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Government institution · Nottingham · United Kingdom

British Geological Survey

In research, British Geological Survey stands highest in Physical Sciences (#2,461 of 10,670 worldwide), Environmental Science (#1,136 of 3,334 worldwide) and Earth and Planetary Sciences (#402 of 1,088 worldwide), 2022-now. Relative to its size it is most specialised in Geophysics, Earth and Planetary Sciences and Atmospheric Science (Geophysics is 37.0× its share of world research).

bgs.ac.ukROR OpenAlex
World rank, 2022-now
#6,209
of 22,385 · #2,392 all time
Rank in United Kingdom
#231
of 862
Research works
5.4k
▼ 45% vs 2018-21
Citations
162k
30.1 per fractional work
Top-10% rate
12.9%
all institutions 10.0%
vs its own fields
1.10×
1.00× is exactly expected
Open access
32%
world 40%
International
25%
world 18%
British Geological Survey

What is British Geological Survey 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
Physical SciencesDomain #2,461 of 10,670 12.6%333 #1565
Environmental ScienceField #1,136 of 3,334 9.3%99 #641
Earth and Planetary SciencesField #402 of 1,088 15.6%135 #364
EngineeringField #4,615 of 5,901 11.6%61 #2521

Each strip is that field's whole ranked pool, with the notch where British Geological Survey 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. Physical Sciences#1,565 #2,461
  2. Environmental Science#641 #1,136
  3. Earth and Planetary Sciences#364 #402
  4. Engineering#2,521 #4,615
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 British Geological Survey work in?

In 2022-now, 88% of research at British Geological Survey is in Physical Sciences, 6% in Social Sciences. Its largest fields are Earth and Planetary Sciences (35%), Environmental Science (26%), Engineering (16%). It does 2.2× the world's share of Physical Sciences.

Physical Sciences: 383 fractional works · 87.6% of its workEarth and Planetary Sciences: 155 fractional works · 35.4% of its workGeophysics: 57 fractional works · 12.9% of its workAtmospheric Science: 28 fractional works · 6.4% of its workGeochemistry and Petrology: 19 fractional works · 4.3% of its workEarth-Surface Processes: 18 fractional works · 4.0% of its workPaleontology: 13 fractional works · 2.9% of its workOceanography: 12 fractional works · 2.8% of its workGeology: 9 fractional works · 2.0% of its workEnvironmental Science: 113 fractional works · 25.9% of its workEnvironmental Engineering: 24 fractional works · 5.6% of its workGlobal and Planetary Change: 19 fractional works · 4.4% of its workManagement, Monitoring, Policy and Law: 14 fractional works · 3.3% of its workEnvironmental Chemistry: 14 fractional works · 3.3% of its workEcology: 13 fractional works · 3.0% of its workWater Science and Technology: 12 fractional works · 2.6% of its workPollution: 6 fractional works · 1.4% of its workHealth, Toxicology and Mutagenesis: 6 fractional works · 1.3% of its workIndustrial and Manufacturing Engineering: 3 fractional works · 0.7% of its workSmaller subfields together: 1 fractional works · 0.2% of its workEngineering: 68 fractional works · 15.7% of its workMechanical Engineering: 13 fractional works · 3.1% of its workOcean Engineering: 13 fractional works · 2.9% of its workMechanics of Materials: 12 fractional works · 2.7% of its workCivil and Structural Engineering: 11 fractional works · 2.4% of its workBuilding and Construction: 7 fractional works · 1.6% of its workAerospace Engineering: 3 fractional works · 0.7% of its workElectrical and Electronic Engineering: 3 fractional works · 0.6% of its workSafety, Risk, Reliability and Quality: 2 fractional works · 0.4% of its workBiomedical Engineering: 2 fractional works · 0.3% of its workControl and Systems Engineering: 1 fractional works · 0.3% of its workMedia Technology: 1 fractional works · 0.3% of its workComputational Mechanics: 1 fractional works · 0.2% of its workSmaller subfields together: 1 fractional works · 0.1% of its workComputer Science: 21 fractional works · 4.8% of its workArtificial Intelligence: 17 fractional works · 3.9% of its workInformation Systems: 3 fractional works · 0.6% of its workSmaller subfields together: 1 fractional works · 0.3% of its workPhysics and Astronomy: 12 fractional works · 2.8% of its workAstronomy and Astrophysics: 10 fractional works · 2.2% of its workRadiation: 1 fractional works · 0.2% of its workSmaller subfields together: 2 fractional works · 0.4% of its workEnergy: 7 fractional works · 1.6% of its workRenewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment: 7 fractional works · 1.5% of its workSmaller subfields together: 0 fractional works · 0.1% of its workChemistry: 3 fractional works · 0.7% of its workInorganic Chemistry: 2 fractional works · 0.5% of its workSmaller subfields together: 1 fractional works · 0.3% of its workMaterials Science: 3 fractional works · 0.6% of its workBiomaterials: 2 fractional works · 0.4% of its workSmaller subfields together: 1 fractional works · 0.2% of its workMathematics: 1 fractional works · 0.1% of its workChemical Engineering: 0 fractional works · 0.0% of its workSocial Sciences: 27 fractional works · 6.3% of its workSocial Sciences: 13 fractional works · 3.0% of its workSociology and Political Science: 5 fractional works · 1.1% of its workGeography, Planning and Development: 3 fractional works · 0.6% of its workAnthropology: 3 fractional works · 0.6% of its workPolitical Science and International Relations: 1 fractional works · 0.3% of its workSmaller subfields together: 2 fractional works · 0.4% of its workArts and Humanities: 6 fractional works · 1.4% of its workArcheology: 2 fractional works · 0.6% of its workHistory and Philosophy of Science: 2 fractional works · 0.4% of its workSmaller subfields together: 2 fractional works · 0.4% of its workDecision Sciences: 4 fractional works · 0.9% of its workInformation Systems and Management: 3 fractional works · 0.6% of its workSmaller subfields together: 1 fractional works · 0.2% of its workPsychology: 2 fractional works · 0.4% of its workSocial Psychology: 2 fractional works · 0.3% of its workSmaller subfields together: 0 fractional works · 0.0% of its workBusiness, Management and Accounting: 1 fractional works · 0.3% of its workEconomics, Econometrics and Finance: 1 fractional works · 0.3% of its workEconomics and Econometrics: 1 fractional works · 0.2% of its workLife Sciences: 18 fractional works · 4.0% of its workAgricultural and Biological Sciences: 9 fractional works · 2.0% of its workSoil Science: 4 fractional works · 0.9% of its workPlant Science: 2 fractional works · 0.5% of its workEcology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics: 2 fractional works · 0.5% of its workSmaller subfields together: 1 fractional works · 0.2% of its workBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology: 8 fractional works · 1.9% of its workMolecular Biology: 8 fractional works · 1.7% of its workSmaller subfields together: 1 fractional works · 0.1% of its workNeuroscience: 0 fractional works · 0.1% of its workHealth Sciences: 9 fractional works · 2.1% of its workMedicine: 4 fractional works · 0.9% of its workSurgery: 1 fractional works · 0.3% of its workSmaller subfields together: 3 fractional works · 0.7% of its workHealth Professions: 3 fractional works · 0.7% of its workRadiological and Ultrasound Technology: 2 fractional works · 0.5% of its workSmaller subfields together: 1 fractional works · 0.2% of its workNursing: 2 fractional works · 0.4% of its workNutrition and Dietetics: 2 fractional works · 0.4% of its workDentistry: 0 fractional works · 0.1% of its workALL ITS WORKBritishGeological Survey437fractional works, 2022-now
Life Sciences4%Physical Sciences88%Health Sciences2%Social Sciences6%

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 25 fields, with their numbers
    1. Earth and Planetary Sciences15535.4%
    2. Environmental Science11325.9%
    3. Engineering6815.7%
    4. Computer Science214.8%
    5. Physics and Astronomy122.8%
    6. Energy71.6%
    7. Chemistry30.7%
    8. Materials Science30.6%
    9. Mathematics10.1%
    10. Chemical Engineering00.0%
    1. Social Sciences133.0%
    2. Arts and Humanities61.4%
    3. Decision Sciences40.9%
    4. Psychology20.4%
    5. Business, Management and Accounting10.3%
    6. Economics, Econometrics and Finance10.3%
    1. Agricultural and Biological Sciences92.0%
    2. Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology81.9%
    3. Neuroscience00.1%
    4. Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics00.0%
    5. Immunology and Microbiology00.0%
    1. Medicine40.9%
    2. Health Professions30.7%
    3. Nursing20.4%
    4. Dentistry00.1%
All of science, and how each field's share has moved since 1950: the Science domain explorer

What does British Geological Survey specialise in?

Where its research is concentrated relative to its size: Geophysics takes 37.0× the share of its output that it takes of world research.

  1. GeophysicsSubfield · 56.6 works37×
  2. Earth and Planetary SciencesField · 154.5 works23×
  3. Atmospheric ScienceSubfield · 28.1 works15×
← 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: 0.43× its world share, 9 worksAgricultural and Bio…Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology: 0.35× its world share, 8 worksBiochemistry, Geneti…Immunology and Microbiology: 0.01× its world share, 0 worksImmunology and Micro…Neuroscience: 0.05× its world share, 0 worksNeurosciencePharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics: 0.05× its world share, 0 worksPharmacology, Toxico…Chemical Engineering: 0.07× its world share, 0 worksChemical EngineeringChemistry: 0.46× its world share, 3 worksChemistryComputer Science: 0.62× its world share, 21 worksComputer ScienceEarth and Planetary Sciences: 22.54× its world share, 154 worksEarth and Planetary …Energy: 1.77× its world share, 7 worksEnergyEngineering: 1.04× its world share, 68 worksEngineeringEnvironmental Science: 5.20× its world share, 113 worksEnvironmental ScienceMaterials Science: 0.18× its world share, 3 worksMaterials ScienceMathematics: 0.10× its world share, 0 worksMathematicsPhysics and Astronomy: 1.27× its world share, 12 worksPhysics and AstronomyDentistry: 0.10× its world share, 0 worksDentistryHealth Professions: 0.27× its world share, 3 worksHealth ProfessionsMedicine: 0.05× its world share, 4 worksMedicineNursing: 0.86× its world share, 2 worksNursingArts and Humanities: 0.50× its world share, 6 worksArts and HumanitiesBusiness, Management and Accounting: 0.08× its world share, 1 worksBusiness, Management…Decision Sciences: 0.91× its world share, 4 worksDecision SciencesEconomics, Econometrics and Finance: 0.12× its world share, 1 worksEconomics, Econometr…Psychology: 0.13× its world share, 2 worksPsychologySocial Sciences: 0.24× its world share, 13 worksSocial Sciences1×world share
more than its size predictsabout as predictedless

Rings at 0.5×, 1× and 2×. Widest outward: Earth and Planetary Sciences, 22.5×. Every wedge is a field page.

All 25 fields, with their numbers
  1. Earth and Planetary Sciences22.54×154 works
  2. Environmental Science5.20×113 works
  3. Energy1.77×7 works
  4. Physics and Astronomy1.27×12 works
  5. Engineering1.04×68 works
  6. Decision Sciences0.91×4 works
  7. Nursing0.86×2 works
  8. Computer Science0.62×21 works
  9. Arts and Humanities0.50×6 works
  10. Chemistry0.46×3 works
  11. Agricultural and Biological Sciences0.43×9 works
  12. Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology0.35×8 works
  13. Health Professions0.27×3 works
  14. Social Sciences0.24×13 works
  15. Materials Science0.18×3 works
  16. Psychology0.13×2 works
  17. Economics, Econometrics and Finance0.12×1 works
  18. Mathematics0.10×0 works
  19. Dentistry0.10×0 works
  20. Business, Management and Accounting0.08×1 works
  21. Chemical Engineering0.07×0 works
  22. Neuroscience0.05×0 works
  23. Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics0.05×0 works
  24. Medicine0.05×4 works
  25. Immunology and Microbiology0.01×0 works

Who are the top researchers at British Geological Survey?

Ranked on the quality score, Randall R. Parrish, Daniel J. Condon and Nick M.W. Roberts lead among researchers whose main affiliation is British Geological Survey.

  1. 1 Randall R. Parrish United Kingdom · #46,351 worldwide 18k citations · 236 works
  2. 2 Daniel J. Condon United Kingdom · #78,067 worldwide 19k citations · 262 works
  3. 3 Nick M.W. Roberts United Kingdom · #79,572 worldwide 8.8k citations · 303 works
  4. 4 Matthew Horstwood United Kingdom · #123,009 worldwide 16k citations · 213 works
  5. 5 T.H.E. Heaton United Kingdom · #146,444 worldwide 9.2k citations · 86 works
  6. 6 Jane Alison Evans United Kingdom · #148,185 worldwide 12k citations · 341 works
  7. 7 Alessandro Novellino United Kingdom · #192,719 worldwide 2.2k citations · 112 works
  8. 8 D.G. Kinniburgh United Kingdom · #243,491 worldwide 12k citations · 46 works
  9. 9 Robert John Pankhurst United Kingdom · #250,469 worldwide 21k citations · 328 works
  10. 10 Angela L. Lamb United Kingdom · #256,997 worldwide 4.9k citations · 125 works
All ranked researchers at British Geological Survey

What are the most cited papers from British Geological Survey?

The most cited paper from British Geological Survey is "A Compilation of New and Published Major and Trace Element Data for NIST SRM 610 and NIST SRM 612 Glass Reference Materials" (Nicholas J.G. Pearce, William T. Perkins, John A. Westgate et al., 1997), with 2,797 citations. Next come "Ground water and climate change" (2,643) and "The Anthropocene is functionally and stratigraphically distinct from the Holocene" (2,376).

Most cited papers
#PaperReleasedCitations
1 A Compilation of New and Published Major and Trace Element Data for NIST SRM 610 and NIST SRM 612 Glass Reference Materials Nicholas J.G. Pearce, William T. Perkins, John A. Westgate et al. · Geostandards and Geoanalytical Research Jun 1997 2,797
2 Ground water and climate change Richard G. Taylor et al. · Nature Climate Change Open access 23 Nov 2012 2,643
3 The Anthropocene is functionally and stratigraphically distinct from the Holocene Colin N. Waters et al. · Science Open access 7 Jan 2016 2,376
4 Soil carbon 4 per mille Budiman Minasny et al. · Geoderma Open access 19 Jan 2017 2,234
5 Emerging organic contaminants in groundwater: A review of sources, fate and occurrence Dan J. Lapworth, Nicole Baran, Marianne E. Stuart et al. · Environmental Pollution 2 Feb 2012 1,886
All 61 most cited papers, with filters and sorting

Which keywords describe research at British Geological Survey?

By fractional works in 2022-now, weighted toward what it does more of than the world: Climate Change, Remote Sensing, Tectonics, Plate Tectonics, Geological Mapping, Holocene, GIS-based Modeling and Hydrological Modeling.

▲ 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. Climate Change76▲ 6.4×51 topics
  2. Remote Sensing57▲ 11×24 topics
  3. Tectonics28▲ 53×3 topics
  4. Machine Learning24▲ 1.67×19 topics
  5. Plate Tectonics23▲ 35×3 topics
  6. Geological Mapping20▲ 60×2 topics
  7. Holocene20▲ 42×3 topics
  8. GIS-based Modeling20▲ 55×2 topics
  9. Hydrological Modeling20▲ 19×5 topics
  10. Sea Level19▲ 48×2 topics
  11. Environmental Impact19▲ 2.5×28 topics
  12. Paleoclimatology19▲ 52×2 topics
  13. Glacial Cycles18▲ 65×1 topic
  14. Monsoon Dynamics18▲ 65×1 topic
  15. Support Vector Machines16▲ 11×3 topics
  16. Thermodynamic Modeling16▲ 32×2 topics
  17. Water Quality16▲ 9.0×9 topics
  18. Geodetic Measurements16▲ 34×2 topics
  19. Geochronology16▲ 51×1 topic
  20. Zircon16▲ 51×1 topic
  21. Risk Assessment15▲ 5.3×8 topics
  22. Reactive Transport14▲ 56×2 topics
  23. Sediment Transport14▲ 19×4 topics
  24. Hyperspectral Imaging14▲ 12×2 topics
  25. Compositional Data Analysis13▲ 49×1 topic
  26. Mineral Prospectivity13▲ 49×1 topic
  27. Hazard13▲ 44×1 topic
  28. Landslide13▲ 44×1 topic
  29. Subduction13▲ 39×3 topics
  30. Shale Gas12▲ 23×2 topics
  31. Land Use Change12▲ 9.3×4 topics
  32. Microbial Communities12▲ 6.1×5 topics
  33. Groundwater12▲ 28×6 topics
  34. Sedimentation11▲ 47×2 topics
  35. Earthquakes11▲ 45×1 topic
  36. Plate Boundaries11▲ 45×1 topic
  37. Water Resources11▲ 10×5 topics
  38. Fluvial Systems11▲ 86×1 topic
  39. Sequence Stratigraphy11▲ 86×1 topic
  40. Pore Structure10▲ 19×2 topics

Which research topics does British Geological Survey publish most on?

By volume in 2022-now: Geology and Paleoclimatology Research, Geological and Geochemical Analysis, Geochemistry and Geologic Mapping and Landslides and related hazards.

Geology and Paleoclimato…18Geology and Paleoclimatology Research: 18 fractional worksGeological and Geochemic…16Geological and Geochemical Analysis: 16 fractional worksGeochemistry and Geologi…13Geochemistry and Geologic Mapping: 13 fractional worksLandslides and related h…13Landslides and related hazards: 13 fractional worksearthquake and tectonic studies: 11 fractional worksGeological formations and processes: 11 fractional worksHydrocarbon exploration …10Hydrocarbon exploration and reservoir analysis: 10 fractional worksPaleontology and Stratigraphy of Fossils: 8 fractional worksMethane Hydrates and Related Phenomena: 8 fractional worksHydrology and Watershed …8Hydrology and Watershed Management Studies: 8 fractional works
Atmospheric ScienceGeophysicsArtificial IntelligenceManagement, Monitoring, Policy and Law5 others

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

  1. 1 Geology and Paleoclimatology Research Atmospheric Science 18 works
  2. 2 Geological and Geochemical Analysis Geophysics 16 works
  3. 3 Geochemistry and Geologic Mapping Artificial Intelligence 13 works
  4. 4 Landslides and related hazards Management, Monitoring, Policy and Law 13 works
  5. 5 earthquake and tectonic studies Geophysics 11 works
  6. 6 Geological formations and processes Earth-Surface Processes 11 works
  7. 7 Hydrocarbon exploration and reservoir analysis Mechanics of Materials 10 works
  8. 8 Paleontology and Stratigraphy of Fossils Paleontology 8 works
  9. 9 Methane Hydrates and Related Phenomena Environmental Chemistry 8 works
  10. 10 Hydrology and Watershed Management Studies Water Science and Technology 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 available32.3%not open67.7%

World: 40% of research is openly available.

with international co-authors25.2%domestic only74.8%

World: 18% is written across borders.

How has British Geological Survey's research output changed?

Output in 2022-2025 was 45% 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 British Geological Survey as a percentage of every work published that year, 0.0017% in 2024.

still counting0.010%0.020%0.030%British Geological Survey0.0014% in 202519801990200020102020

Fractional works of British Geological Survey 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 counting10%20%British Geological Survey11.6% in 2025all institutions10.0% in 2025200020102020

Of each year's output, the share that reached the world's 10% most cited for its field and year. Peak 17.1% in 2022.

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