World's Best Scientists 2026 revealed!
Public Administration
H-index 26

Public Administration

Ranking & Metrics

Discipline name Position Best Scientists Publications D-Index
Political Science 9 78 110 26
Business and Management 253 24 38 13

Additional Metrics

Number of Best Scientists*: 109
Documents by Best Scientists*: 137
Top 100 Ranked Scientists*: 17
SCIMAGO H-index: 118
SCIMAGO SJR: 2.255
Impact Factor: 5.1

Overview

Top Research Topics at Public Administration?

Public Administration mainly deals with areas of study such as Public administration, Public relations, Politics, Government and Law. Public Administration emphasizes research on Public administration, which includes concerns such as Local government. The study on Public relations featured in it expounds on the topic of Public service in particular.

The Politics study tackled is a key component of adjacent topics in the area of Political economy.

  • Public administration (42.72%)
  • Public relations (14.76%)
  • Politics (11.39%)

What are the most cited papers published in the journal?

  • A PUBLIC MANAGEMENT FOR ALL SEASONS (6041 citations)
  • THE JOINT‐DECISION TRAP: LESSONS FROM GERMAN FEDERALISM AND EUROPEAN INTEGRATION (1277 citations)
  • What's measured is what matters: targets and gaming in the English public health care system (931 citations)

Research areas of the most cited articles at Public Administration:

The main points discussed in the journal papers deal with Public administration, Public relations, Public sector, Corporate governance and Government. The journal articles deal with Public administration in conjunction with Politics and similar fields in Political economy. Quality (business), Local government, Process (engineering) and Public policy are some topics wherein Public relations research discussed in the journal publications has an impact.

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

  • Law
  • World War II
  • Politics

The previous edition focused in particular on these issues:

Public Administration mainly tackles studies in Public administration, Politics, Government, Bureaucracy and Public relations. The research on Public administration tackled can also make contributions to studies in the areas of Corporate governance, Corporatization, Legislature, China and Public sector. Political economy, Health care, Entrepreneurship and Economic history are some topics wherein Politics research discussed in Public Administration have an impact.

In the journal, Neoliberalism and Local government are investigated in conjunction with one another to address concerns in Government research. Most of the works presented in the journal deals with Bureaucracy but it intersects with the subject of Representation (systemics).

The most cited articles from the last journal are:

  • Representative bureaucracy and impartial policing (6 citations)
  • Beyond co-production: Value creation and public services (5 citations)
  • Institutional Grammar 2.0: A Specification for Encoding and Analyzing Institutional Design (5 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 Public Administration (based on the number of publications) are:

  • George Alexander Boyne (26 papers) absent at the last edition,
  • Paul 't Hart (18 papers) absent at the last edition,
  • Christopher Hood (16 papers) published 1 paper at the last edition,
  • Roderick Rhodes (16 papers) published 1 paper at the last edition,
  • Josie Kelly (15 papers) absent at the last 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 Public Administration (based on the number of publications) are:

  • University of Birmingham (107 papers) absent at the last edition,
  • London School of Economics and Political Science (99 papers) published 1 paper at the last edition the same number as at the previous edition,
  • University of Manchester (88 papers) absent at the last edition,
  • Cardiff University (76 papers) published 1 paper at the last edition,
  • University of Oxford (62 papers) published 1 paper at the last edition the same number as at the previous 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, 8.85% of publications had an unrecognized affiliation. Out of the publications with recognized affiliations, 8.74% were posted by at least one author from the top 10 institutions publishing in the journal. Another 9.71% included authors affiliated with research institutions from the top 11-20 affiliations. Institutions from the 21-50 range included 19.42% of all publications and 62.14% 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.

How to Contribute to the Field: Becoming a Librarian in Mississippi

In order to further contribute to the field of Public Administration research, some researchers might consider pursuing a career as a librarian. Librarian professionals play a key role in enhancing the quality of research by assisting researchers in data collection, research publication analysis, and in accessing hard-to-find resources. The librarian field can be a logical career path for researchers focused on Public Administration, Public relations, Politics, Government, and similar fields, as it allows them to apply their expertise in a practical manner.

For instance, becoming a school librarian can lead to employment opportunities that involve leading research projects, acquiring relevant publication for school libraries, and teaching thorough research methodologies to students. If you are based in Mississippi and considering this switch, you can read our guide on how to become a school librarian in Mississippi. Not only can this career transition bring personal fulfillment, but it can also be a valuable asset to local research communities and can contribute to the overall development of the research landscape in Public Administration.

Top Publications

  • Public administration and politics meet turbulence: The search for robust governance responses

    Unknown

    (2022)
    172 Citations
  • The Future of Public Administration Research: An Editor's Perspective

    Unknown

    (2022)
    151 Citations
  • Integrating Citizen Deliberation into Climate Governance: Lessons on Robust Design from Six Climate Assemblies

    Unknown

    (2022)
    130 Citations
  • Institutional isomorphism, negativity bias and performance information use by politicians: A survey experiment

    Bert George;Martin Baekgaard;Adelien Decramer;Mieke Audenaert

    (2020)
    109 Citations
  • Beyond co-production: Value creation and public services

    Stephen P. Osborne;Greta Nasi;Madeline Gwendoline Hilda Powell

    (2021)
    105 Citations
  • Can the power of platforms be harnessed for governance

    Christopher Ansell;Satoshi Miura

    (2020)
    103 Citations
  • Burdens, Sludge, Ordeals, Red tape, Oh My!: A User's Guide to the Study of Frictions

    Jonas Krogh Madsen;Kim Sass Mikkelsen;Donald P. Moynihan

    (2021)
    79 Citations
  • Target-setting, political incentives, and the tricky trade-off between economic development and environmental protection

    Juan Du;Hongtao Yi

    (2021)
    65 Citations

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