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University · Brisbane · Australia

Australian Catholic University

In research, Australian Catholic University stands highest in Social Sciences (#259 of 10,521 worldwide), Education (#71 of 1,892 worldwide) and Social Sciences (#288 of 6,365 worldwide), 2022–2025. Relative to its size it is most specialised in Religious studies, History and Orthopedics and Sports Medicine — Religious studies is 12.1× its share of world research.

acu.edu.auROR OpenAlex
World rank, 2022–2025
#1,482
of 28,054 · #2,178 all time
Rank in Australia
#34
of 391
Research works
9.3k
▼ 2% vs 2013–17
Citations
174k
18.6 per fractional work
Top-10% rate
30.3%
record average 16.5%
Open access
35%
world 28%

What is Australian Catholic University known for in research?

The fields where it stands highest, 2022–2025, ranked among every institution above the floor in each field.

FieldWorld rankWhere that sitsTop-10% rateWorksAll time
Social SciencesDomain #259 of 10,521 30.2%1,415 #379
EducationSubfield #71 of 1,892 41.0%255 #105
Social SciencesField #288 of 6,365 31.5%786 #398
Health SciencesDomain #616 of 11,982 28.9%464 #833
PsychologyField #134 of 2,181 39.2%284 #307
Arts and HumanitiesField #160 of 1,998 14.3%243 #123
MedicineField #1,496 of 10,443 27.6%309 #1685
Social PsychologySubfield #97 of 664 42.8%63 #221
Clinical PsychologySubfield #108 of 738 35.5%109 #208
Sociology and Political ScienceSubfield #524 of 2,578 25.8%231 #492

Each strip is that field’s whole ranked pool, with the notch where Australian Catholic 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 world mark, because the world rate differs by field (from about 6% to 21% in this record).

Which of those standings moved

The same fields on both windows: where it stood over the whole record, and where it stands in 2022–2025. The distance is the story, and it is the one thing the two rank columns above cannot show.

  1. Social Sciences#379 #259
  2. Education#105 #71
  3. Social Sciences#398 #288
  4. Health Sciences#833 #616
  5. Psychology#307 #134
  6. Arts and Humanities#123 #160
  7. Medicine#1,685 #1,496
  8. Social Psychology#221 #97
  9. Clinical Psychology#208 #108
  10. Sociology and Political Science#492 #524
all time2022–2025, better2022–2025, worse

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

What does Australian Catholic University specialise in?

Where its research is concentrated relative to its size: Religious studies takes 12.1× the share of its output that it takes of world research.

  1. Religious studiesSubfield · 43.3 works12×
  2. HistorySubfield · 49.8 works7.3×
  3. Orthopedics and Sports MedicineSubfield · 37.2 works6.8×
  4. Developmental and Educational PsychologySubfield · 56.1 works5.8×
← 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: 0.18× its world share, 18 worksAgricultural and Bio…Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology: 0.27× its world share, 31 worksBiochemistry, Geneti…Immunology and Microbiology: 0.05× its world share, 1 worksImmunology and Micro…Neuroscience: 1.14× its world share, 39 worksNeurosciencePharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics: 0.09× its world share, 1 worksPharmacology, Toxico…Chemistry: 0.08× its world share, 3 worksChemistryComputer Science: 0.43× its world share, 71 worksComputer ScienceEarth and Planetary Sciences: 0.16× its world share, 5 worksEarth and Planetary …Energy: 0.08× its world share, 2 worksEnergyEngineering: 0.12× its world share, 37 worksEngineeringEnvironmental Science: 0.25× its world share, 27 worksEnvironmental ScienceMaterials Science: 0.03× its world share, 2 worksMaterials ScienceMathematics: 0.54× its world share, 14 worksMathematicsPhysics and Astronomy: 0.14× its world share, 6 worksPhysics and AstronomyDentistry: 0.09× its world share, 1 worksDentistryHealth Professions: 2.49× its world share, 140 worksHealth ProfessionsMedicine: 0.75× its world share, 309 worksMedicineNursing: 1.29× its world share, 14 worksNursingArts and Humanities: 3.93× its world share, 243 worksArts and HumanitiesBusiness, Management and Accounting: 0.74× its world share, 51 worksBusiness, Management…Decision Sciences: 0.98× its world share, 20 worksDecision SciencesEconomics, Econometrics and Finance: 0.69× its world share, 32 worksEconomics, Econometr…Psychology: 4.36× its world share, 284 worksPsychologySocial Sciences: 2.91× its world share, 786 worksSocial Sciences1×world share
more than its size predictsabout as predictedless

Rings at 0.5×, 1× and 2×. Widest outward: Psychology, 4.4×. Every wedge is a field page.

Who are the top researchers at Australian Catholic University?

Ranked on the composite score, Tim J. Gabbett, John Gleeson and Chris Lonsdale lead among researchers whose main affiliation is Australian Catholic University.

  1. 1 Tim J. Gabbett · #61,686 worldwide 276 citations · 105 works
  2. 2 John Gleeson · #62,068 worldwide 240 citations · 46 works
  3. 3 Chris Lonsdale · #68,071 worldwide 1.1k citations · 25 works
  4. 4 Michael H. Cole · #77,580 worldwide 204 citations · 31 works
  5. 5 James McEvoy · #79,493 worldwide 175 citations · 29 works
  6. 6 Geoffrey D. Dunn · #84,873 worldwide 66 citations · 47 works
  7. 7 Philip D. Parker · #99,492 worldwide 454 citations · 55 works
  8. 8 Len Unsworth · #131,432 worldwide 122 citations · 36 works
  9. 9 David Greene · #140,742 worldwide 117 citations · 41 works
  10. 10 Catherine McLoughlin · #142,060 worldwide 224 citations · 70 works
All ranked researchers at Australian Catholic University

Which keywords describe research at Australian Catholic University?

By fractional works in 2022–2025, weighted toward what it does more of than the world: Globalization, Mental Health, Colonialism, Identity, Well-being, Religion, Diversity and Neoliberalism.

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

Size is fractional works in 2022–2025 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. Globalization138▲ 3.3×67 topics
  2. Mental Health115▲ 3.7×40 topics
  3. Epidemiology88◆ 1.03×74 topics
  4. Identity73▲ 4.7×44 topics
  5. Education72▲ 1.97×64 topics
  6. Colonialism72▲ 7.1×30 topics
  7. Religion59▲ 5.8×34 topics
  8. Well-being56▲ 6.9×13 topics
  9. Social Justice55▲ 4.4×28 topics
  10. Human Rights54▲ 2.4×38 topics
  11. Neoliberalism48▲ 6.3×19 topics
  12. Resilience46▲ 4.5×14 topics
  13. Diversity45▲ 12×6 topics
  14. History45▲ 3.0×35 topics
  15. Nationalism44▲ 4.5×26 topics
  16. Meta-Analysis43▲ 3.4×16 topics
  17. Gender43▲ 3.7×39 topics
  18. National Identity41▲ 17×6 topics
  19. Ethics41▲ 4.0×34 topics
  20. Secularism41▲ 18×5 topics
  21. Academic Achievement39▲ 11×10 topics
  22. Technology Integration38▲ 5.9×9 topics
  23. Child Development38▲ 4.2×8 topics
  24. Self-Regulation36▲ 9.6×6 topics
  25. Multiculturalism35▲ 8.6×7 topics
  26. Reflective Practice35▲ 8.8×7 topics
  27. Cultural Turn34▲ 71×2 topics
  28. Transnational History32▲ 106×2 topics
  29. Teacher Education32▲ 12×8 topics
  30. Cosmopolitanism31▲ 13×6 topics
  31. Citizenship31▲ 12×6 topics
  32. Australian history31▲ 138×1 topic
  33. British imperialism31▲ 138×1 topic
  34. Teacher Professional Development30▲ 8.7×5 topics
  35. Inclusion30▲ 9.6×4 topics
  36. Religious Education29▲ 8.1×4 topics
  37. Theology29▲ 14×6 topics
  38. Resistance Training29▲ 15×2 topics
  39. Citizenship Education28▲ 21×4 topics
  40. Cultural Competence28▲ 10×7 topics

Which research topics does Australian Catholic University publish most on?

By volume in 2022–2025: Australian History and Society, Religious Education and Schools, Teacher Education and Leadership Studies and Global Education and Multiculturalism.

Australian History and S…31Australian History and Society: 31 fractional worksReligious Education and …23Religious Education and Schools: 23 fractional worksTeacher Education and Leadership Studies: 19 fractional worksGlobal Education and Multiculturalism: 18 fractional worksEarly Childhood Education and Development: 17 fractional worksBiblical Studies and Interpretation: 17 fractional worksSports Performance and Training: 17 fractional worksEducation and Critical T…16Education and Critical Thinking Development: 16 fractional worksEducation Systems and Policy: 16 fractional worksGlobal Educational Policies and Reforms: 16 fractional works
Sociology and Political ScienceEducationReligious studiesOrthopedics and Sports Medicine1 others

Area is fractional works; colour is the subfield each topic belongs to.

  1. 1 Australian History and SocietySociology and Political Science 31 works
  2. 2 Religious Education and SchoolsEducation 23 works
  3. 3 Teacher Education and Leadership StudiesEducation 19 works
  4. 4 Global Education and MulticulturalismEducation 18 works
  5. 5 Early Childhood Education and DevelopmentEducation 17 works
  6. 6 Biblical Studies and InterpretationReligious studies 17 works
  7. 7 Sports Performance and TrainingOrthopedics and Sports Medicine 17 works
  8. 8 Education and Critical Thinking DevelopmentEducation 16 works
  9. 9 Education Systems and PolicyEducation 16 works
  10. 10 Global Educational Policies and ReformsPolitical Science and International Relations 16 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 available35.1%not open64.9%

World: 28% of research is openly available.

with international co-authors20.5%domestic only79.5%

World: 19% is written across borders.

How has Australian Catholic University's research output changed?

Output in 2018–2022 was 2% lower than in 2013–2017.

1990200020102020
grewheldshrank

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

Other research institutions in Brisbane

All research institutions in Brisbane

Research measures only: rankings here say nothing about teaching, admissions or student experience. Comparable institutions and collaboration partners are in the interactive view on the map.