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University · London · United Kingdom

Birkbeck, University of London

In research, Birkbeck, University of London stands highest in Social Sciences (#674 of 10,521 worldwide), Arts and Humanities (#248 of 1,998 worldwide) and Social Sciences (#943 of 6,365 worldwide), 2022–2025. Relative to its size it is most specialised in History and Philosophy of Science, History and Philosophy — History and Philosophy of Science is 11.1× its share of world research.

bbk.ac.ukROR OpenAlex
World rank, 2022–2025
#2,250
of 28,054 · #846 all time
Rank in United Kingdom
#95
of 1,094
Research works
19k
▼ 7% vs 2013–17
Citations
571k
29.9 per fractional work
Top-10% rate
23.6%
record average 16.5%
Open access
27%
world 28%

What is Birkbeck, University of London 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 #674 of 10,521 23.4%1,103 #229
Arts and HumanitiesField #248 of 1,998 19.2%261 #108
Social SciencesField #943 of 6,365 23.2%489 #279
Sociology and Political ScienceSubfield #485 of 2,578 23.5%181 #308
Physical SciencesDomain #3,579 of 12,888 22.5%259 #1294
Health SciencesDomain #3,991 of 11,982 27.7%123 #1368
Life SciencesDomain #2,727 of 7,800 23.5%149 #1012
PsychologyField #774 of 2,181 25.0%170 #196
PhilosophySubfield #119 of 290 24.6%60 #69
Political Science and International RelationsSubfield #541 of 1,201 19.7%95 #158

Each strip is that field’s whole ranked pool, with the notch where Birkbeck, University of London 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#229 #674
  2. Arts and Humanities#108 #248
  3. Social Sciences#279 #943
  4. Sociology and Political Science#308 #485
  5. Physical Sciences#1,294 #3,579
  6. Health Sciences#1,368 #3,991
  7. Life Sciences#1,012 #2,727
  8. Psychology#196 #774
  9. Philosophy#69 #119
  10. Political Science and International Relations#158 #541
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 Birkbeck, University of London specialise in?

Where its research is concentrated relative to its size: History and Philosophy of Science takes 11.1× the share of its output that it takes of world research.

  1. History and Philosophy of ScienceSubfield · 28.0 works11×
  2. HistorySubfield · 50.8 works9.7×
  3. PhilosophySubfield · 60.3 works8.6×
  4. Cognitive NeuroscienceSubfield · 90.2 works7.6×
← 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: 0.13× its world share, 10 worksAgricultural and Bio…Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology: 0.44× its world share, 38 worksBiochemistry, Geneti…Immunology and Microbiology: 0.20× its world share, 3 worksImmunology and Micro…Neuroscience: 3.66× its world share, 97 worksNeurosciencePharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics: 0.03× its world share, 0 worksPharmacology, Toxico…Chemical Engineering: 0.08× its world share, 0 worksChemical EngineeringChemistry: 0.22× its world share, 6 worksChemistryComputer Science: 0.84× its world share, 107 worksComputer ScienceEarth and Planetary Sciences: 1.50× its world share, 38 worksEarth and Planetary …Energy: 0.11× its world share, 2 worksEnergyEngineering: 0.14× its world share, 34 worksEngineeringEnvironmental Science: 0.32× its world share, 26 worksEnvironmental ScienceMaterials Science: 0.12× its world share, 7 worksMaterials ScienceMathematics: 0.63× its world share, 12 worksMathematicsPhysics and Astronomy: 0.74× its world share, 27 worksPhysics and AstronomyDentistry: 0.02× its world share, 0 worksDentistryHealth Professions: 1.02× its world share, 44 worksHealth ProfessionsMedicine: 0.25× its world share, 78 worksMedicineNursing: 0.13× its world share, 1 worksNursingVeterinary: 0.04× its world share, 0 worksVeterinaryArts and Humanities: 5.54× its world share, 261 worksArts and HumanitiesBusiness, Management and Accounting: 1.35× its world share, 71 worksBusiness, Management…Decision Sciences: 1.23× its world share, 20 worksDecision SciencesEconomics, Econometrics and Finance: 2.62× its world share, 92 worksEconomics, Econometr…Psychology: 3.41× its world share, 170 worksPsychologySocial Sciences: 2.37× its world share, 489 worksSocial Sciences1×world share
more than its size predictsabout as predictedless

Rings at 0.5×, 1× and 2×. Widest outward: Arts and Humanities, 5.5×. Every wedge is a field page.

Who are the top researchers at Birkbeck, University of London?

Ranked on the composite score, E. J. Hobsbawm, Daniele Archibugi and Jean‐Marc Dewaele lead among researchers whose main affiliation is Birkbeck, University of London.

  1. 1 E. J. Hobsbawm United Kingdom · #5,032 worldwide 456 citations · 70 works
  2. 2 Daniele Archibugi United Kingdom · #6,609 worldwide 626 citations · 84 works
  3. 3 Jean‐Marc Dewaele United Kingdom · #8,883 worldwide 1k citations · 113 works
  4. 4 D. W. Hamlyn United Kingdom · #12,585 worldwide 317 citations · 67 works
  5. 5 Jonathan A. Smith United Kingdom · #12,750 worldwide 948 citations · 46 works
  6. 6 Peter Skehan United Kingdom · #31,195 worldwide 1.3k citations · 33 works
  7. 7 A. D. Booth United Kingdom · #34,023 worldwide 393 citations · 35 works
  8. 8 Laura Mulvey United Kingdom · #38,355 worldwide 128 citations · 48 works
  9. 9 Peter Fitzpatrick United Kingdom · #39,847 worldwide 125 citations · 46 works
  10. 10 Michael Zakharyaschev United Kingdom · #40,207 worldwide 435 citations · 66 works
All ranked researchers at Birkbeck, University of London

Which keywords describe research at Birkbeck, University of London?

By fractional works in 2022–2025, weighted toward what it does more of than the world: Gender, History, Globalization, Ethics, Colonialism, Identity, Literature 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. Globalization107▲ 3.3×86 topics
  2. History78▲ 6.8×35 topics
  3. Gender75▲ 8.5×39 topics
  4. Identity65▲ 5.5×48 topics
  5. Ethics61▲ 7.8×34 topics
  6. Colonialism58▲ 7.5×36 topics
  7. Literature56▲ 6.3×34 topics
  8. Mental Health52▲ 2.2×36 topics
  9. Nationalism52▲ 6.9×28 topics
  10. Neoliberalism50▲ 8.5×22 topics
  11. Human Rights47▲ 2.8×44 topics
  12. Culture46▲ 5.4×23 topics
  13. Religion41▲ 5.3×25 topics
  14. Feminism41▲ 8.9×18 topics
  15. Economic Growth39▲ 2.8×21 topics
  16. Social Media38▲ 1.64×23 topics
  17. Philosophy37▲ 5.1×25 topics
  18. Neural Mechanisms29▲ 19×4 topics
  19. Social Cognition29▲ 10×8 topics
  20. Social Interaction28▲ 4.4×10 topics
  21. Monetary Policy27▲ 6.9×10 topics
  22. Society27▲ 8.5×13 topics
  23. Politics26▲ 5.9×15 topics
  24. Ethnicity25▲ 4.1×14 topics
  25. Neuroscience25▲ 5.1×15 topics
  26. Health24▲ 3.7×14 topics
  27. Medicine24▲ 18×6 topics
  28. Race22▲ 12×14 topics
  29. Social Movements21▲ 4.3×16 topics
  30. Emotion21▲ 6.1×11 topics
  31. Inequality21▲ 5.6×9 topics
  32. Emotion Recognition20▲ 6.5×5 topics
  33. Postcolonialism20▲ 9.7×14 topics
  34. Psychology20▲ 9.3×8 topics
  35. Public Opinion19▲ 9.2×6 topics
  36. National Identity19▲ 10.0×7 topics
  37. Europe17▲ 17×2 topics
  38. Cosmopolitanism16▲ 9.2×8 topics
  39. Psychoanalysis16▲ 12×8 topics
  40. Trade16▲ 12×2 topics

Which research topics does Birkbeck, University of London publish most on?

By volume in 2022–2025: Historical Economic and Social Studies, Neural and Behavioral Psychology Studies, Political and Economic history of UK and US and Historical Studies on Reproduction, Gender, Health, and Societal Changes.

Historical Economic and …15Historical Economic and Social Studies: 15 fractional worksNeural and Behavioral Ps…12Neural and Behavioral Psychology Studies: 12 fractional worksPolitical and Economic history of UK and US: 12 fractional worksHistorical Studies on Reproduction, Gender, Health, and Societal Changes: 10 fractional worksHistorical Psychiatry and Medical Practices: 10 fractional worksVisual perception and processing mechanisms: 9 fractional worksAutism Spectrum Disorder Research: 9 fractional worksGender, Feminism, and Me…8Gender, Feminism, and Media: 8 fractional worksFace Recognition and Perception: 8 fractional worksChild and Animal Learning Development: 8 fractional works
Economics and EconometricsCognitive NeurosciencePolitical Science and International RelationsHistory3 others

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

  1. 1 Historical Economic and Social Studies Economics and Econometrics 15 works
  2. 2 Neural and Behavioral Psychology Studies Cognitive Neuroscience 12 works
  3. 3 Political and Economic history of UK and US Political Science and International Relations 12 works
  4. 4 Historical Studies on Reproduction, Gender, Health, and Societal Changes History 10 works
  5. 5 Historical Psychiatry and Medical Practices Clinical Psychology 10 works
  6. 6 Visual perception and processing mechanisms Cognitive Neuroscience 9 works
  7. 7 Autism Spectrum Disorder Research Cognitive Neuroscience 9 works
  8. 8 Gender, Feminism, and Media Gender Studies 8 works
  9. 9 Face Recognition and Perception Cognitive Neuroscience 8 works
  10. 10 Child and Animal Learning Development Developmental and Educational Psychology 8 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 available27.3%not open72.7%

World: 28% of research is openly available.

with international co-authors16.4%domestic only83.6%

World: 19% is written across borders.

How has Birkbeck, University of London's research output changed?

Output in 2018–2022 was 7% 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 London

All research institutions in London

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.