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University · Elon · United States

Elon University

In research, Elon University stands highest in Social Sciences (#1,666 of 9,585 worldwide), Social Sciences (#1,680 of 5,988 worldwide) and Psychology (#1,109 of 2,121 worldwide), 2022-now.

elon.eduROR OpenAlex
World rank, 2022-now
#5,154
of 22,385 · #5,127 all time
Rank in United States
#697
of 3,332
Research works
3k
▼ 2% vs 2018-21
Citations
38k
12.4 per fractional work
Top-10% rate
10.1%
all institutions 10.0%
vs its own fields
0.82×
1.00× is exactly expected
Open access
33%
world 40%
International
7%
world 18%
Elon University

What is Elon University 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 #1,666 of 9,585 10.4%408 #1892
Social SciencesField #1,680 of 5,988 11.4%228 #1474
PsychologyField #1,109 of 2,121 9.1%60 #1667
EducationSubfield #1,126 of 1,930 16.8%65 #1042
Physical SciencesDomain #6,828 of 10,670 10.9%98 #4903
Sociology and Political ScienceSubfield #1,639 of 2,526 9.2%73 #1658
Health SciencesDomain #7,563 of 9,902 9.0%93 #8356
MedicineField #7,254 of 8,541 8.9%69 #8673

Each strip is that field's whole ranked pool, with the notch where Elon University 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. Social Sciences#1,892 #1,666
  2. Social Sciences#1,474 #1,680
  3. Psychology#1,667 #1,109
  4. Education#1,042 #1,126
  5. Physical Sciences#4,903 #6,828
  6. Sociology and Political Science#1,658 #1,639
  7. Health Sciences#8,356 #7,563
  8. Medicine#8,673 #7,254
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 Elon University work in?

In 2022-now, 64% of research at Elon University is in Social Sciences, 16% in Physical Sciences. Its largest fields are Social Sciences (36%), Medicine (10%), Psychology (10%). It does 2.6× the world's share of Social Sciences.

Social Sciences: 469 fractional works · 64.2% of its workSocial Sciences: 260 fractional works · 35.6% of its workEducation: 81 fractional works · 11.2% of its workSociology and Political Science: 81 fractional works · 11.0% of its workPolitical Science and International Relations: 21 fractional works · 2.8% of its workGender Studies: 16 fractional works · 2.2% of its workSafety Research: 11 fractional works · 1.5% of its workCommunication: 10 fractional works · 1.4% of its workCultural Studies: 7 fractional works · 0.9% of its workAnthropology: 5 fractional works · 0.7% of its workDemography: 5 fractional works · 0.7% of its workLaw: 5 fractional works · 0.7% of its workHealth: 4 fractional works · 0.5% of its workGeography, Planning and Development: 3 fractional works · 0.5% of its workUrban Studies: 3 fractional works · 0.4% of its workLinguistics and Language: 3 fractional works · 0.4% of its workPublic Administration: 2 fractional works · 0.2% of its workSmaller subfields together: 4 fractional works · 0.5% of its workPsychology: 73 fractional works · 10.0% of its workSocial Psychology: 25 fractional works · 3.4% of its workClinical Psychology: 19 fractional works · 2.6% of its workDevelopmental and Educational Psychology: 15 fractional works · 2.1% of its workExperimental and Cognitive Psychology: 11 fractional works · 1.6% of its workApplied Psychology: 2 fractional works · 0.3% of its workSmaller subfields together: 1 fractional works · 0.1% of its workArts and Humanities: 54 fractional works · 7.4% of its workLiterature and Literary Theory: 13 fractional works · 1.7% of its workVisual Arts and Performing Arts: 10 fractional works · 1.3% of its workPhilosophy: 6 fractional works · 0.8% of its workHistory and Philosophy of Science: 5 fractional works · 0.7% of its workLanguage and Linguistics: 5 fractional works · 0.7% of its workHistory: 4 fractional works · 0.5% of its workClassics: 2 fractional works · 0.3% of its workReligious studies: 2 fractional works · 0.3% of its workMuseology: 2 fractional works · 0.3% of its workMusic: 2 fractional works · 0.3% of its workSmaller subfields together: 3 fractional works · 0.4% of its workBusiness, Management and Accounting: 44 fractional works · 6.0% of its workAccounting: 10 fractional works · 1.4% of its workManagement of Technology and Innovation: 8 fractional works · 1.1% of its workMarketing: 8 fractional works · 1.1% of its workStrategy and Management: 8 fractional works · 1.1% of its workOrganizational Behavior and Human Resource Management: 6 fractional works · 0.9% of its workManagement Information Systems: 2 fractional works · 0.3% of its workSmaller subfields together: 1 fractional works · 0.1% of its workEconomics, Econometrics and Finance: 29 fractional works · 4.0% of its workEconomics and Econometrics: 21 fractional works · 2.9% of its workFinance: 7 fractional works · 0.9% of its workGeneral Economics, Econometrics and Finance: 2 fractional works · 0.2% of its workDecision Sciences: 8 fractional works · 1.1% of its workInformation Systems and Management: 4 fractional works · 0.5% of its workManagement Science and Operations Research: 3 fractional works · 0.4% of its workSmaller subfields together: 1 fractional works · 0.2% of its workPhysical Sciences: 116 fractional works · 15.8% of its workComputer Science: 52 fractional works · 7.1% of its workComputer Science Applications: 20 fractional works · 2.7% of its workArtificial Intelligence: 12 fractional works · 1.6% of its workInformation Systems: 7 fractional works · 0.9% of its workHuman-Computer Interaction: 4 fractional works · 0.5% of its workComputer Vision and Pattern Recognition: 3 fractional works · 0.4% of its workComputer Graphics and Computer-Aided Design: 2 fractional works · 0.3% of its workComputer Networks and Communications: 2 fractional works · 0.3% of its workSmaller subfields together: 2 fractional works · 0.3% of its workEngineering: 30 fractional works · 4.1% of its workBiomedical Engineering: 10 fractional works · 1.4% of its workMechanical Engineering: 5 fractional works · 0.6% of its workMedia Technology: 3 fractional works · 0.4% of its workAutomotive Engineering: 2 fractional works · 0.3% of its workAerospace Engineering: 2 fractional works · 0.3% of its workCivil and Structural Engineering: 2 fractional works · 0.3% of its workBuilding and Construction: 2 fractional works · 0.2% of its workSmaller subfields together: 4 fractional works · 0.6% of its workEnvironmental Science: 16 fractional works · 2.1% of its workManagement, Monitoring, Policy and Law: 6 fractional works · 0.8% of its workEnvironmental Engineering: 3 fractional works · 0.4% of its workEcology: 3 fractional works · 0.4% of its workSmaller subfields together: 4 fractional works · 0.6% of its workMathematics: 8 fractional works · 1.2% of its workStatistics and Probability: 5 fractional works · 0.8% of its workSmaller subfields together: 3 fractional works · 0.4% of its workPhysics and Astronomy: 5 fractional works · 0.6% of its workStatistical and Nonlinear Physics: 2 fractional works · 0.2% of its workSmaller subfields together: 3 fractional works · 0.4% of its workEarth and Planetary Sciences: 2 fractional works · 0.3% of its workChemistry: 2 fractional works · 0.2% of its workMaterials Science: 1 fractional works · 0.1% of its workChemical Engineering: 0 fractional works · 0.0% of its workHealth Sciences: 103 fractional works · 14.2% of its workMedicine: 76 fractional works · 10.4% of its workPublic Health, Environmental and Occupational Health: 10 fractional works · 1.4% of its workOrthopedics and Sports Medicine: 8 fractional works · 1.1% of its workCardiology and Cardiovascular Medicine: 7 fractional works · 1.0% of its workEpidemiology: 7 fractional works · 0.9% of its workPhysiology: 5 fractional works · 0.7% of its workReproductive Medicine: 5 fractional works · 0.6% of its workRehabilitation: 4 fractional works · 0.5% of its workPediatrics, Perinatology and Child Health: 3 fractional works · 0.4% of its workPsychiatry and Mental health: 3 fractional works · 0.4% of its workEndocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism: 3 fractional works · 0.4% of its workPharmacology: 2 fractional works · 0.3% of its workInfectious Diseases: 2 fractional works · 0.3% of its workPulmonary and Respiratory Medicine: 2 fractional works · 0.3% of its workOncology: 2 fractional works · 0.3% of its workSurgery: 2 fractional works · 0.3% of its workHealth Informatics: 2 fractional works · 0.2% of its workSmaller subfields together: 9 fractional works · 1.2% of its workHealth Professions: 25 fractional works · 3.4% of its workGeneral Health Professions: 12 fractional works · 1.7% of its workPhysical Therapy, Sports Therapy and Rehabilitation: 4 fractional works · 0.6% of its workSpeech and Hearing: 3 fractional works · 0.5% of its workSmaller subfields together: 5 fractional works · 0.7% of its workNursing: 2 fractional works · 0.3% of its workLife Sciences: 43 fractional works · 5.8% of its workBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology: 16 fractional works · 2.2% of its workMolecular Biology: 9 fractional works · 1.3% of its workGenetics: 2 fractional works · 0.3% of its workCell Biology: 2 fractional works · 0.3% of its workBiotechnology: 2 fractional works · 0.2% of its workSmaller subfields together: 1 fractional works · 0.1% of its workAgricultural and Biological Sciences: 14 fractional works · 1.9% of its workPlant Science: 7 fractional works · 1.0% of its workGeneral Agricultural and Biological Sciences: 2 fractional works · 0.3% of its workSoil Science: 2 fractional works · 0.2% of its workEcology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics: 2 fractional works · 0.2% of its workSmaller subfields together: 1 fractional works · 0.1% of its workNeuroscience: 11 fractional works · 1.5% of its workCognitive Neuroscience: 8 fractional works · 1.1% of its workSmaller subfields together: 3 fractional works · 0.4% of its workImmunology and Microbiology: 1 fractional works · 0.1% of its workPharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics: 1 fractional works · 0.1% of its workALL ITS WORKElon University730fractional works, 2022-now
Life Sciences6%Physical Sciences16%Health Sciences14%Social Sciences64%

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 24 fields, with their numbers
    1. Social Sciences26035.6%
    2. Psychology7310.0%
    3. Arts and Humanities547.4%
    4. Business, Management and Accounting446.0%
    5. Economics, Econometrics and Finance294.0%
    6. Decision Sciences81.1%
    1. Computer Science527.1%
    2. Engineering304.1%
    3. Environmental Science162.1%
    4. Mathematics81.2%
    5. Physics and Astronomy50.6%
    6. Earth and Planetary Sciences20.3%
    7. Chemistry20.2%
    8. Materials Science10.1%
    9. Chemical Engineering00.0%
    10. Energy00.0%
    1. Medicine7610.4%
    2. Health Professions253.4%
    3. Nursing20.3%
    1. Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology162.2%
    2. Agricultural and Biological Sciences141.9%
    3. Neuroscience111.5%
    4. Immunology and Microbiology10.1%
    5. Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics10.1%
All of science, and how each field's share has moved since 1950: the Science domain explorer

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: 0.39× its world share, 14 worksAgricultural and Bio…Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology: 0.41× its world share, 16 worksBiochemistry, Geneti…Immunology and Microbiology: 0.13× its world share, 1 worksImmunology and Micro…Neuroscience: 0.95× its world share, 11 worksNeurosciencePharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics: 0.32× its world share, 1 worksPharmacology, Toxico…Chemical Engineering: 0.07× its world share, 0 worksChemical EngineeringChemistry: 0.15× its world share, 2 worksChemistryComputer Science: 0.91× its world share, 52 worksComputer ScienceEarth and Planetary Sciences: 0.17× its world share, 2 worksEarth and Planetary …Energy: 0.02× its world share, 0 worksEnergyEngineering: 0.27× its world share, 30 worksEngineeringEnvironmental Science: 0.43× its world share, 16 worksEnvironmental ScienceMaterials Science: 0.04× its world share, 1 worksMaterials ScienceMathematics: 0.99× its world share, 8 worksMathematicsPhysics and Astronomy: 0.29× its world share, 5 worksPhysics and AstronomyHealth Professions: 1.31× its world share, 25 worksHealth ProfessionsMedicine: 0.54× its world share, 76 worksMedicineNursing: 0.65× its world share, 2 worksNursingArts and Humanities: 2.57× its world share, 54 worksArts and HumanitiesBusiness, Management and Accounting: 1.86× its world share, 44 worksBusiness, Management…Decision Sciences: 1.13× its world share, 8 worksDecision SciencesEconomics, Econometrics and Finance: 1.86× its world share, 29 worksEconomics, Econometr…Psychology: 3.30× its world share, 73 worksPsychologySocial Sciences: 2.81× its world share, 260 worksSocial Sciences1×world share
more than its size predictsabout as predictedless

Rings at 0.5×, 1× and 2×. Widest outward: Psychology, 3.3×. Every wedge is a field page.

All 24 fields, with their numbers
  1. Psychology3.30×73 works
  2. Social Sciences2.81×260 works
  3. Arts and Humanities2.57×54 works
  4. Business, Management and Accounting1.86×44 works
  5. Economics, Econometrics and Finance1.86×29 works
  6. Health Professions1.31×25 works
  7. Decision Sciences1.13×8 works
  8. Mathematics0.99×8 works
  9. Neuroscience0.95×11 works
  10. Computer Science0.91×52 works
  11. Nursing0.65×2 works
  12. Medicine0.54×76 works
  13. Environmental Science0.43×16 works
  14. Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology0.41×16 works
  15. Agricultural and Biological Sciences0.39×14 works
  16. Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics0.32×1 works
  17. Physics and Astronomy0.29×5 works
  18. Engineering0.27×30 works
  19. Earth and Planetary Sciences0.17×2 works
  20. Chemistry0.15×2 works
  21. Immunology and Microbiology0.13×1 works
  22. Chemical Engineering0.07×0 works
  23. Materials Science0.04×1 works
  24. Energy0.02×0 works

Who are the top researchers at Elon University?

Ranked on the quality score, Jeffrey Paul Carpenter, Peter Felten and Haya Ajjan lead among researchers whose main affiliation is Elon University.

  1. 1 Jeffrey Paul Carpenter United States · #36,977 worldwide 5.6k citations · 153 works
  2. 2 Peter Felten United States · #199,835 worldwide 5.7k citations · 134 works
  3. 3 Haya Ajjan United States · #686,953 worldwide 2.6k citations · 68 works
  4. 4 T. Kenn Gaither United States · #810,234 worldwide 656 citations · 19 works
  5. 5 Qian Xu United States · #819,791 worldwide 2.7k citations · 121 works
  6. 6 Janna Quitney Anderson United States · #853,503 worldwide 690 citations · 44 works
  7. 7 Barış Kesgin United States · #934,513 worldwide 519 citations · 30 works
  8. 8 Aaron C. Sparks United States · #939,822 worldwide 355 citations · 23 works
  9. 9 Emily E. Evans United States · #1,049,010 worldwide 2.4k citations · 57 works
  10. 10 Addison Williams Andrews United States · #1,144,609 worldwide 3.4k citations · 39 works
All ranked researchers at Elon University

What are the most cited papers from Elon University?

The most cited paper from Elon University is "The BABAR detector" (Bernard Aubert et al., 2002), with 1,362 citations. Next come "Normal walking speed: a descriptive meta-analysis" (941) and "The Effects of Mental Fatigue on Physical Performance: A Systematic Review" (915).

Most cited papers
#PaperReleasedCitations
1 The BABAR detector Bernard Aubert et al. · Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section A Accelerators Spectrometers Detectors and Associated Equipment Open access823 authors Feb 2002 1,362
2 Normal walking speed: a descriptive meta-analysis Richard Wallace Bohannon, Addison Williams Andrews · Physiotherapy 13 May 2011 941
3 The Effects of Mental Fatigue on Physical Performance: A Systematic Review Jeroen Van Cutsem, Samuele Marcora, Kevin De Pauw et al. · Sports Medicine ReviewOpen access 2 Jan 2017 915
4 The Pushshift Reddit Dataset Jason Baumgartner, Savvas Zannettou, Brian Keegan et al. · Proceedings of the International AAAI Conference on Web and Social Media Conference paperOpen access 26 May 2020 852
5 The effect of acute treadmill walking on cognitive control and academic achievement in preadolescent children Charles H. Hillman, Matthew B. Pontifex, Lauren B. Raine et al. · Neuroscience Open access 4 Feb 2009 852
All 60 most cited papers, with filters and sorting

Which keywords describe research at Elon University?

By fractional works in 2022-now, weighted toward what it does more of than the world: Educational Technology, Higher Education, Gender, Education, Informal Learning, Mental Health, Student Engagement and Innovation.

▲ 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. Educational Technology35▲ 4.1×22 topics
  2. Education34▲ 2.7×52 topics
  3. Globalization32▲ 2.3×56 topics
  4. Mental Health31▲ 3.0×38 topics
  5. Innovation27▲ 3.6×23 topics
  6. Social Media27▲ 2.7×23 topics
  7. Higher Education26▲ 6.6×14 topics
  8. Gender25▲ 6.4×25 topics
  9. Identity24▲ 4.5×30 topics
  10. E-Learning21▲ 3.0×9 topics
  11. Social Justice21▲ 4.7×23 topics
  12. Technology21▲ 5.4×13 topics
  13. Student Engagement20▲ 7.0×12 topics
  14. Informal Learning19▲ 21×5 topics
  15. Corporate Governance18▲ 3.3×16 topics
  16. Knowledge Management17▲ 4.2×12 topics
  17. History16▲ 3.2×24 topics
  18. Nationalism16▲ 4.7×17 topics
  19. Online Learning14▲ 2.4×9 topics
  20. Colonialism14▲ 4.0×21 topics
  21. Teaching Methods14▲ 11×8 topics
  22. Open Access13▲ 18×2 topics
  23. Religion13▲ 3.8×20 topics
  24. Neoliberalism13▲ 4.8×19 topics
  25. Digital Marketing12▲ 4.3×1 topic
  26. Educational Projects12▲ 37×1 topic
  27. Diversity12▲ 9.4×5 topics
  28. Motivation12▲ 3.9×8 topics
  29. Academic Achievement11▲ 9.0×10 topics
  30. Career Development10▲ 12×5 topics
  31. Student Perceptions10▲ 7.8×6 topics
  32. Technology Integration10▲ 4.3×7 topics
  33. Politics10▲ 5.1×11 topics
  34. Teacher Education9▲ 9.5×6 topics
  35. Self-Regulation9▲ 6.7×4 topics
  36. Cosmopolitanism8▲ 10×6 topics
  37. Experiential Learning8▲ 22×6 topics
  38. Metacognition8▲ 7.2×4 topics
  39. Cultural Competence8▲ 8.1×6 topics
  40. Student Participation8▲ 33×2 topics

Which research topics does Elon University publish most on?

By volume in 2022-now: E-Learning and Knowledge Management, Higher Education Practises and Engagement, Innovative Teaching and Learning Methods and Statistics Education and Methodologies.

E-Learning and Knowledge…12E-Learning and Knowledge Management: 12 fractional worksHigher Education Practises and Engagement: 6 fractional worksInnovative Teaching and Learning Methods: 6 fractional worksStatistics Education and Methodologies: 5 fractional worksSports injuries and prevention: 5 fractional worksHigher Education Learning Practices: 5 fractional worksMentoring and Academic D…4Mentoring and Academic Development: 4 fractional worksImpact of Technology on Adolescents: 4 fractional worksEntrepreneurship Studies and Influences: 4 fractional worksTraumatic Brain Injury R…4Traumatic Brain Injury Research: 4 fractional works
Computer Science ApplicationsEducationDevelopmental and Educational PsychologyStatistics and Probability5 others

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

  1. 1 E-Learning and Knowledge Management Computer Science Applications 12 works
  2. 2 Higher Education Practises and Engagement Education 6 works
  3. 3 Innovative Teaching and Learning Methods Developmental and Educational Psychology 6 works
  4. 4 Statistics Education and Methodologies Statistics and Probability 5 works
  5. 5 Sports injuries and prevention Orthopedics and Sports Medicine 5 works
  6. 6 Higher Education Learning Practices Education 5 works
  7. 7 Mentoring and Academic Development Social Psychology 4 works
  8. 8 Impact of Technology on Adolescents Sociology and Political Science 4 works
  9. 9 Entrepreneurship Studies and Influences Management of Technology and Innovation 4 works
  10. 10 Traumatic Brain Injury Research Epidemiology 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 available33.2%not open66.8%

World: 40% of research is openly available.

with international co-authors6.7%domestic only93.3%

World: 18% is written across borders.

How has Elon University's research output changed?

Output in 2022-2025 was 2% 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 Elon University as a percentage of every work published that year, 0.0035% in 2024.

still counting0.0020%0.0040%0.0060%Elon University0.0029% in 202519801990200020102020

Fractional works of Elon University 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 counting5%10%15%Elon University11.3% in 2025all institutions10.0% in 202520102020

Of each year's output, the share that reached the world's 10% most cited for its field and year. Peak 13.9% in 2007.

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Elon University on Science Explorer

A card with Elon University's standing and the fields it leads in, for a post or a slide. A link to this page previews as the same card.

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