The purpose of this study is to evaluate the publication output and citation impact of social sciences in Malaysia based on Social Science Citation Index(SSCI) data for the period 1999-2008. Besides the analysis of trends in publication and citation patterns and national publication profiles, an attempt is made to explore the strengths and weakness of different fields by using a new mathematical index entitled scientific power index(PI). The findings indicate that the publication output in the social sciences is on the increase since 1999 onwards. Most of the papers have been published in median impact factor journals with average rate of 2.72 per paper. Internationally co-authored publications represented 77% of the total citations. Most of the prolific authors are from the highly productive institutions. However, non of highly cited first authors are from highly productive institutions. Psychology, economics, management, and environmental studies are the dominant fields in Malaysian social sciences.

Keywords