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University · Boston · United States

Boston College

In research, Boston College stands highest in Social Sciences (#386 of 10,521 worldwide), Physical Sciences (#765 of 12,888 worldwide) and Social Sciences (#445 of 6,365 worldwide), 2022–2025. Relative to its size it is most specialised in Religious studies, Classics and History — Religious studies is 13.4× its share of world research.

bc.eduROR OpenAlex
World rank, 2022–2025
#885
of 28,054 · #442 all time
Rank in United States
#162
of 4,192
Research works
27k
▼ 6% vs 2013–17
Citations
798k
29.6 per fractional work
Top-10% rate
22.2%
record average 16.5%
Open access
36%
world 28%

What is Boston College 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 #386 of 10,521 21.6%1,963 #130
Physical SciencesDomain #765 of 12,888 23.1%620 #455
Social SciencesField #445 of 6,365 23.8%938 #185
Health SciencesDomain #874 of 11,982 23.3%357 #587
Arts and HumanitiesField #164 of 1,998 11.2%399 #131
PsychologyField #235 of 2,181 24.5%253 #85
Sociology and Political ScienceSubfield #314 of 2,578 23.2%338 #163
EducationSubfield #302 of 1,892 31.9%175 #74
Physics and AstronomyField #406 of 1,646 23.3%73 #545
Life SciencesDomain #1,953 of 7,800 23.4%226 #1151

Each strip is that field’s whole ranked pool, with the notch where Boston College 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#130 #386
  2. Physical Sciences#455 #765
  3. Social Sciences#185 #445
  4. Health Sciences#587 #874
  5. Arts and Humanities#131 #164
  6. Psychology#85 #235
  7. Sociology and Political Science#163 #314
  8. Education#74 #302
  9. Physics and Astronomy#545 #406
  10. Life Sciences#1,151 #1,953
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 Boston College specialise in?

Where its research is concentrated relative to its size: Religious studies takes 13.4× the share of its output that it takes of world research.

  1. Religious studiesSubfield · 71.0 works13×
  2. ClassicsSubfield · 25.3 works13×
  3. HistorySubfield · 71.8 works7.1×
  4. History and Philosophy of ScienceSubfield · 33.4 works6.8×
← 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: 0.24× its world share, 36 worksAgricultural and Bio…Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology: 0.55× its world share, 93 worksBiochemistry, Geneti…Immunology and Microbiology: 0.18× its world share, 6 worksImmunology and Micro…Neuroscience: 1.71× its world share, 88 worksNeurosciencePharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics: 0.30× its world share, 3 worksPharmacology, Toxico…Chemical Engineering: 0.60× its world share, 7 worksChemical EngineeringChemistry: 1.35× its world share, 67 worksChemistryComputer Science: 0.55× its world share, 135 worksComputer ScienceEarth and Planetary Sciences: 0.92× its world share, 46 worksEarth and Planetary …Energy: 0.79× its world share, 23 worksEnergyEngineering: 0.18× its world share, 84 worksEngineeringEnvironmental Science: 0.47× its world share, 74 worksEnvironmental ScienceMaterials Science: 0.36× its world share, 40 worksMaterials ScienceMathematics: 1.95× its world share, 72 worksMathematicsPhysics and Astronomy: 1.03× its world share, 73 worksPhysics and AstronomyDentistry: 0.03× its world share, 0 worksDentistryHealth Professions: 1.45× its world share, 121 worksHealth ProfessionsMedicine: 0.36× its world share, 218 worksMedicineNursing: 1.09× its world share, 17 worksNursingVeterinary: 0.20× its world share, 1 worksVeterinaryArts and Humanities: 4.36× its world share, 399 worksArts and HumanitiesBusiness, Management and Accounting: 1.38× its world share, 141 worksBusiness, Management…Decision Sciences: 2.09× its world share, 64 worksDecision SciencesEconomics, Econometrics and Finance: 2.49× its world share, 168 worksEconomics, Econometr…Psychology: 2.62× its world share, 253 worksPsychologySocial Sciences: 2.34× its world share, 938 worksSocial Sciences1×world share
more than its size predictsabout as predictedless

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

Who are the top researchers at Boston College?

Ranked on the composite score, James A. Russell, Hannah Arendt and Andy Hargreaves lead among researchers whose main affiliation is Boston College.

  1. 1 James A. Russell United States · #453 worldwide 5k citations · 104 works
  2. 2 Hannah Arendt United States · #1,066 worldwide 1.1k citations · 95 works
  3. 3 Andy Hargreaves United States · #1,791 worldwide 1.3k citations · 91 works
  4. 4 Philip G. Altbach United States · #5,185 worldwide 1.2k citations · 258 works
  5. 5 Jean M. Bartunek United States · #8,044 worldwide 587 citations · 64 works
  6. 6 Ann Wolbert Burgess United States · #11,076 worldwide 692 citations · 73 works
  7. 7 William A. Gamson United States · #13,252 worldwide 1.4k citations · 44 works
  8. 8 Fabio Schiantarelli United States · #13,976 worldwide 901 citations · 50 works
  9. 9 Ellen Winner United States · #15,158 worldwide 672 citations · 63 works
  10. 10 Peter Gottschalk United States · #21,069 worldwide 521 citations · 65 works
All ranked researchers at Boston College

Which keywords describe research at Boston College?

By fractional works in 2022–2025, weighted toward what it does more of than the world: Religion, Globalization, Mental Health, Ethics, History, Nationalism, Identity and Social Justice.

▲ 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. Globalization161▲ 2.6×92 topics
  2. Mental Health141▲ 3.0×37 topics
  3. Religion120▲ 8.0×37 topics
  4. History104▲ 4.7×40 topics
  5. Education101▲ 1.86×69 topics
  6. Ethics96▲ 6.2×39 topics
  7. Identity95▲ 4.1×47 topics
  8. Social Justice88▲ 4.8×34 topics
  9. Nationalism83▲ 5.7×25 topics
  10. Philosophy73▲ 5.2×32 topics
  11. Human Rights73▲ 2.2×57 topics
  12. Gender70▲ 4.1×43 topics
  13. Public Health68▲ 1.48×43 topics
  14. Literature67▲ 3.9×42 topics
  15. Economic Growth62▲ 2.3×21 topics
  16. Culture61▲ 3.6×25 topics
  17. Colonialism59▲ 3.9×34 topics
  18. Theology59▲ 19×6 topics
  19. Social Support54▲ 3.1×16 topics
  20. Feminism50▲ 5.6×19 topics
  21. Neoliberalism49▲ 4.3×22 topics
  22. Higher Education48▲ 2.8×18 topics
  23. Cultural Identity46▲ 2.8×26 topics
  24. Secularism46▲ 14×5 topics
  25. Society45▲ 7.4×15 topics
  26. Diversity44▲ 8.0×8 topics
  27. Democracy44▲ 3.9×24 topics
  28. Health Disparities42▲ 5.0×8 topics
  29. Public Opinion39▲ 9.8×6 topics
  30. Monetary Policy35▲ 4.6×10 topics
  31. Federalism35▲ 17×3 topics
  32. Political Philosophy35▲ 19×4 topics
  33. Academic Achievement33▲ 6.2×10 topics
  34. Intersectionality33▲ 5.7×13 topics
  35. Psychology33▲ 8.0×13 topics
  36. American founding32▲ 32×1 topic
  37. Constitutional government32▲ 32×1 topic
  38. Acculturation31▲ 13×2 topics
  39. Biblical Monotheism30▲ 35×1 topic
  40. Jewish Society30▲ 35×1 topic

Which research topics does Boston College publish most on?

By volume in 2022–2025: American Constitutional Law and Politics, Biblical Studies and Interpretation, Religious Education and Schools and Higher Education Governance and Development.

American Constitutional Law and Politics: 32 fractional worksBiblical Studies and Interpretation: 30 fractional worksReligious Education and Schools: 19 fractional worksHigher Education Governance and Development: 18 fractional worksMedieval Literature and History: 17 fractional worksReformation and Early Modern Christianity: 16 fractional worksRacial and Ethnic Identi…16Racial and Ethnic Identity Research: 16 fractional worksEmployment and Welfare Studies: 16 fractional worksReligion, Society, and Development: 16 fractional worksMigration, Health and Tr…15Migration, Health and Trauma: 15 fractional works
Political Science and International RelationsReligious studiesEducationClassics4 others

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

  1. 1 American Constitutional Law and Politics Political Science and International Relations 32 works
  2. 2 Biblical Studies and Interpretation Religious studies 30 works
  3. 3 Religious Education and Schools Education 19 works
  4. 4 Higher Education Governance and Development Political Science and International Relations 18 works
  5. 5 Medieval Literature and History Classics 17 works
  6. 6 Reformation and Early Modern Christianity History 16 works
  7. 7 Racial and Ethnic Identity Research Sociology and Political Science 16 works
  8. 8 Employment and Welfare Studies General Health Professions 16 works
  9. 9 Religion, Society, and Development Sociology and Political Science 16 works
  10. 10 Migration, Health and Trauma Clinical Psychology 15 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 available36.5%not open63.5%

World: 28% of research is openly available.

with international co-authors9.4%domestic only90.6%

World: 19% is written across borders.

How has Boston College's research output changed?

Output in 2018–2022 was 6% 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 Boston

All research institutions in Boston

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.