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Government institution · Nottingham · United Kingdom

British Geological Survey

In research, British Geological Survey stands highest in Physical Sciences (#1,973 of 12,888 worldwide), Earth and Planetary Sciences (#392 of 1,209 worldwide) and Environmental Science (#1,616 of 3,551 worldwide), 2022–2025. Relative to its size it is most specialised in Geophysics, Earth and Planetary Sciences and Atmospheric Science — Geophysics is 39.4× its share of world research.

bgs.ac.ukROR OpenAlex
World rank, 2022–2025
#3,348
of 28,054 · #1,956 all time
Rank in United Kingdom
#128
of 1,094
Research works
5.4k
▼ 11% vs 2013–17
Citations
162k
30.1 per fractional work
Top-10% rate
22.6%
record average 16.5%
Open access
32%
world 28%

What is British Geological Survey 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
Physical SciencesDomain #1,973 of 12,888 22.3%333 #1355
Earth and Planetary SciencesField #392 of 1,209 25.7%135 #267
Environmental ScienceField #1,616 of 3,551 22.0%99 #724
EngineeringField #4,938 of 6,636 18.0%61 #2943

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 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. Physical Sciences#1,355 #1,973
  2. Earth and Planetary Sciences#267 #392
  3. Environmental Science#724 #1,616
  4. Engineering#2,943 #4,938
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 British Geological Survey specialise in?

Where its research is concentrated relative to its size: Geophysics takes 39.4× the share of its output that it takes of world research.

  1. GeophysicsSubfield · 51.8 works39×
  2. Earth and Planetary SciencesField · 135.2 works23×
  3. Atmospheric ScienceSubfield · 24.8 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: 0.44× its world share, 8 worksAgricultural and Bio…Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology: 0.33× its world share, 7 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: 0.06× its world share, 0 worksPharmacology, Toxico…Chemical Engineering: 0.08× its world share, 0 worksChemical EngineeringChemistry: 0.43× its world share, 2 worksChemistryComputer Science: 0.60× its world share, 18 worksComputer ScienceEarth and Planetary Sciences: 22.89× its world share, 135 worksEarth and Planetary …Energy: 1.81× its world share, 6 worksEnergyEngineering: 1.07× its world share, 60 worksEngineeringEnvironmental Science: 5.27× its world share, 99 worksEnvironmental ScienceMaterials Science: 0.14× its world share, 2 worksMaterials ScienceMathematics: 0.10× its world share, 0 worksMathematicsPhysics and Astronomy: 1.18× its world share, 10 worksPhysics and AstronomyHealth Professions: 0.29× its world share, 3 worksHealth ProfessionsMedicine: 0.05× its world share, 3 worksMedicineNursing: 0.87× its world share, 2 worksNursingArts and Humanities: 0.46× its world share, 5 worksArts and HumanitiesBusiness, Management and Accounting: 0.06× its world share, 1 worksBusiness, Management…Decision Sciences: 0.89× its world share, 3 worksDecision SciencesEconomics, Econometrics and Finance: 0.14× its world share, 1 worksEconomics, Econometr…Psychology: 0.12× its world share, 1 worksPsychologySocial Sciences: 0.19× its world share, 9 worksSocial Sciences1×world share
more than its size predictsabout as predictedless

Rings at 0.5×, 1× and 2×. Widest outward: Earth and Planetary Sciences, 22.9×. Every wedge is a field page.

Who are the top researchers at British Geological Survey?

Ranked on the composite score, Daniel J. Condon, Matthew Horstwood and R. J. Pankhurst lead among researchers whose main affiliation is British Geological Survey.

  1. 1 Daniel J. Condon United Kingdom · #12,791 worldwide 1.4k citations · 51 works
  2. 2 Matthew Horstwood United Kingdom · #15,611 worldwide 1.2k citations · 52 works
  3. 3 R. J. Pankhurst United Kingdom · #75,409 worldwide 715 citations · 68 works
  4. 4 Martyn S. Stoker United Kingdom · #111,281 worldwide 233 citations · 38 works
  5. 5 D. M. McCann United Kingdom · #115,320 worldwide 173 citations · 38 works
  6. 6 Melanie J. Leng United Kingdom · #127,020 worldwide 1k citations · 164 works
  7. 7 Steven W Holloway United Kingdom · #138,039 worldwide 64 citations · 52 works
  8. 8 Robert Knox United Kingdom · #148,671 worldwide 241 citations · 22 works
  9. 9 J. H. Powell United Kingdom · #148,944 worldwide 216 citations · 39 works
  10. 10 Michael A. Ellis United Kingdom · #156,329 worldwide 201 citations · 45 works
All ranked researchers at British Geological Survey

Which keywords describe research at British Geological Survey?

By fractional works in 2022–2025, weighted toward what it does more of than the world: Climate Change, Remote Sensing, Tectonics, Plate Tectonics, Holocene, Geological Mapping, GIS-based Modeling and Sea Level.

▲ 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. Climate Change65▲ 6.5×48 topics
  2. Remote Sensing50▲ 11×22 topics
  3. Tectonics25▲ 56×3 topics
  4. Plate Tectonics22▲ 38×3 topics
  5. Machine Learning21▲ 1.72×15 topics
  6. Geological Mapping18▲ 59×2 topics
  7. Holocene18▲ 42×3 topics
  8. GIS-based Modeling18▲ 56×2 topics
  9. Sea Level18▲ 49×2 topics
  10. Environmental Impact18▲ 2.7×28 topics
  11. Paleoclimatology17▲ 55×2 topics
  12. Glacial Cycles17▲ 68×1 topic
  13. Monsoon Dynamics17▲ 68×1 topic
  14. Hydrological Modeling17▲ 19×5 topics
  15. Thermodynamic Modeling15▲ 34×2 topics
  16. Geochronology14▲ 56×1 topic
  17. Support Vector Machines14▲ 12×3 topics
  18. Zircon14▲ 56×1 topic
  19. Geodetic Measurements14▲ 34×2 topics
  20. Water Quality14▲ 9.2×9 topics
  21. Risk Assessment14▲ 5.4×8 topics
  22. Hyperspectral Imaging12▲ 12×2 topics
  23. Compositional Data Analysis12▲ 49×1 topic
  24. Mineral Prospectivity12▲ 49×1 topic
  25. Shale Gas12▲ 26×2 topics
  26. Hazard12▲ 46×1 topic
  27. Landslide12▲ 46×1 topic
  28. Reactive Transport12▲ 60×2 topics
  29. Sediment Transport12▲ 19×4 topics
  30. Subduction12▲ 42×3 topics
  31. Microbial Communities11▲ 6.6×5 topics
  32. Groundwater10▲ 34×6 topics
  33. Pore Structure10▲ 22×2 topics
  34. Earthquakes10▲ 48×1 topic
  35. Plate Boundaries10▲ 48×1 topic
  36. Land Use Change10▲ 8.7×4 topics
  37. Sedimentation10▲ 46×2 topics
  38. Tomography10▲ 14×2 topics
  39. Gas Permeability9▲ 25×1 topic
  40. Mudstones9▲ 33×1 topic

Which research topics does British Geological Survey publish most on?

By volume in 2022–2025: Geology and Paleoclimatology Research, Geological and Geochemical Analysis, Geochemistry and Geologic Mapping and Landslides and related hazards.

Geology and Paleoclimato…17Geology and Paleoclimatology Research: 17 fractional worksGeological and Geochemic…14Geological and Geochemical Analysis: 14 fractional worksGeochemistry and Geologi…12Geochemistry and Geologic Mapping: 12 fractional worksLandslides and related h…12Landslides and related hazards: 12 fractional worksearthquake and tectonic studies: 10 fractional worksHydrocarbon exploration and reservoir analysis: 9 fractional worksGeological formations an…9Geological formations and processes: 9 fractional worksGeophysical and Geoelect…8Geophysical and Geoelectrical Methods: 8 fractional worksMethane Hydrates and Rel…8Methane Hydrates and Related Phenomena: 8 fractional worksGroundwater and Isotope …7Groundwater and Isotope Geochemistry: 7 fractional works
Atmospheric ScienceGeophysicsArtificial IntelligenceManagement, Monitoring, Policy and Law4 others

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

  1. 1 Geology and Paleoclimatology Research Atmospheric Science 17 works
  2. 2 Geological and Geochemical Analysis Geophysics 14 works
  3. 3 Geochemistry and Geologic Mapping Artificial Intelligence 12 works
  4. 4 Landslides and related hazards Management, Monitoring, Policy and Law 12 works
  5. 5 earthquake and tectonic studies Geophysics 10 works
  6. 6 Hydrocarbon exploration and reservoir analysis Mechanics of Materials 9 works
  7. 7 Geological formations and processes Earth-Surface Processes 9 works
  8. 8 Geophysical and Geoelectrical Methods Geophysics 8 works
  9. 9 Methane Hydrates and Related Phenomena Environmental Chemistry 8 works
  10. 10 Groundwater and Isotope Geochemistry Geochemistry and Petrology 7 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: 28% of research is openly available.

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

World: 19% is written across borders.

How has British Geological Survey's research output changed?

Output in 2018–2022 was 11% 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 Nottingham

All research institutions in Nottingham

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.