The journal promotes research and scientific debate in the field of social sciences, stimulates theoretical and empirical interdisciplinary discussion, and provides insights on the most relevant, critical and controversial policy issues.

RISS also devote its attention on the economic conditions of Italy, and publishes special issues on the Italian economy and the impact of the Great Recession in a historical perspective.

The objective was to create a system of thought that reflected the Christian principles and the social teachings of Pope Leo XIII, able to tackling the widespread diffusion of capitalistic and socialistic ideologies.

It also expressed an intention to present and discuss scientific ideas and doctrines, to describe and analyze facts and institutions, and to accomplish this project in the broadest possible scope, inviting contributions from both Italian and foreign authors and maintaining a constant link between the development of social thought and the Magisterium.

In 1927, Rivista Internazionale di Scienze Sociali e Discipline Ausiliarie became the economic scientific Journal of Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore of Milan, published by Vita e Pensiero.

The Journal was also an independent, critical voice, to this day still historically relevant, in the debates on the concept of “state-led economy” and the imperfections of the competitive market, through the essays by Francesco Vito and Amintore Fanfani.