# Most-cited Social Sciences papers of 2025, with free PDFs

The 25 most-cited Social Sciences research papers published in 2025, ranked by citations in OpenAlex, with their original abstracts and free PDFs where available.

1. [AI Tools in Society: Impacts on Cognitive Offloading and the Future of Critical Thinking](https://nerdi.pages.dev/paper/W4406026056) · 1,060 citations · Free PDF
2. [Using thematic analysis in qualitative research](https://nerdi.pages.dev/paper/W4409471932) · 705 citations
3. [Minority Cultures and the Cosmopolitan Alternative](https://nerdi.pages.dev/paper/W2932930913) · 630 citations
4. [Global burden of 292 causes of death in 204 countries and territories and 660 subnational locations, 1990–2023: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2023](https://nerdi.pages.dev/paper/W4415092555) · 540 citations · Free PDF
5. [EM-DAT: the Emergency Events Database](https://nerdi.pages.dev/paper/W4409724531) · 372 citations · Free PDF
6. [Bias recognition and mitigation strategies in artificial intelligence healthcare applications](https://nerdi.pages.dev/paper/W4408314709) · 302 citations
7. [AI Ethics: Integrating Transparency, Fairness, and Privacy in AI Development](https://nerdi.pages.dev/paper/W4407243994) · 299 citations
8. [AI governance: a systematic literature review](https://nerdi.pages.dev/paper/W4406376113) · 287 citations · Free PDF
9. [Generative AI and Academic Integrity in Higher Education: A Systematic Review and Research Agenda](https://nerdi.pages.dev/paper/W4409269614) · 267 citations · Free PDF
10. [On the conversational persuasiveness of GPT-4](https://nerdi.pages.dev/paper/W4410496075) · 260 citations · Free PDF
11. [The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness](https://nerdi.pages.dev/paper/W4413848495) · 232 citations
12. [Transforming Our World: The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development](https://nerdi.pages.dev/paper/W4413467052) · 208 citations
13. [The transparency dilemma: How AI disclosure erodes trust](https://nerdi.pages.dev/paper/W4409696353) · 197 citations
14. [Governance of Generative AI](https://nerdi.pages.dev/paper/W4407087968) · 189 citations
15. [Global age-sex-specific all-cause mortality and life expectancy estimates for 204 countries and territories and 660 subnational locations, 1950–2023: a demographic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2023](https://nerdi.pages.dev/paper/W4415092550) · 186 citations · Free PDF
16. [The impact of generative AI on academic integrity of authentic assessments within a higher education context](https://nerdi.pages.dev/paper/W4409039478) · 182 citations
17. [Evaluating the impact of two decades of USAID interventions and projecting the effects of defunding on mortality up to 2030: a retrospective impact evaluation and forecasting analysis](https://nerdi.pages.dev/paper/W4411918916) · 178 citations
18. [Digital Transformation and Social Inclusion in Public Services: A Qualitative Analysis of E-Government Adoption for Marginalized Communities in Sustainable Governance](https://nerdi.pages.dev/paper/W4408809998) · 176 citations
19. [Treasure Hunting for Brands: Metaverse Marketing Gamification Effects on Purchase Intention, WOM, and Loyalty](https://nerdi.pages.dev/paper/W4407611475) · 163 citations
20. [How Delphi studies in the health sciences find consensus: a scoping review](https://nerdi.pages.dev/paper/W4406342287) · 162 citations · Free PDF
21. [Engagement, user satisfaction, and the amplification of divisive content on social media](https://nerdi.pages.dev/paper/W4408138635) · 161 citations · Free PDF
22. [Hallucination‐Free? Assessing the Reliability of Leading AI Legal Research Tools](https://nerdi.pages.dev/paper/W4409716856) · 159 citations · Free PDF
23. [Students’ engagement with ChatGPT feedback: implications for student feedback literacy in the context of generative artificial intelligence](https://nerdi.pages.dev/paper/W4408220441) · 152 citations
24. [The anti-DEI agenda: navigating the impact of Trump’s second term on diversity, equity and inclusion](https://nerdi.pages.dev/paper/W4408541025) · 150 citations
25. [Understanding Human-Centred AI: a review of its defining elements and a research agenda](https://nerdi.pages.dev/paper/W4407613693) · 149 citations

Canonical page: https://nerdi.pages.dev/papers/social-sciences/most-cited-2025