Science Explorer Interactive view Map
University · Colorado Springs · United States

Colorado College

In research, Colorado College stands highest in Social Sciences (#5,831 of 10,521 worldwide), Social Sciences (#4,115 of 6,365 worldwide) and Physical Sciences (#8,883 of 12,888 worldwide), 2022–2025. Relative to its size it is most specialised in Geophysics, Environmental Chemistry and Earth and Planetary Sciences — Geophysics is 32.5× its share of world research.

coloradocollege.eduROR OpenAlex
World rank, 2022–2025
#13,486
of 28,054 · #7,368 all time
Rank in United States
#1,875
of 4,192
Research works
2.6k
▲ 25% vs 2013–17
Citations
36k
14.0 per fractional work
Top-10% rate
10.8%
record average 16.5%
Open access
27%
world 28%

What is Colorado 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 #5,831 of 10,521 15.9%157 #2564
Social SciencesField #4,115 of 6,365 16.1%83 #2476
Physical SciencesDomain #8,883 of 12,888 6.9%147 #6084
Earth and Planetary SciencesField #1,171 of 1,209 4.7%67 #1673

Each strip is that field’s whole ranked pool, with the notch where Colorado 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#2,564 #5,831
  2. Social Sciences#2,476 #4,115
  3. Physical Sciences#6,084 #8,883
  4. Earth and Planetary Sciences#1,673 #1,171
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 Colorado College specialise in?

Where its research is concentrated relative to its size: Geophysics takes 32.5× the share of its output that it takes of world research.

  1. GeophysicsSubfield · 41.6 works32×
  2. Environmental ChemistrySubfield · 23.7 works30×
  3. Earth and Planetary SciencesField · 67.3 works12×
← 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: 0.82× its world share, 14 worksAgricultural and Bio…Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology: 1.09× its world share, 21 worksBiochemistry, Geneti…Immunology and Microbiology: 0.12× its world share, 0 worksImmunology and Micro…Neuroscience: 0.78× its world share, 5 worksNeurosciencePharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics: 0.34× its world share, 0 worksPharmacology, Toxico…Chemical Engineering: 0.78× its world share, 1 worksChemical EngineeringChemistry: 0.27× its world share, 2 worksChemistryComputer Science: 0.39× its world share, 11 worksComputer ScienceEarth and Planetary Sciences: 11.70× its world share, 67 worksEarth and Planetary …Energy: 0.22× its world share, 1 worksEnergyEngineering: 0.10× its world share, 5 worksEngineeringEnvironmental Science: 2.34× its world share, 43 worksEnvironmental ScienceMaterials Science: 0.02× its world share, 0 worksMaterials ScienceMathematics: 1.06× its world share, 5 worksMathematicsPhysics and Astronomy: 1.54× its world share, 12 worksPhysics and AstronomyHealth Professions: 0.63× its world share, 6 worksHealth ProfessionsMedicine: 0.20× its world share, 14 worksMedicineNursing: 0.32× its world share, 1 worksNursingVeterinary: 0.21× its world share, 0 worksVeterinaryArts and Humanities: 3.55× its world share, 38 worksArts and HumanitiesBusiness, Management and Accounting: 0.72× its world share, 8 worksBusiness, Management…Decision Sciences: 0.58× its world share, 2 worksDecision SciencesEconomics, Econometrics and Finance: 0.82× its world share, 6 worksEconomics, Econometr…Psychology: 1.73× its world share, 19 worksPsychologySocial Sciences: 1.80× its world share, 83 worksSocial Sciences1×world share
more than its size predictsabout as predictedless

Rings at 0.5×, 1× and 2×. Widest outward: Earth and Planetary Sciences, 11.7×. Every wedge is a field page.

Who are the top researchers at Colorado College?

Ranked on the composite score, David C. Hendrickson, Paul M. Myrow and Dennis E. Showalter lead among researchers whose main affiliation is Colorado College.

  1. 1 David C. Hendrickson United States · #5,731 worldwide 535 citations · 63 works
  2. 2 Paul M. Myrow United States · #98,261 worldwide 317 citations · 36 works
  3. 3 Dennis E. Showalter United States · #102,228 worldwide 48 citations · 84 works
  4. 4 LeRoy R. Hafen United States · #217,917 worldwide 34 citations · 35 works
  5. 5 Thomas E. Cronin United States · #246,848 worldwide 59 citations · 23 works
  6. 6 Anne F. Hyde United States · #260,083 worldwide 30 citations · 28 works
  7. 7 Mark Wilson United States · #374,665 worldwide 101 citations · 33 works
  8. 8 John Rosenthal United States · #401,735 worldwide 54 citations · 18 works
  9. 9 Harvey L. Carter United States · #494,666 worldwide 25 citations · 19 works
  10. 10 Timothy Fuller United States · #618,863 worldwide 85 citations · 37 works
All ranked researchers at Colorado College

Which keywords describe research at Colorado College?

By fractional works in 2022–2025, weighted toward what it does more of than the world: Microbial Communities, Anaerobic, Methane Oxidation, Climate Change, Tomography, Seismic Noise, Surface Wave and Ionospheric Anomalies.

▲ 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 Change30▲ 3.1×43 topics
  2. Microbial Communities24▲ 15×2 topics
  3. Anaerobic24▲ 92×1 topic
  4. Methane Oxidation24▲ 79×1 topic
  5. Tomography18▲ 27×3 topics
  6. Seismic Noise18▲ 99×1 topic
  7. Surface Wave18▲ 99×1 topic
  8. Ionospheric Anomalies17▲ 121×1 topic
  9. Seismic Electromagnetics17▲ 121×1 topic
  10. Globalization17▲ 2.3×33 topics
  11. Identity16▲ 6.1×23 topics
  12. History15▲ 5.9×21 topics
  13. Colonialism12▲ 7.1×16 topics
  14. Ethics12▲ 6.5×17 topics
  15. Literature11▲ 5.7×15 topics
  16. Religion10▲ 5.8×13 topics
  17. Gender9▲ 4.5×19 topics
  18. Culture8▲ 4.3×14 topics
  19. Race7▲ 18×9 topics
  20. Geodetic Measurements7▲ 18×2 topics
  21. Adaptation6▲ 6.2×9 topics
  22. Sea Level Rise6▲ 14×3 topics
  23. Biogeography6▲ 6.6×12 topics
  24. Hydrological Modeling6▲ 7.0×4 topics
  25. Solar Wind6▲ 18×2 topics
  26. Global Governance6▲ 7.1×8 topics
  27. Tectonics6▲ 14×3 topics
  28. GRACE6▲ 31×1 topic
  29. Ionosphere6▲ 28×1 topic
  30. Magnetosphere6▲ 28×1 topic
  31. groundwater depletion6▲ 31×1 topic
  32. Hominin Genetics6▲ 70×1 topic
  33. Paleolithic Archaeology6▲ 70×1 topic
  34. Immigration5▲ 13×4 topics
  35. Paleoclimatology5▲ 18×2 topics
  36. Holocene5▲ 12×2 topics
  37. Sea Level5▲ 15×2 topics
  38. Glacial Cycles5▲ 20×1 topic
  39. Monsoon Dynamics5▲ 20×1 topic
  40. Empire5▲ 16×3 topics

Which research topics does Colorado College publish most on?

By volume in 2022–2025: Methane Hydrates and Related Phenomena, Seismic Waves and Analysis, Earthquake Detection and Analysis and Ionosphere and magnetosphere dynamics.

Methane Hydrates and Rel…24Methane Hydrates and Related Phenomena: 24 fractional worksSeismic Waves and Analysis: 18 fractional worksEarthquake Detection and Analysis: 17 fractional worksIonosphere and magnetosphere dynamics: 6 fractional worksGeophysics and Gravity Measurements: 6 fractional worksPleistocene-Era Hominins and Archaeology: 6 fractional worksGeology and Paleoclimatology Research: 5 fractional worksAsian American and Pacific Histories: 4 fractional worksGeological and Geochemical Analysis: 3 fractional worksRNA and protein synthesis mechanisms: 3 fractional works
Environmental ChemistryGeophysicsAstronomy and AstrophysicsOceanography4 others

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

  1. 1 Methane Hydrates and Related Phenomena Environmental Chemistry 24 works
  2. 2 Seismic Waves and Analysis Geophysics 18 works
  3. 3 Earthquake Detection and Analysis Geophysics 17 works
  4. 4 Ionosphere and magnetosphere dynamics Astronomy and Astrophysics 6 works
  5. 5 Geophysics and Gravity Measurements Oceanography 6 works
  6. 6 Pleistocene-Era Hominins and Archaeology Anthropology 6 works
  7. 7 Geology and Paleoclimatology Research Atmospheric Science 5 works
  8. 8 Asian American and Pacific Histories Cultural Studies 4 works
  9. 9 Geological and Geochemical Analysis Geophysics 3 works
  10. 10 RNA and protein synthesis mechanisms Molecular Biology 3 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 available27.2%not open72.8%

World: 28% of research is openly available.

with international co-authors7.1%domestic only92.9%

World: 19% is written across borders.

How has Colorado College's research output changed?

Output in 2018–2022 was 25% higher 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 Colorado Springs

All research institutions in Colorado Springs

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.