Aim: The aim of the study is to quantitatively depict the academic development and construction of a dynamically developing university department, which has long since surpassed the name of a specialist department, since the establishment of the University of Public Service (UPS). The research also aims to highlight the publication venues and disciplines where the visibility of the unit under study has increased over the last decade. The study is partly intended to illustrate the possible levels and forms of knowledge sharing.
Methodology: The study analysed the scientific activity of the Department of Customs and Finance Guards (DCFG) for the period 2012-2021 using different science metrics. The publication results were analysed and evaluated along national and international, qualitative and quantitative dimensions. The source of the data was the Catalogue of Hungarian Scientific Works (CHSW).
Findings: The study concluded that the scientific investigation of professional/police/human/historical issues is expected to improve both education and professional practices, as the results of the research provide in most cases an opportunity to fine-tune the system and processes. The results indicate that the scientific performance of the DCFG has shown a trend of increasing over the period under study. In addition to author productivity, the scientific prestige of the publications has also improved dynamically. The disciplinary distribution of publications confirms the multidisciplinary nature of law enforcement science.
Value: The results of the study present an active higher education unit with academic and professional values, whose members’ work represents added value not only for the university but also for the National Tax and Customs Administration (NTCA), which provides the professional background. This is the first study to assess the academic activity of this specialised field using an appropriate methodology.