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Field Museum of Natural History

In research, Field Museum of Natural History stands highest in Physical Sciences (#5,844 of 12,888 worldwide), Environmental Science (#2,161 of 3,551 worldwide) and Agricultural and Biological Sciences (#2,544 of 3,409 worldwide), 2022–2025. Relative to its size it is most specialised in Paleontology and Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics — Paleontology is 127.2× its share of world research.

fieldmuseum.orgROR OpenAlex
World rank, 2022–2025
#7,092
of 28,054 · #3,646 all time
Rank in United States
#943
of 4,192
Research works
3k
▼ 6% vs 2013–17
Citations
103k
34.7 per fractional work
Top-10% rate
34.0%
record average 16.5%
Open access
39%
world 28%

What is Field Museum of Natural History 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 #5,844 of 12,888 40.1%135 #4024
Environmental ScienceField #2,161 of 3,551 29.7%63 #913
Agricultural and Biological SciencesField #2,544 of 3,409 27.2%73 #592
Earth and Planetary SciencesField #956 of 1,209 52.1%60 #997
Life SciencesDomain #6,630 of 7,800 25.6%105 #3025

Each strip is that field’s whole ranked pool, with the notch where Field Museum of Natural History 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#4,024 #5,844
  2. Environmental Science#913 #2,161
  3. Agricultural and Biological Sciences#592 #2,544
  4. Earth and Planetary Sciences#997 #956
  5. Life Sciences#3,025 #6,630
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 Field Museum of Natural History specialise in?

Where its research is concentrated relative to its size: Paleontology takes 127.2× the share of its output that it takes of world research.

  1. PaleontologySubfield · 46.2 works127×
  2. Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and SystematicsSubfield · 51.1 works36×
← 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: 5.10× its world share, 73 worksAgricultural and Bio…Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology: 1.90× its world share, 30 worksBiochemistry, Geneti…Immunology and Microbiology: 0.60× its world share, 2 worksImmunology and Micro…Neuroscience: 0.01× its world share, 0 worksNeurosciencePharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics: 0.22× its world share, 0 worksPharmacology, Toxico…Chemistry: 0.15× its world share, 1 worksChemistryComputer Science: 0.10× its world share, 2 worksComputer ScienceEarth and Planetary Sciences: 12.77× its world share, 60 worksEarth and Planetary …Energy: 0.06× its world share, 0 worksEnergyEngineering: 0.03× its world share, 2 worksEngineeringEnvironmental Science: 4.20× its world share, 63 worksEnvironmental ScienceMaterials Science: 0.07× its world share, 1 worksMaterials ScienceMathematics: 1.06× its world share, 4 worksMathematicsPhysics and Astronomy: 0.46× its world share, 3 worksPhysics and AstronomyHealth Professions: 0.15× its world share, 1 worksHealth ProfessionsMedicine: 0.09× its world share, 5 worksMedicineNursing: 0.16× its world share, 0 worksNursingVeterinary: 0.07× its world share, 0 worksVeterinaryArts and Humanities: 2.39× its world share, 21 worksArts and HumanitiesBusiness, Management and Accounting: 0.02× its world share, 0 worksBusiness, Management…Decision Sciences: 0.03× its world share, 0 worksDecision SciencesEconomics, Econometrics and Finance: 0.23× its world share, 2 worksEconomics, Econometr…Psychology: 0.40× its world share, 4 worksPsychologySocial Sciences: 0.72× its world share, 28 worksSocial Sciences1×world share
more than its size predictsabout as predictedless

Rings at 0.5×, 1× and 2×. Widest outward: Earth and Planetary Sciences, 12.8×. Every wedge is a field page.

Who are the top researchers at Field Museum of Natural History?

Ranked on the composite score, Bruce D. Patterson, Robert Lücking and Olivier Rieppel lead among researchers whose main affiliation is Field Museum of Natural History.

  1. 1 Bruce D. Patterson United States · #33,775 worldwide 546 citations · 43 works
  2. 2 Robert Lücking United States · #36,053 worldwide 771 citations · 92 works
  3. 3 Olivier Rieppel United States · #57,800 worldwide 701 citations · 128 works
  4. 4 Gary M. Feinman United States · #63,886 worldwide 178 citations · 63 works
  5. 5 H. Thorsten Lumbsch United States · #84,645 worldwide 511 citations · 80 works
  6. 6 Lawrence R. Heaney United States · #84,833 worldwide 383 citations · 39 works
  7. 7 Rudolf M. Schuster United States · #96,169 worldwide 190 citations · 57 works
  8. 8 Lance Grande United States · #107,715 worldwide 210 citations · 25 works
  9. 9 Berthold Laufer United States · #110,736 worldwide 60 citations · 34 works
  10. 10 Robert F. Inger United States · #138,937 worldwide 205 citations · 29 works
All ranked researchers at Field Museum of Natural History

Which keywords describe research at Field Museum of Natural History?

By fractional works in 2022–2025, weighted toward what it does more of than the world: Biogeography, Climate Change, Phylogenetic Analysis, Biodiversity, Conservation, Molecular Phylogeny, Evolution and Population Dynamics.

▲ 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. Biogeography52▲ 66×19 topics
  2. Climate Change50▲ 6.2×44 topics
  3. Phylogenetic Analysis39▲ 42×14 topics
  4. Biodiversity37▲ 17×20 topics
  5. Conservation32▲ 25×19 topics
  6. Molecular Phylogeny32▲ 68×10 topics
  7. Evolution30▲ 40×14 topics
  8. Population Dynamics30▲ 39×10 topics
  9. Invasive Species29▲ 23×18 topics
  10. Phylogeny28▲ 61×15 topics
  11. Taxonomy23▲ 58×12 topics
  12. Habitat Fragmentation22▲ 34×5 topics
  13. Morphology21▲ 41×6 topics
  14. DNA Barcoding19▲ 39×9 topics
  15. Adaptive Radiation18▲ 202×2 topics
  16. Mammal Evolution16▲ 260×1 topic
  17. Phylogenetic Comparative Analysis16▲ 260×1 topic
  18. Conservation Biology15▲ 49×4 topics
  19. Cretaceous15▲ 236×2 topics
  20. Ecology15▲ 32×7 topics
  21. Dinosaur12▲ 337×1 topic
  22. Paleontology12▲ 337×1 topic
  23. Diversification12▲ 105×2 topics
  24. Global Change12▲ 15×6 topics
  25. Genetic Diversity11▲ 8.3×8 topics
  26. Agricultural Origins10▲ 104×1 topic
  27. Radiocarbon Dating10▲ 104×1 topic
  28. Phylogenetics10▲ 72×3 topics
  29. Ecosystem Services10▲ 8.3×6 topics
  30. Coleoptera10▲ 161×2 topics
  31. Adaptive Evolution9▲ 57×2 topics
  32. Habitat Selection9▲ 42×2 topics
  33. Mosses9▲ 110×2 topics
  34. Ecosystem Functioning8▲ 15×7 topics
  35. Fisheries8▲ 70×2 topics
  36. Genetic Structure8▲ 38×4 topics
  37. Cultural Exchange8▲ 21×5 topics
  38. Marine Ecosystems8▲ 50×2 topics
  39. Species Delimitation8▲ 57×3 topics
  40. Symbiosis8▲ 27×2 topics

Which research topics does Field Museum of Natural History publish most on?

By volume in 2022–2025: Evolution and Paleontology Studies, Paleontology and Evolutionary Biology, Archaeology and ancient environmental studies and Plant and animal studies.

Evolution and Paleontology Studies: 16 fractional worksPaleontology and Evolutionary Biology: 12 fractional worksArchaeology and ancient …10Archaeology and ancient environmental studies: 10 fractional worksPlant and animal studies7Plant and animal studies: 7 fractional worksIchthyology and Marine Biology: 7 fractional worksSpecies Distribution and Climate Change: 7 fractional worksGenetic diversity and po…6Genetic diversity and population structure: 6 fractional worksPlant Diversity and Evol…6Plant Diversity and Evolution: 6 fractional worksColeoptera Taxonomy and …6Coleoptera Taxonomy and Distribution: 6 fractional worksWildlife Ecology and Con…5Wildlife Ecology and Conservation: 5 fractional works
PaleontologyEcology, Evolution, Behavior and SystematicsNature and Landscape ConservationEcological Modeling2 others

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

  1. 1 Evolution and Paleontology Studies Paleontology 16 works
  2. 2 Paleontology and Evolutionary Biology Paleontology 12 works
  3. 3 Archaeology and ancient environmental studies Paleontology 10 works
  4. 4 Plant and animal studies Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics 7 works
  5. 5 Ichthyology and Marine Biology Nature and Landscape Conservation 7 works
  6. 6 Species Distribution and Climate Change Ecological Modeling 7 works
  7. 7 Genetic diversity and population structure Genetics 6 works
  8. 8 Plant Diversity and Evolution Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics 6 works
  9. 9 Coleoptera Taxonomy and Distribution Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics 6 works
  10. 10 Wildlife Ecology and Conservation Ecology 5 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 available38.9%not open61.1%

World: 28% of research is openly available.

with international co-authors35.4%domestic only64.6%

World: 19% is written across borders.

How has Field Museum of Natural History's research output changed?

Output in 2018–2022 was 6% 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 Chicago

All research institutions in Chicago

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.