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British Museum

In research, British Museum stands highest in Social Sciences (#4,907 of 9,585 worldwide) and Arts and Humanities (#974 of 1,896 worldwide), 2022-now. Relative to its size it is most specialised in Archeology and Anthropology (Archeology is 82.2× its share of world research).

britishmuseum.orgROR OpenAlex
World rank, 2022-now
#12,447
of 22,385 · #5,905 all time
Rank in United Kingdom
#410
of 862
Research works
4.9k
▼ 19% vs 2018-21
Citations
87k
17.8 per fractional work
Top-10% rate
15.8%
all institutions 10.0%
vs its own fields
1.09×
1.00× is exactly expected
Open access
19%
world 40%
International
12%
world 18%
British Museum

What is British Museum 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
Social SciencesDomain #4,907 of 9,585 17.0%106 #4521
Arts and HumanitiesField #974 of 1,896 14.6%61 #1367

Each strip is that field's whole ranked pool, with the notch where British Museum 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 fields of science does British Museum work in?

In 2022-now, 68% of research at British Museum is in Social Sciences, 21% in Physical Sciences. Its largest fields are Arts and Humanities (39%), Social Sciences (25%), Earth and Planetary Sciences (14%). It does 2.6× the world's share of Social Sciences.

Social Sciences: 116 fractional works · 68.4% of its workArts and Humanities: 67 fractional works · 39.4% of its workArcheology: 42 fractional works · 24.8% of its workHistory: 6 fractional works · 3.6% of its workConservation: 6 fractional works · 3.3% of its workMuseology: 4 fractional works · 2.4% of its workVisual Arts and Performing Arts: 3 fractional works · 1.5% of its workClassics: 2 fractional works · 1.2% of its workHistory and Philosophy of Science: 2 fractional works · 1.0% of its workLiterature and Literary Theory: 1 fractional works · 0.6% of its workLanguage and Linguistics: 1 fractional works · 0.4% of its workPhilosophy: 0 fractional works · 0.3% of its workReligious studies: 0 fractional works · 0.3% of its workSmaller subfields together: 0 fractional works · 0.2% of its workSocial Sciences: 42 fractional works · 25.0% of its workAnthropology: 21 fractional works · 12.4% of its workArcheology: 5 fractional works · 3.2% of its workSociology and Political Science: 5 fractional works · 3.0% of its workPolitical Science and International Relations: 4 fractional works · 2.6% of its workGeography, Planning and Development: 3 fractional works · 1.7% of its workEducation: 1 fractional works · 0.7% of its workCultural Studies: 1 fractional works · 0.6% of its workUrban Studies: 1 fractional works · 0.4% of its workSmaller subfields together: 1 fractional works · 0.5% of its workBusiness, Management and Accounting: 2 fractional works · 1.4% of its workAccounting: 2 fractional works · 1.1% of its workOrganizational Behavior and Human Resource Management: 0 fractional works · 0.3% of its workPsychology: 2 fractional works · 1.3% of its workSocial Psychology: 2 fractional works · 1.3% of its workSmaller subfields together: 0 fractional works · 0.0% of its workEconomics, Econometrics and Finance: 2 fractional works · 1.2% of its workEconomics and Econometrics: 1 fractional works · 0.9% of its workFinance: 1 fractional works · 0.4% of its workDecision Sciences: 0 fractional works · 0.1% of its workPhysical Sciences: 36 fractional works · 21.1% of its workEarth and Planetary Sciences: 23 fractional works · 13.6% of its workPaleontology: 13 fractional works · 7.5% of its workSpace and Planetary Science: 5 fractional works · 2.8% of its workEarth-Surface Processes: 2 fractional works · 1.1% of its workAtmospheric Science: 1 fractional works · 0.9% of its workGeochemistry and Petrology: 1 fractional works · 0.8% of its workOceanography: 1 fractional works · 0.3% of its workSmaller subfields together: 1 fractional works · 0.3% of its workEngineering: 4 fractional works · 2.2% of its workBuilding and Construction: 1 fractional works · 0.8% of its workArchitecture: 0 fractional works · 0.3% of its workCivil and Structural Engineering: 0 fractional works · 0.3% of its workBiomedical Engineering: 0 fractional works · 0.3% of its workSmaller subfields together: 1 fractional works · 0.6% of its workEnvironmental Science: 3 fractional works · 1.8% of its workEcology: 1 fractional works · 0.8% of its workNature and Landscape Conservation: 1 fractional works · 0.3% of its workEnvironmental Engineering: 0 fractional works · 0.3% of its workSmaller subfields together: 1 fractional works · 0.4% of its workComputer Science: 3 fractional works · 1.5% of its workComputer Vision and Pattern Recognition: 2 fractional works · 1.1% of its workInformation Systems: 0 fractional works · 0.2% of its workSmaller subfields together: 0 fractional works · 0.3% of its workPhysics and Astronomy: 1 fractional works · 0.7% of its workRadiation: 1 fractional works · 0.3% of its workAstronomy and Astrophysics: 0 fractional works · 0.3% of its workSmaller subfields together: 0 fractional works · 0.1% of its workChemistry: 1 fractional works · 0.6% of its workAnalytical Chemistry: 1 fractional works · 0.4% of its workOrganic Chemistry: 0 fractional works · 0.2% of its workMaterials Science: 1 fractional works · 0.5% of its workMaterials Chemistry: 1 fractional works · 0.4% of its workSmaller subfields together: 0 fractional works · 0.1% of its workMathematics: 0 fractional works · 0.1% of its workLife Sciences: 13 fractional works · 7.5% of its workAgricultural and Biological Sciences: 8 fractional works · 4.9% of its workEcology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics: 4 fractional works · 2.2% of its workPlant Science: 2 fractional works · 1.3% of its workInsect Science: 1 fractional works · 0.8% of its workFood Science: 1 fractional works · 0.6% of its workSmaller subfields together: 0 fractional works · 0.0% of its workBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology: 4 fractional works · 2.6% of its workGenetics: 2 fractional works · 1.1% of its workBiotechnology: 1 fractional works · 0.7% of its workMolecular Biology: 1 fractional works · 0.5% of its workSmaller subfields together: 0 fractional works · 0.3% of its workNeuroscience: 0 fractional works · 0.0% of its workHealth Sciences: 5 fractional works · 3.1% of its workMedicine: 5 fractional works · 3.0% of its workPublic Health, Environmental and Occupational Health: 2 fractional works · 1.2% of its workRadiology, Nuclear Medicine and Imaging: 1 fractional works · 0.5% of its workSmaller subfields together: 2 fractional works · 1.3% of its workDentistry: 0 fractional works · 0.0% of its workALL ITS WORKBritish Museum170fractional works, 2022-now
Life Sciences8%Physical Sciences21%Health Sciences3%Social Sciences68%

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 20 fields, with their numbers
    1. Arts and Humanities6739.4%
    2. Social Sciences4225.0%
    3. Business, Management and Accounting21.4%
    4. Psychology21.3%
    5. Economics, Econometrics and Finance21.2%
    6. Decision Sciences00.1%
    1. Earth and Planetary Sciences2313.6%
    2. Engineering42.2%
    3. Environmental Science31.8%
    4. Computer Science31.5%
    5. Physics and Astronomy10.7%
    6. Chemistry10.6%
    7. Materials Science10.5%
    8. Mathematics00.1%
    1. Agricultural and Biological Sciences84.9%
    2. Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology42.6%
    3. Neuroscience00.0%
    1. Medicine53.0%
    2. Dentistry00.0%
    3. Health Professions00.0%
All of science, and how each field's share has moved since 1950: the Science domain explorer

What does British Museum specialise in?

Where its research is concentrated relative to its size: Archeology takes 82.2× the share of its output that it takes of world research.

  1. ArcheologySubfield · 42.1 works82×
  2. AnthropologySubfield · 21.2 works44×
← 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: 1.03× its world share, 8 worksAgricultural and Bio…Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology: 0.48× its world share, 4 worksBiochemistry, Geneti…Neuroscience: 0.02× its world share, 0 worksNeuroscienceChemistry: 0.38× its world share, 1 worksChemistryComputer Science: 0.20× its world share, 3 worksComputer ScienceEarth and Planetary Sciences: 8.66× its world share, 23 worksEarth and Planetary …Engineering: 0.14× its world share, 4 worksEngineeringEnvironmental Science: 0.36× its world share, 3 worksEnvironmental ScienceMaterials Science: 0.15× its world share, 1 worksMaterials ScienceMathematics: 0.08× its world share, 0 worksMathematicsPhysics and Astronomy: 0.33× its world share, 1 worksPhysics and AstronomyDentistry: 0.08× its world share, 0 worksDentistryMedicine: 0.16× its world share, 5 worksMedicineArts and Humanities: 13.65× its world share, 67 worksArts and HumanitiesBusiness, Management and Accounting: 0.43× its world share, 2 worksBusiness, Management…Decision Sciences: 0.06× its world share, 0 worksDecision SciencesEconomics, Econometrics and Finance: 0.58× its world share, 2 worksEconomics, Econometr…Psychology: 0.43× its world share, 2 worksPsychologySocial Sciences: 1.97× its world share, 42 worksSocial Sciences1×world share
more than its size predictsabout as predictedless

Rings at 0.5×, 1× and 2×. Widest outward: Arts and Humanities, 13.7×. Every wedge is a field page.

All 19 fields, with their numbers
  1. Arts and Humanities13.65×67 works
  2. Earth and Planetary Sciences8.66×23 works
  3. Social Sciences1.97×42 works
  4. Agricultural and Biological Sciences1.03×8 works
  5. Economics, Econometrics and Finance0.58×2 works
  6. Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology0.48×4 works
  7. Business, Management and Accounting0.43×2 works
  8. Psychology0.43×2 works
  9. Chemistry0.38×1 works
  10. Environmental Science0.36×3 works
  11. Physics and Astronomy0.33×1 works
  12. Computer Science0.20×3 works
  13. Medicine0.16×5 works
  14. Materials Science0.15×1 works
  15. Engineering0.14×4 works
  16. Mathematics0.08×0 works
  17. Dentistry0.08×0 works
  18. Decision Sciences0.06×0 works
  19. Neuroscience0.02×0 works

Who are the top researchers at British Museum?

Ranked on the quality score, Nick M. Ashton, Diego Tamburini and Rebecca J. Stacey lead among researchers whose main affiliation is British Museum.

  1. 1 Nick M. Ashton United Kingdom · #136,489 worldwide 3.3k citations · 116 works
  2. 2 Diego Tamburini United Kingdom · #492,644 worldwide 2k citations · 84 works
  3. 3 Rebecca J. Stacey United Kingdom · #573,873 worldwide 1k citations · 39 works
  4. 4 Caroline Cartwright United Kingdom · #671,442 worldwide 2.3k citations · 115 works
  5. 5 HAROLD B. MATTINGLY United Kingdom · #777,790 worldwide 2.1k citations · 228 works
  6. 6 R. J. Davis United Kingdom · #934,442 worldwide 1.3k citations · 51 works
  7. 7 Colin Patterson United Kingdom · #1,067,019 worldwide 8.2k citations · 128 works
  8. 8 Joanne Dyer United Kingdom · #1,076,502 worldwide 1.8k citations · 69 works
  9. 9 Alan J. Charig United Kingdom · #1,144,593 worldwide 1.6k citations · 42 works
  10. 10 C. J. O. Harrison United Kingdom · #1,319,424 worldwide 4.3k citations · 193 works
All ranked researchers at British Museum

What are the most cited papers from British Museum?

The most cited paper from British Museum is "Genetic and Fossil Evidence for the Origin of Modern Humans" (C. B. Stringer, Peter Andrews, 1988), with 972 citations. Next come "The timing and spatiotemporal patterning of Neanderthal disappearance" (911) and "A new review of the chlorites" (795).

Most cited papers
#PaperReleasedCitations
1 Genetic and Fossil Evidence for the Origin of Modern Humans C. B. Stringer, Peter Andrews · Science 11 Mar 1988 972
2 The timing and spatiotemporal patterning of Neanderthal disappearance Tom Higham et al. · Nature Open access 19 Aug 2014 911
3 A new review of the chlorites Max H. Hey · Mineralogical Magazine and Journal of the Mineralogical Society Mar 1954 795
4 Taxonomic Concepts in the Ascidae, with a Modified Setal Nomenclature for the Idiosoma of the Gamasina (Acarina: Mesostigmata) Evert E. Lindquist, G. O. Evans · Memoirs of the Entomological Society of Canada 1965 775
5 The Development of Indigenous Knowledge Paul J. Sillitoe · Current Anthropology Open access Apr 1998 708
All 61 most cited papers, with filters and sorting

Which keywords describe research at British Museum?

By fractional works in 2022-now, weighted toward what it does more of than the world: Cultural Heritage, Archaeology, Raman Spectroscopy, Agricultural Origins, Radiocarbon Dating, Hyperspectral Imaging, Archaeological Science and X-Ray Fluorescence.

▲ 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. Cultural Heritage27▲ 30×12 topics
  2. Archaeology22▲ 100×10 topics
  3. Raman Spectroscopy12▲ 38×2 topics
  4. Agricultural Origins12▲ 218×1 topic
  5. Radiocarbon Dating12▲ 218×1 topic
  6. Hyperspectral Imaging11▲ 25×2 topics
  7. Archaeological Science11▲ 315×1 topic
  8. X-Ray Fluorescence11▲ 315×1 topic
  9. Religion11▲ 14×8 topics
  10. Climate Change10▲ 2.1×14 topics
  11. Urban Development10▲ 16×4 topics
  12. Cultural Exchange10▲ 44×7 topics
  13. Conservation8▲ 11×11 topics
  14. Archaeological Evidence8▲ 95×2 topics
  15. Cultural Sustainability7▲ 73×2 topics
  16. History6▲ 4.8×9 topics
  17. Mediterranean6▲ 37×4 topics
  18. Hominin Genetics5▲ 136×1 topic
  19. Paleolithic Archaeology5▲ 136×1 topic
  20. Satellite Imagery5▲ 23×2 topics
  21. Semitic Languages5▲ 75×2 topics
  22. Arabia5▲ 106×1 topic
  23. Byzantine5▲ 106×1 topic
  24. Bronze Age5▲ 72×3 topics
  25. Linguistics5▲ 18×2 topics
  26. Social Organization5▲ 150×2 topics
  27. Aerial Survey5▲ 145×1 topic
  28. Environmental Monitoring5▲ 7.3×2 topics
  29. LiDAR5▲ 65×1 topic
  30. Late Antiquity5▲ 54×3 topics
  31. Museum Environments5▲ 144×1 topic
  32. Sea-Level Rise5▲ 24×1 topic
  33. Ancient Egypt4▲ 298×1 topic
  34. Coptic Language4▲ 298×1 topic
  35. Demography4▲ 56×2 topics
  36. Rituals4▲ 31×3 topics
  37. Holocene4▲ 22×3 topics
  38. Trade4▲ 31×3 topics
  39. Ancient Rome4▲ 74×1 topic
  40. Greek Literature4▲ 74×1 topic

Which research topics does British Museum publish most on?

By volume in 2022-now: Archaeology and ancient environmental studies, Cultural Heritage Materials Analysis, Pleistocene-Era Hominins and Archaeology and Archaeology and Historical Studies.

Archaeology and ancient …12Archaeology and ancient environmental studies: 12 fractional worksCultural Heritage Materials Analysis: 11 fractional worksPleistocene-Era Hominins and Archaeology: 5 fractional worksArchaeology and Historical Studies: 5 fractional worksArchaeological Research and Protection: 5 fractional worksConservation Techniques and Studies: 5 fractional worksAncient Egypt and Archae…4Ancient Egypt and Archaeology: 4 fractional worksClassical Antiquity Studies: 4 fractional worksCultural Heritage Management and Preservation: 4 fractional worksEurasian Exchange Networks: 4 fractional works
PaleontologyArcheologyAnthropologySpace and Planetary Science1 others

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

  1. 1 Archaeology and ancient environmental studies Paleontology 12 works
  2. 2 Cultural Heritage Materials Analysis Archeology 11 works
  3. 3 Pleistocene-Era Hominins and Archaeology Anthropology 5 works
  4. 4 Archaeology and Historical Studies Archeology 5 works
  5. 5 Archaeological Research and Protection Space and Planetary Science 5 works
  6. 6 Conservation Techniques and Studies Conservation 5 works
  7. 7 Ancient Egypt and Archaeology Archeology 4 works
  8. 8 Classical Antiquity Studies Anthropology 4 works
  9. 9 Cultural Heritage Management and Preservation Archeology 4 works
  10. 10 Eurasian Exchange Networks Anthropology 4 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 available18.6%not open81.4%

World: 40% of research is openly available.

with international co-authors12.0%domestic only88.0%

World: 18% is written across borders.

How has British Museum's research output changed?

Output in 2022-2025 was 19% 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 Museum as a percentage of every work published that year, 0.00086% in 2024.

still counting0.020%0.040%0.060%British Museum0.00076% in 202519801990200020102020

Fractional works of British Museum 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%30%British Museum14.8% 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 27.9% in 2017.

Other research institutions in London

All research institutions in London

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British Museum on Science Explorer

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