The ISSC produces the World Social Science Report every three years, as part of its strategic partnership with UNESCO. The report addresses important social science challenges, takes stock of social science contributions and capacities, and makes recommendations for future research, practice and policy.
UNESCO produced the first World Social Science Report in 1999. Ten years later, UNESCO requested the ISSC to prepare a second report.
The World Social Science Report 2010: Knowledge Divides was prepared by the ISSC and published by UNESCO in June 2010. It reviewed social science knowledge production and use in different regions of the world and assessed how the social sciences are evolving in the face of unequal conditions and diverging trends.
The World Social Science Report 2013: Changing Global Environments was prepared by the ISSC and co-published with UNESCO and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. It was launched at UNESCO in Paris in November 2013.
The World Social Science Report 2016: Challenging Inequalities – Pathways to a Just World is prepared by the International Social Science Council (ISSC) in collaboration with the Institute of Development Studies (IDS), and co-published with UNESCO. It was launched in Stockholm on September 22 2016.
The World Social Science Report also draws on the outcomes of other ISSC flagship activities: the World Social Science Forum and World Social Science Fellows Programme