil Alperstein;Daniel J. Barnett;Rajiv N. Rimal

    (2021)
    58 Citations
  • Prospecting (in) the data sciences

    (2020)
    55 Citations
  • The uncontroversial ‘thingness’ of AI

    (2023)
    47 Citations
  • Social impacts of algorithmic decision-making: A research agenda for the social sciences

    (2022)
    40 Citations
  • From FAIR data to fair data use: Methodological data fairness in health-related social media research:

    Sabina Leonelli;Rebecca Lovell;Benedict W Wheeler;Lora Fleming

    (2021)
    35 Citations
  • Public views of the smart city: Towards the construction of a social problem

    (2022)
    31 Citations
  • Identifying and characterizing scientific authority-related misinformation discourse about hydroxychloroquine on twitter using unsupervised machine learning

    Michael Robert Haupt;Jiawei Li;Tim K Mackey

    (2021)
    30 Citations
  • Excavating awareness and power in data science: A manifesto for trustworthy pervasive data research:

    Katie Shilton;Emanuel Moss;Sarah A. Gilbert;Matthew J. Bietz

    (2021)
    26 Citations

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Best Scientists Contributing to This Journal

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