The European Union's Framework Programmes (FPs) for Research and Technological Development are key funding mechanisms for research within the European Research Area. This paper focuses on SSH research funded under FP6 (2002-2006), a period that saw increased emphasis on SSH, particularly through the thematic priority "Citizens and governance in a knowledge-based society." Previous research has analyzed FP policy documents, but this study takes a different approach, examining the characteristics of funded SSH projects, the types of support acknowledged by researchers, and the nature of resulting scholarly publications. Understanding the features and long-term impact of FP6 funding on SSH is crucial for evaluating the effectiveness of EU research policies and informing future funding strategies. The study aims to fill a gap in the literature by providing a detailed, descriptive analysis of FP6 SSH projects, complementing existing research on FP policy and highlighting the specific challenges of assessing SSH research.

Existing literature highlights the gradual inclusion of SSH in European FPs, initially focusing on socio-economic sciences to support economic development and integration. Studies like Kropp (2021) describe SSH's position as 'fragile' and 'marginal' within EU research policy. The literature also notes challenges in assessing SSH research performance using traditional bibliometric methods due to its characteristics, including national/regional orientation, varied publication formats (books, articles), slower pace of theoretical development, and single-author approaches. While pressure to publish in English-language journals indexed in databases like Scopus and Web of Science is increasing, the traditional reliance on monographs and national journals persists, particularly in the Humanities. Research on publication patterns reveals a rising share of English-language articles but ongoing importance of other languages and publication types (Engels et al., 2012; Kulczycki et al., 2018, 2020). Previous evaluations of FP6 have largely focused on science and technology, with limited analysis of SSH's impact (Rietschel et al., 2009; Watson et al., 2010). This study directly addresses this gap by focusing on the characteristics and outputs of FP6 SSH projects themselves, not just on policy documents.

The study employed a mixed-methods approach, combining quantitative and qualitative analyses. First, a list of FP6 projects was obtained from the European Union Open Data Portal. Projects related to SSH were identified based on titles, keywords, abstracts, and project websites. A total of 275 projects were identified and classified into disciplines using a modified UNESCO classification scheme. Scopus was used to retrieve scholarly outputs acknowledging funding from these projects. A search strategy combining project IDs and acronyms was developed to identify relevant publications. Due to inconsistencies in Scopus's funding information, manual filtering was necessary to eliminate irrelevant records. This resulted in the identification of 586 journal articles linked to 116 of the identified FP6 SSH projects. A qualitative analysis of the acknowledgement sections in these articles identified four types of support: direct funding, use of previous project results, participation in conferences/networks, and use of datasets/materials from previous projects. Data on project characteristics (duration, funding, disciplines, countries, institutions involved) were also extracted and analyzed.

The study found that 275 FP6 projects were related to SSH (2.7% of total funded projects). Most projects (76%) focused solely on SSH, while the rest (24%) combined SSH with other disciplines. Economics and political science were the most represented disciplines. The average project involved 7.8 countries and 10.8 institutions. The most frequent research topics included policy decision-making, indicators and metrics, migration, and governance. Although projects showed a high level of international collaboration, the number of co-authored articles was relatively low; on average, each article had authors from 2.8 institutions. Analysis of publication dates revealed the long-term effects of funding, with articles published years after FP6's completion (2020) acknowledging FP6 support. Four types of funding acknowledgement were identified: direct funding, use of previous project results, conference/network participation, and use of datasets/materials. The study also highlighted the challenges in retrieving scholarly outputs due to inconsistencies in Scopus' funding information.

The findings highlight the significant international collaboration fostered by FP6 in SSH research, despite the relatively modest budgetary allocation compared to other fields. The dominance of economics and political science reflects the program's emphasis on economic development and European integration. The long-term impact of funding, as evidenced by publications appearing years after project completion, demonstrates the sustained contributions of FP6 to SSH. The lower-than-expected level of co-authorship in publications, despite the high level of institutional collaboration within projects, may indicate complexities in combining different research team contributions within the traditional scholarly authorship standards. This study demonstrates both the potential of FP6 in stimulating SSH research and the need to improve the standardization of funding information in databases for more effective evaluation of future FPs.

This study offers valuable insights into the characteristics and long-term impact of FP6 funding on SSH research. The high level of international collaboration and the sustained contribution of funded projects emphasize FP6's effectiveness. However, the study also identifies challenges related to data retrieval and the need for improved data standardization in bibliographic databases. Future research should focus on analyzing subsequent FPs to track changes in collaboration patterns, publication practices, and long-term impact. Addressing data limitations and implementing standardized reporting practices are crucial for evaluating the overall success and long-term effects of EU research funding on the SSH.

The study's reliance on Scopus data introduces limitations, as Scopus does not cover all relevant publications, especially those in languages other than English or in non-indexed journals. Manual data processing, necessary due to data inconsistencies in Scopus, increases the risk of error and limits the scale of analysis. Further research using additional data sources and improved automated data extraction techniques could mitigate these limitations and enhance the analysis's scope and depth.