---
title: "SDG 16 Peace, justice and strong institutions research"
description: "From 2017 to 2026 (so far), SDG 16 (Peace, justice and strong institutions) was addressed by 29,404 papers in the tracked journals, most of them in economics (15,034), finance (3,963) and management (3,759). It is #6 of the 17 goals by papers from 2023 to 2025 (10,390)."
url: https://scholar4ai.com/sdgs/16-peace-justice-and-strong-institutions
markdown_url: https://scholar4ai.com/sdgs/16-peace-justice-and-strong-institutions.md
license: CC BY-NC 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/)
share_text: "From 2017 to 2026 (so far), SDG 16 (Peace, justice and strong institutions) was addressed by 29,404 papers in the tracked journals, most of them in economics (15,034), finance (3,963) and management (3,759). (as of 2026-10-31)"
data_url: https://scholar4ai.com/data/rankings.json
updated: 2026-10-31T17:45:59+09:00
window: 2026-10-02 to 2026-10-31
source: OpenAlex (CC0)
---

# SDG 16: Peace, justice and strong institutions

Papers in the tracked journals on UN Sustainable Development Goal 16, Peace, justice and strong institutions. OpenAlex assigns a paper to each UN Sustainable Development Goal that its classifier scores above 0.4 from the paper's text; a paper can belong to several goals or to none.

All 17 goals: https://scholar4ai.com/rankings/sdgs.md

## Key findings

- From 2017 to 2026 (so far), SDG 16 (Peace, justice and strong institutions) was addressed by 29,404 papers in the tracked journals, most of them in economics (15,034), finance (3,963) and management (3,759).
- It is #6 of the 17 goals by papers from 2023 to 2025 (10,390).
- 3,960 of them were published in 2025, against 2,142 in 2017.
- Since 2023, the institutions with the most of these papers were Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (182), Zhongnan University of Economics and Law (178) and Renmin University of China (175).
- The journals publishing most of them were Finance research letters (723), World Development (455) and Journal of Business Ethics (404).
- The most-cited of them is “Stop explaining black box machine learning models for high stakes decisions and use interpretable models instead” (Nature Machine Intelligence, 2019), with 10,516 citations.

## Papers per year

*Papers per publication year and category*

| Category | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | 2026 (so far) |
|---|---:|---:|---:|---:|---:|---:|---:|---:|---:|---:|
| [Economics](https://scholar4ai.com/categories/economics.md) | 1,227 | 1,314 | 1,333 | 1,529 | 1,467 | 1,495 | 1,517 | 1,613 | 1,770 | 1,769 |
| [Finance](https://scholar4ai.com/categories/finance.md) | 205 | 191 | 204 | 301 | 311 | 326 | 394 | 649 | 790 | 592 |
| [Management](https://scholar4ai.com/categories/management.md) | 282 | 319 | 299 | 303 | 435 | 374 | 381 | 415 | 471 | 480 |
| [Accounting](https://scholar4ai.com/categories/accounting.md) | 81 | 115 | 97 | 119 | 147 | 142 | 142 | 151 | 181 | 177 |
| [Information Systems](https://scholar4ai.com/categories/information-systems.md) | 80 | 93 | 105 | 94 | 115 | 135 | 122 | 124 | 151 | 131 |
| [AI](https://scholar4ai.com/categories/ai.md) | 29 | 27 | 48 | 78 | 75 | 117 | 107 | 120 | 180 | 189 |
| [Operations Research](https://scholar4ai.com/categories/operations-research.md) | 62 | 45 | 56 | 87 | 83 | 59 | 91 | 81 | 114 | 97 |
| [Health Economics and Policy](https://scholar4ai.com/categories/health-economics-and-policy.md) | 55 | 66 | 66 | 67 | 79 | 58 | 64 | 98 | 94 | 78 |
| [Higher Education and Research](https://scholar4ai.com/categories/higher-education-and-research.md) | 37 | 56 | 56 | 55 | 69 | 42 | 69 | 87 | 97 | 100 |
| [Marketing](https://scholar4ai.com/categories/marketing.md) | 52 | 54 | 48 | 44 | 56 | 79 | 55 | 54 | 65 | 58 |
| [Tourism and Hospitality](https://scholar4ai.com/categories/tourism-and-hospitality.md) | 32 | 30 | 46 | 36 | 38 | 50 | 44 | 48 | 43 | 56 |
| [Statistics](https://scholar4ai.com/categories/statistics.md) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 5 |
| All categories | 2,142 | 2,310 | 2,358 | 2,716 | 2,876 | 2,880 | 2,988 | 3,442 | 3,960 | 3,732 |

## Where the papers come from

*Journals with the most papers, since 2023*

| # | Journal | Papers |
|---:|---|---:|
| 1 | [Finance research letters](https://scholar4ai.com/journals/finance-research-letters.md) | 723 |
| 2 | [World Development](https://scholar4ai.com/journals/world-development.md) | 455 |
| 3 | [Journal of Business Ethics](https://scholar4ai.com/journals/journal-of-business-ethics.md) | 404 |
| 4 | [Public Choice](https://scholar4ai.com/journals/public-choice.md) | 325 |
| 5 | [Resources Policy](https://scholar4ai.com/journals/resources-policy.md) | 323 |
| 6 | [International Review of Economics & Finance](https://scholar4ai.com/journals/international-review-of-economics-finance.md) | 323 |
| 7 | [Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization](https://scholar4ai.com/journals/journal-of-economic-behavior-organization.md) | 322 |
| 8 | [Land Use Policy](https://scholar4ai.com/journals/land-use-policy.md) | 285 |
| 9 | [AI & Society](https://scholar4ai.com/journals/ai-society.md) | 282 |
| 10 | [European Journal of Political Economy](https://scholar4ai.com/journals/european-journal-of-political-economy.md) | 272 |

*Institutions with the most papers, since 2023*

| # | Institution | Papers |
|---:|---|---:|
| 1 | [Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique](https://scholar4ai.com/institutions/centre-national-de-la-recherche-scientifique.md) | 182 |
| 2 | Zhongnan University of Economics and Law | 178 |
| 3 | [Renmin University of China](https://scholar4ai.com/institutions/renmin-university-of-china.md) | 175 |
| 4 | [Xiamen University](https://scholar4ai.com/institutions/xiamen-university.md) | 137 |
| 5 | [Peking University](https://scholar4ai.com/institutions/peking-university.md) | 132 |
| 6 | [Sun Yat-sen University](https://scholar4ai.com/institutions/sun-yat-sen-university.md) | 131 |
| 7 | [Southwestern University of Finance and Economics](https://scholar4ai.com/institutions/southwestern-university-of-finance-and-economics.md) | 127 |
| 8 | [Xi'an Jiaotong University](https://scholar4ai.com/institutions/xi-an-jiaotong-university.md) | 123 |
| 9 | [Central University of Finance and Economics](https://scholar4ai.com/institutions/central-university-of-finance-and-economics.md) | 122 |
| 10 | [University of International Business and Economics](https://scholar4ai.com/institutions/university-of-international-business-and-economics.md) | 122 |

*Countries with the most papers, since 2023*

| # | Country | Papers |
|---:|---|---:|
| 1 | China | 3,645 |
| 2 | United States | 3,167 |
| 3 | United Kingdom | 1,749 |
| 4 | Germany | 948 |
| 5 | Italy | 808 |
| 6 | Australia | 803 |
| 7 | France | 731 |
| 8 | Canada | 567 |
| 9 | Netherlands | 495 |
| 10 | Spain | 479 |

*Keywords with the most papers, since 2023*

| # | Keyword | Papers |
|---:|---|---:|
| 1 | [corporate governance](https://scholar4ai.com/keywords/corporate-governance.md) | 1,008 |
| 2 | [China](https://scholar4ai.com/keywords/china.md) | 887 |
| 3 | [Chinese listed companies](https://scholar4ai.com/keywords/chinese-listed-companies.md) | 498 |
| 4 | state-owned enterprises | 482 |
| 5 | corruption | 380 |
| 6 | geopolitical risk | 353 |
| 7 | institutional quality | 335 |
| 8 | [financial constraints](https://scholar4ai.com/keywords/financial-constraints.md) | 326 |
| 9 | [emerging markets](https://scholar4ai.com/keywords/emerging-markets.md) | 278 |
| 10 | [information asymmetry](https://scholar4ai.com/keywords/information-asymmetry.md) | 275 |

## Most-cited papers

*Most-cited papers since 2017*

| # | Citations | Per month | Title | Journal | Published | Authors |
|---:|---:|---:|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 10,516 | 117.3 | [Stop explaining black box machine learning models for high stakes decisions and use interpretable models instead](https://doi.org/10.1038/s42256-019-0048-x) | [Nature Machine Intelligence](https://scholar4ai.com/journals/nature-machine-intelligence.md) | 2019-05-13 | Cynthia D Rudin |
| 2 | 1,980 | 22.4 | [Defining digital transformation: Results from expert interviews](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.giq.2019.06.002) | [Government Information Quarterly](https://scholar4ai.com/journals/government-information-quarterly.md) | 2019-06-25 | Ines A. Mergel, Noella Edelmann, Nathalie Haug |
| 3 | 1,187 | 11.6 | [Just transition: Integrating climate, energy and environmental justice](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enpol.2018.04.014) | [Energy Policy](https://scholar4ai.com/journals/energy-policy.md) | 2018-04-24 | Darren McCauley, Raphael James Heffron |
| 4 | 1,162 | 11.1 | [The consequences of spatially differentiated water pollution regulation in China](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jeem.2018.01.010) | [Journal of Environmental Economics and Management](https://scholar4ai.com/journals/journal-of-environmental-economics-and-management.md) | 2018-02-01 | Zhao Chen, Matthew E. Kahn, Yu Liu et al. |
| 5 | 1,138 | 14.0 | [Greenwashing in environmental, social and governance disclosures](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ribaf.2020.101192) | [Research in International Business and Finance](https://scholar4ai.com/journals/research-in-international-business-and-finance.md) | 2020-01-27 | Ellen Pei‐yi Yu, Bac Van Luu, Catherine Huirong Chen |
| 6 | 1,109 | 10.1 | [Blockchain in government: Benefits and implications of distributed ledger technology for information sharing](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.giq.2017.09.007) | [Government Information Quarterly](https://scholar4ai.com/journals/government-information-quarterly.md) | 2017-09-01 | Svein Ølnes, Jolien Ubacht, Marijn Janssen |
| 7 | 1,058 | 9.1 | [Weapons of Math Destruction: How Big Data Increases Inequality and Threatens Democracy](https://doi.org/10.1057/s11369-017-0027-3) | [Business Economics](https://scholar4ai.com/journals/business-economics.md) | 2017-03-10 | Apurv Jain |
| 8 | 947 | 9.8 | [Mapping the challenges of Artificial Intelligence in the public sector: Evidence from public healthcare](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.giq.2018.09.008) | [Government Information Quarterly](https://scholar4ai.com/journals/government-information-quarterly.md) | 2018-10-09 | Tara Qian Sun, Rony Medaglia |
| 9 | 920 | 12.8 | [Trust and compliance to public health policies in times of COVID-19](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpubeco.2020.104316) | [Journal of Public Economics](https://scholar4ai.com/journals/journal-of-public-economics.md) | 2020-10-29 | Olivier Bargain, Ulugbek Aminjonov |
| 10 | 886 | 7.7 | [Political uncertainty and investment: Causal evidence from U.S. gubernatorial elections](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jfineco.2016.01.034) | [Journal of Financial Economics](https://scholar4ai.com/journals/journal-of-financial-economics.md) | 2017-04-08 | Candace E. Jens |

## Cite this page

Scholar4AI. (2026). SDG 16: Peace, justice and strong institutions. Journal Research Rankings. Retrieved October 31, 2026, from https://scholar4ai.com/sdgs/16-peace-justice-and-strong-institutions

```bibtex
@misc{scholar4ai-sdgs-16-peace-justice-and-strong-institutions,
  author = {{Scholar4AI}},
  title = {SDG 16: Peace, justice and strong institutions},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {\url{https://scholar4ai.com/sdgs/16-peace-justice-and-strong-institutions}},
  urldate = {2026-10-31},
  note = {Journal Research Rankings; data from OpenAlex (CC0); licensed CC BY-NC 4.0}
}
```

License: CC BY-NC 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/).