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University · Washington · United States

American University

In research, American University stands highest in Social Sciences (#864 of 9,585 worldwide), Social Sciences (#788 of 5,988 worldwide) and Sociology and Political Science (#605 of 2,526 worldwide), 2022-now. Relative to its size it is most specialised in Public Administration, Political Science and International Relations and Gender Studies (Public Administration is 16.3× its share of world research).

World rank, 2022-now
#1,796
of 22,385 · #2,198 all time
Rank in United States
#354
of 3,332
Research works
18k
◆ 1% vs 2018-21
Citations
294k
16.8 per fractional work
Top-10% rate
10.3%
all institutions 10.0%
vs its own fields
0.84×
1.00× is exactly expected
Open access
37%
world 40%
International
9%
world 18%

What is American University known for in research?

The fields where it stands highest, 2022-now, ranked among every institution above the floor in each field.

FieldWorld rankWhere that sitsTop-10% rateWorksAll time
Social SciencesDomain #864 of 9,585 10.8%1,487 #646
Social SciencesField #788 of 5,988 11.4%875 #563
Sociology and Political ScienceSubfield #605 of 2,526 11.4%304 #565
Physical SciencesDomain #2,987 of 10,670 10.1%370 #4253
Business, Management and AccountingField #811 of 2,581 11.4%163 #824
Computer ScienceField #1,434 of 4,417 9.7%146 #2294
Health SciencesDomain #3,526 of 9,902 8.2%202 #3947
Life SciencesDomain #2,286 of 6,403 7.5%120 #3825
Economics, Econometrics and FinanceField #662 of 1,798 10.8%169 #695
Political Science and International RelationsSubfield #458 of 1,187 13.1%202 #361

Each strip is that field's whole ranked pool, with the notch where American University sits in it, in the colour of the band that rank falls in. The track under the rate is the rate itself: it carries no average mark, because the average differs by field (from about 6% in Dentistry to 21% in Economics).

Which of those standings moved

The same fields on both windows: where it stood over the whole record, and where it stands in 2022-now. The distance is the story, and it is the one thing the two rank columns above cannot show.

  1. Social Sciences#646 #864
  2. Social Sciences#563 #788
  3. Sociology and Political Science#565 #605
  4. Physical Sciences#4,253 #2,987
  5. Business, Management and Accounting#824 #811
  6. Computer Science#2,294 #1,434
  7. Health Sciences#3,947 #3,526
  8. Life Sciences#3,825 #2,286
  9. Economics, Econometrics and Finance#695 #662
  10. Political Science and International Relations#361 #458
all time2022-now, better2022-now, worse

A dot further right is a better standing. Fields it was not ranked in over the whole record are left out.

Which fields of science does American University work in?

In 2022-now, 68% of research at American University is in Social Sciences, 17% in Physical Sciences. Its largest fields are Social Sciences (40%), Economics, Econometrics and Finance (7%), Business, Management and Accounting (7%). It does 2.7× the world's share of Social Sciences.

Social Sciences: 1,641 fractional works · 67.9% of its workSocial Sciences: 977 fractional works · 40.5% of its workSociology and Political Science: 340 fractional works · 14.1% of its workPolitical Science and International Relations: 225 fractional works · 9.3% of its workEducation: 112 fractional works · 4.6% of its workGender Studies: 54 fractional works · 2.2% of its workCommunication: 37 fractional works · 1.5% of its workLaw: 32 fractional works · 1.3% of its workSafety Research: 28 fractional works · 1.1% of its workCultural Studies: 27 fractional works · 1.1% of its workAnthropology: 25 fractional works · 1.0% of its workPublic Administration: 21 fractional works · 0.9% of its workDemography: 20 fractional works · 0.8% of its workHealth: 13 fractional works · 0.6% of its workDevelopment: 13 fractional works · 0.5% of its workUrban Studies: 10 fractional works · 0.4% of its workGeography, Planning and Development: 7 fractional works · 0.3% of its workSmaller subfields together: 13 fractional works · 0.5% of its workEconomics, Econometrics and Finance: 179 fractional works · 7.4% of its workEconomics and Econometrics: 122 fractional works · 5.0% of its workFinance: 29 fractional works · 1.2% of its workGeneral Economics, Econometrics and Finance: 28 fractional works · 1.2% of its workBusiness, Management and Accounting: 174 fractional works · 7.2% of its workStrategy and Management: 55 fractional works · 2.3% of its workAccounting: 35 fractional works · 1.4% of its workManagement Information Systems: 30 fractional works · 1.2% of its workMarketing: 21 fractional works · 0.9% of its workOrganizational Behavior and Human Resource Management: 19 fractional works · 0.8% of its workManagement of Technology and Innovation: 11 fractional works · 0.4% of its workSmaller subfields together: 3 fractional works · 0.1% of its workArts and Humanities: 140 fractional works · 5.8% of its workHistory: 32 fractional works · 1.3% of its workLiterature and Literary Theory: 28 fractional works · 1.2% of its workPhilosophy: 18 fractional works · 0.7% of its workHistory and Philosophy of Science: 16 fractional works · 0.7% of its workVisual Arts and Performing Arts: 15 fractional works · 0.6% of its workLanguage and Linguistics: 6 fractional works · 0.3% of its workMusic: 6 fractional works · 0.2% of its workArcheology: 5 fractional works · 0.2% of its workSmaller subfields together: 13 fractional works · 0.5% of its workPsychology: 129 fractional works · 5.3% of its workClinical Psychology: 54 fractional works · 2.2% of its workSocial Psychology: 34 fractional works · 1.4% of its workExperimental and Cognitive Psychology: 21 fractional works · 0.9% of its workDevelopmental and Educational Psychology: 12 fractional works · 0.5% of its workApplied Psychology: 5 fractional works · 0.2% of its workSmaller subfields together: 2 fractional works · 0.1% of its workDecision Sciences: 42 fractional works · 1.7% of its workManagement Science and Operations Research: 26 fractional works · 1.1% of its workInformation Systems and Management: 11 fractional works · 0.5% of its workSmaller subfields together: 5 fractional works · 0.2% of its workPhysical Sciences: 414 fractional works · 17.1% of its workComputer Science: 162 fractional works · 6.7% of its workArtificial Intelligence: 66 fractional works · 2.7% of its workInformation Systems: 41 fractional works · 1.7% of its workComputer Vision and Pattern Recognition: 12 fractional works · 0.5% of its workComputer Networks and Communications: 12 fractional works · 0.5% of its workComputer Science Applications: 10 fractional works · 0.4% of its workHuman-Computer Interaction: 6 fractional works · 0.3% of its workComputational Theory and Mathematics: 6 fractional works · 0.3% of its workSignal Processing: 6 fractional works · 0.2% of its workSmaller subfields together: 2 fractional works · 0.1% of its workEnvironmental Science: 75 fractional works · 3.1% of its workGlobal and Planetary Change: 23 fractional works · 0.9% of its workManagement, Monitoring, Policy and Law: 14 fractional works · 0.6% of its workEcology: 11 fractional works · 0.5% of its workHealth, Toxicology and Mutagenesis: 8 fractional works · 0.3% of its workEnvironmental Engineering: 7 fractional works · 0.3% of its workNature and Landscape Conservation: 6 fractional works · 0.3% of its workSmaller subfields together: 6 fractional works · 0.3% of its workEngineering: 72 fractional works · 3.0% of its workElectrical and Electronic Engineering: 13 fractional works · 0.5% of its workBiomedical Engineering: 9 fractional works · 0.4% of its workMedia Technology: 8 fractional works · 0.3% of its workControl and Systems Engineering: 7 fractional works · 0.3% of its workBuilding and Construction: 6 fractional works · 0.3% of its workIndustrial and Manufacturing Engineering: 6 fractional works · 0.3% of its workSmaller subfields together: 23 fractional works · 0.9% of its workPhysics and Astronomy: 37 fractional works · 1.5% of its workAstronomy and Astrophysics: 25 fractional works · 1.0% of its workAtomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics: 6 fractional works · 0.2% of its workSmaller subfields together: 7 fractional works · 0.3% of its workMathematics: 22 fractional works · 0.9% of its workStatistics and Probability: 8 fractional works · 0.3% of its workSmaller subfields together: 14 fractional works · 0.6% of its workEarth and Planetary Sciences: 16 fractional works · 0.7% of its workOceanography: 6 fractional works · 0.2% of its workSmaller subfields together: 11 fractional works · 0.4% of its workEnergy: 13 fractional works · 0.5% of its workRenewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment: 8 fractional works · 0.3% of its workSmaller subfields together: 4 fractional works · 0.2% of its workChemistry: 8 fractional works · 0.3% of its workMaterials Science: 7 fractional works · 0.3% of its workChemical Engineering: 2 fractional works · 0.1% of its workHealth Sciences: 221 fractional works · 9.2% of its workMedicine: 142 fractional works · 5.9% of its workPublic Health, Environmental and Occupational Health: 20 fractional works · 0.8% of its workPhysiology: 12 fractional works · 0.5% of its workReproductive Medicine: 10 fractional works · 0.4% of its workSurgery: 10 fractional works · 0.4% of its workEpidemiology: 9 fractional works · 0.4% of its workPsychiatry and Mental health: 8 fractional works · 0.3% of its workPediatrics, Perinatology and Child Health: 8 fractional works · 0.3% of its workRadiology, Nuclear Medicine and Imaging: 8 fractional works · 0.3% of its workInfectious Diseases: 7 fractional works · 0.3% of its workHealth Informatics: 6 fractional works · 0.2% of its workSmaller subfields together: 43 fractional works · 1.8% of its workHealth Professions: 69 fractional works · 2.9% of its workGeneral Health Professions: 48 fractional works · 2.0% of its workHealth Information Management: 7 fractional works · 0.3% of its workSmaller subfields together: 14 fractional works · 0.6% of its workDentistry: 5 fractional works · 0.2% of its workNursing: 5 fractional works · 0.2% of its workVeterinary: 1 fractional works · 0.0% of its workLife Sciences: 139 fractional works · 5.8% of its workAgricultural and Biological Sciences: 51 fractional works · 2.1% of its workPlant Science: 15 fractional works · 0.6% of its workGeneral Agricultural and Biological Sciences: 13 fractional works · 0.5% of its workFood Science: 11 fractional works · 0.5% of its workSmaller subfields together: 13 fractional works · 0.5% of its workBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology: 42 fractional works · 1.7% of its workMolecular Biology: 24 fractional works · 1.0% of its workGenetics: 8 fractional works · 0.3% of its workSmaller subfields together: 10 fractional works · 0.4% of its workNeuroscience: 37 fractional works · 1.5% of its workCognitive Neuroscience: 18 fractional works · 0.8% of its workCellular and Molecular Neuroscience: 10 fractional works · 0.4% of its workSmaller subfields together: 9 fractional works · 0.4% of its workImmunology and Microbiology: 5 fractional works · 0.2% of its workPharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics: 4 fractional works · 0.2% of its workALL ITS WORKAmericanUniversity2,416fractional works, 2022-now
Life Sciences6%Physical Sciences17%Health Sciences9%Social Sciences68%

Each ring splits the one inside it: the four domains of science, their fields, their subfields. Size is fractional works in 2022-now. Every slice is a page; the interactive view zooms down to single topics and colours each by how much more of it this institution does than the world.

Its 4 domains and 26 fields, with their numbers
  1. Social Sciences1,64167.9%
    1. Social Sciences97740.5%
    2. Economics, Econometrics and Finance1797.4%
    3. Business, Management and Accounting1747.2%
    4. Arts and Humanities1405.8%
    5. Psychology1295.3%
    6. Decision Sciences421.7%
    1. Computer Science1626.7%
    2. Environmental Science753.1%
    3. Engineering723.0%
    4. Physics and Astronomy371.5%
    5. Mathematics220.9%
    6. Earth and Planetary Sciences160.7%
    7. Energy130.5%
    8. Chemistry80.3%
    9. Materials Science70.3%
    10. Chemical Engineering20.1%
    1. Medicine1425.9%
    2. Health Professions692.9%
    3. Dentistry50.2%
    4. Nursing50.2%
    5. Veterinary10.0%
    1. Agricultural and Biological Sciences512.1%
    2. Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology421.7%
    3. Neuroscience371.5%
    4. Immunology and Microbiology50.2%
    5. Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics40.2%
All of science, and how each field's share has moved since 1950: the Science domain explorer

What does American University specialise in?

Where its research is concentrated relative to its size: Public Administration takes 16.3× the share of its output that it takes of world research.

  1. Public AdministrationSubfield · 21.2 works16×
  2. Political Science and International RelationsSubfield · 225.1 works6.3×
  3. Gender StudiesSubfield · 53.8 works6.2×
  4. CommunicationSubfield · 37.1 works5.6×
  5. General Economics, Econometrics and FinanceSubfield · 27.9 works4.6×
← less than its size predicts1×more →

Location quotient, a volume reading rather than an impact one. It surfaces small, lopsided specialities.

Field profile

Location quotient across every field it publishes in: outside the ring is more than an institution of this size would be expected to publish, inside it is less.

Agricultural and Biological Sciences: 0.45× its world share, 51 worksAgricultural and Bio…Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology: 0.33× its world share, 42 worksBiochemistry, Geneti…Immunology and Microbiology: 0.19× its world share, 4 worksImmunology and Micro…Neuroscience: 0.95× its world share, 37 worksNeurosciencePharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics: 0.49× its world share, 4 worksPharmacology, Toxico…Chemical Engineering: 0.18× its world share, 2 worksChemical EngineeringChemistry: 0.20× its world share, 8 worksChemistryComputer Science: 0.86× its world share, 162 worksComputer ScienceEarth and Planetary Sciences: 0.43× its world share, 16 worksEarth and Planetary …Energy: 0.57× its world share, 13 worksEnergyEngineering: 0.20× its world share, 72 worksEngineeringEnvironmental Science: 0.63× its world share, 76 worksEnvironmental ScienceMaterials Science: 0.08× its world share, 7 worksMaterials ScienceMathematics: 0.78× its world share, 22 worksMathematicsPhysics and Astronomy: 0.70× its world share, 37 worksPhysics and AstronomyDentistry: 0.42× its world share, 5 worksDentistryHealth Professions: 1.08× its world share, 69 worksHealth ProfessionsMedicine: 0.31× its world share, 142 worksMedicineNursing: 0.40× its world share, 5 worksNursingVeterinary: 0.24× its world share, 1 worksVeterinaryArts and Humanities: 2.01× its world share, 140 worksArts and HumanitiesBusiness, Management and Accounting: 2.24× its world share, 174 worksBusiness, Management…Decision Sciences: 1.79× its world share, 42 worksDecision SciencesEconomics, Econometrics and Finance: 3.46× its world share, 179 worksEconomics, Econometr…Psychology: 1.75× its world share, 129 worksPsychologySocial Sciences: 3.20× its world share, 977 worksSocial Sciences1×world share
more than its size predictsabout as predictedless

Rings at 0.5×, 1× and 2×. Widest outward: Economics, Econometrics and Finance, 3.5×. Every wedge is a field page.

All 26 fields, with their numbers
  1. Economics, Econometrics and Finance3.46×179 works
  2. Social Sciences3.20×977 works
  3. Business, Management and Accounting2.24×174 works
  4. Arts and Humanities2.01×140 works
  5. Decision Sciences1.79×42 works
  6. Psychology1.75×129 works
  7. Health Professions1.08×69 works
  8. Neuroscience0.95×37 works
  9. Computer Science0.86×162 works
  10. Mathematics0.78×22 works
  11. Physics and Astronomy0.70×37 works
  12. Environmental Science0.63×76 works
  13. Energy0.57×13 works
  14. Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics0.49×4 works
  15. Agricultural and Biological Sciences0.45×51 works
  16. Earth and Planetary Sciences0.43×16 works
  17. Dentistry0.42×5 works
  18. Nursing0.40×5 works
  19. Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology0.33×42 works
  20. Medicine0.31×142 works
  21. Veterinary0.24×1 works
  22. Chemistry0.20×8 works
  23. Engineering0.20×72 works
  24. Immunology and Microbiology0.19×4 works
  25. Chemical Engineering0.18×2 works
  26. Materials Science0.08×7 works

Who are the top researchers at American University?

Ranked on the quality score, Jessica A. Gephart, Catherine J. Stoodley and Andrew R. Flores lead among researchers whose main affiliation is American University.

  1. 1 Jessica A. Gephart United States · #8,546 worldwide 9.8k citations · 144 works
  2. 2 Catherine J. Stoodley United States · #69,171 worldwide 13k citations · 80 works
  3. 3 Andrew R. Flores United States · #85,232 worldwide 4.2k citations · 111 works
  4. 4 Thomas C. Zeitzoff United States · #107,677 worldwide 3.4k citations · 96 works
  5. 5 J. M. Newport United States · #114,313 worldwide 16k citations · 46 works
  6. 6 Kim M. Blankenship United States · #137,125 worldwide 4.6k citations · 110 works
  7. 7 Jennifer L. Lawless United States · #162,511 worldwide 6.4k citations · 152 works
  8. 8 Valentina Giulia Bruno United States · #182,309 worldwide 2.6k citations · 62 works
  9. 9 Amitav Acharya United States · #183,647 worldwide 14k citations · 368 works
  10. 10 Stephen E Rock United States · #201,642 worldwide 12k citations · 155 works
All ranked researchers at American University

What are the most cited papers from American University?

The most cited paper from American University is "Observation of Gravitational Waves from a Binary Black Hole Merger" (B. P. Abbott et al., 2016), with 14,545 citations. Next come "Information Systems Success: The Quest for the Dependent Variable" (10,692) and "GW170817: Observation of Gravitational Waves from a Binary Neutron Star Inspiral" (9,794).

Most cited papers
#PaperReleasedCitations
1 Observation of Gravitational Waves from a Binary Black Hole Merger B. P. Abbott et al. · Physical Review Letters Open access1,011 authors 11 Feb 2016 14,545
2 Information Systems Success: The Quest for the Dependent Variable William H. DeLone, Ephraim R. McLean · Information Systems Research Mar 1992 10,692
3 GW170817: Observation of Gravitational Waves from a Binary Neutron Star Inspiral B. P. Abbott et al. · Physical Review Letters Open access1,124 authors 16 Oct 2017 9,794
4 Does Social Capital Have an Economic Payoff? A Cross-Country Investigation Steve Knack, Philip Keefer · The Quarterly Journal of Economics Nov 1997 7,598
5 Statsmodels: Econometric and Statistical Modeling with Python Skipper Seabold, Josef Perktold · Proceedings of the Python in Science Conferences Conference paperOpen access 2010 6,915
All 60 most cited papers, with filters and sorting

Which keywords describe research at American University?

By fractional works in 2022-now, weighted toward what it does more of than the world: Globalization, Nationalism, Human Rights, Democracy, Identity, Global Governance, Gender and Economic Growth.

▲ more of its work than of the world's◆ about the world's share▼ less than the world's

Size is fractional works in 2022-now in the topics tagged with each word; colour is the word's share of this institution's work against its share of the world's. The 40 words are chosen for being large and distinctive. Each links to the topic it comes from most.

All 40 words, with their numbers
  1. Globalization213▲ 4.5×107 topics
  2. Human Rights98▲ 4.0×63 topics
  3. Machine Learning94▲ 1.18×73 topics
  4. Social Media84▲ 2.5×32 topics
  5. Sustainability78▲ 1.31×76 topics
  6. Nationalism77▲ 7.1×26 topics
  7. Economic Growth75▲ 3.8×27 topics
  8. Identity73▲ 4.2×47 topics
  9. Mental Health70▲ 2.0×39 topics
  10. Gender66▲ 5.0×39 topics
  11. Democracy62▲ 7.3×22 topics
  12. Education60▲ 1.45×67 topics
  13. Innovation58▲ 2.3×39 topics
  14. Neoliberalism54▲ 6.3×22 topics
  15. Global Governance54▲ 9.4×22 topics
  16. International Law53▲ 7.0×25 topics
  17. Colonialism52▲ 4.6×36 topics
  18. Politics49▲ 7.7×16 topics
  19. Economic Development49▲ 2.5×31 topics
  20. Political Economy46▲ 7.5×16 topics
  21. Public Opinion46▲ 16×5 topics
  22. Corporate Governance46▲ 2.6×23 topics
  23. International Relations44▲ 7.5×26 topics
  24. Ethics44▲ 3.6×31 topics
  25. History43▲ 2.6×29 topics
  26. Social Capital39▲ 3.1×18 topics
  27. Feminism38▲ 5.4×19 topics
  28. Culture38▲ 3.0×20 topics
  29. Discrimination37▲ 7.4×8 topics
  30. Governance37▲ 4.7×15 topics
  31. Religion36▲ 3.2×24 topics
  32. Monetary Policy31▲ 5.5×10 topics
  33. Labor Market31▲ 4.5×11 topics
  34. NGOs30▲ 13×4 topics
  35. Race30▲ 10×16 topics
  36. Immigration30▲ 11×6 topics
  37. Firm Performance29▲ 6.8×3 topics
  38. Intersectionality28▲ 6.1×12 topics
  39. Postcolonialism26▲ 7.4×15 topics
  40. Gender Inequality25▲ 7.4×6 topics

Which research topics does American University publish most on?

By volume in 2022-now: American Constitutional Law and Politics, Big Data and Business Intelligence, Electoral Systems and Political Participation and Jewish and Middle Eastern Studies.

  1. 1 American Constitutional Law and Politics Political Science and International Relations 17 works
  2. 2 Big Data and Business Intelligence Management Information Systems 17 works
  3. 3 Electoral Systems and Political Participation Political Science and International Relations 15 works
  4. 4 Jewish and Middle Eastern Studies Sociology and Political Science 15 works
  5. 5 Terrorism, Counterterrorism, and Political Violence Sociology and Political Science 14 works
  6. 6 Migration and Labor Dynamics Sociology and Political Science 14 works
  7. 7 Social Media and Politics Communication 13 works
  8. 8 Global Peace and Security Dynamics Political Science and International Relations 13 works
  9. 9 Public Policy and Administration Research Public Administration 13 works
  10. 10 International Development and Aid Development 12 works

How open and international is its research?

Against the world's own shares: the tick on each track. Both are shares of its output, so they sit on one scale and can be read against each other as well as against the world.

openly available37.1%not open62.9%

World: 40% of research is openly available.

with international co-authors8.7%domestic only91.3%

World: 18% is written across borders.

How has American University's research output changed?

Output in 2022-2025 was 1% lower than in 2018-2021.

still counting1990200020102020
grewheldshrank

The same series as a ribbon: one cell per year, darker for more. The line above answers how much; this answers when.

Its share of all research

Growing output can still be a shrinking share: all of science grows. This is American University as a percentage of every work published that year, 0.0098% in 2024.

still counting0.020%0.040%0.060%American University0.0094% in 202519801990200020102020

Fractional works of American University over all fractional works that year. How the balance of science has shifted.

How much of it reaches the world top 10%

Year by year, against all institutions in the same year.

still counting5%10%15%all institutions10.0% in 2025American University9.5% in 2025200020102020

Of each year's output, the share that reached the world's 10% most cited for its field and year. Peak 14.4% in 2016.

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American University on Science Explorer

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Its overall standing, then the domains, fields and subfields where American University is in the world's top ten or its top 1%. Each has an image of its own.

Overall

Domains

Research measures only: rankings here say nothing about teaching, admissions or student experience. Comparable institutions and collaboration partners have tabs of their own, above.

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