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University · Ames · United States

Iowa State University

In research, Iowa State University stands highest in Physical Sciences (#363 of 12,888 worldwide), Agricultural and Biological Sciences (#126 of 3,409 worldwide) and Social Sciences (#566 of 10,521 worldwide), 2022–2025. Relative to its size it is most specialised in Animal Science and Zoology, Small Animals and Veterinary — Animal Science and Zoology is 12.5× its share of world research.

iastate.eduROR OpenAlex
World rank, 2022–2025
#445
of 28,054 · #151 all time
Rank in United States
#90
of 4,192
Research works
87k
▼ 2% vs 2013–17
Citations
2.6M
29.5 per fractional work
Top-10% rate
19.1%
record average 16.5%
Open access
33%
world 28%

What is Iowa State University 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 #363 of 12,888 17.8%3,675 #114
Agricultural and Biological SciencesField #126 of 3,409 24.2%903 #33
Social SciencesDomain #566 of 10,521 21.4%1,448 #133
Computer ScienceField #257 of 4,667 18.1%653 #165
Plant ScienceSubfield #84 of 1,395 33.5%303 #28
EngineeringField #418 of 6,636 16.7%1,450 #151
Environmental ScienceField #257 of 3,551 22.5%479 #139
Life SciencesDomain #600 of 7,800 21.6%1,602 #253
Social SciencesField #799 of 6,365 21.7%584 #138
Agronomy and Crop ScienceSubfield #17 of 121 25.5%104 #13

Each strip is that field’s whole ranked pool, with the notch where Iowa State 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 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#114 #363
  2. Agricultural and Biological Sciences#33 #126
  3. Social Sciences#133 #566
  4. Computer Science#165 #257
  5. Plant Science#28 #84
  6. Engineering#151 #418
  7. Environmental Science#139 #257
  8. Life Sciences#253 #600
  9. Social Sciences#138 #799
  10. Agronomy and Crop Science#13 #17
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 Iowa State University specialise in?

Where its research is concentrated relative to its size: Animal Science and Zoology takes 12.5× the share of its output that it takes of world research.

  1. Animal Science and ZoologySubfield · 207.5 works13×
  2. Small AnimalsSubfield · 77.2 works8.3×
  3. VeterinaryField · 81.3 works8.0×
  4. Agronomy and Crop ScienceSubfield · 104.1 works5.8×
  5. MuseologySubfield · 52.5 works5.7×
  6. Condensed Matter PhysicsSubfield · 56.9 works4.7×
  7. SoftwareSubfield · 21.6 works4.5×
← 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: 2.53× its world share, 903 worksAgricultural and Bio…Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology: 1.36× its world share, 546 worksBiochemistry, Geneti…Immunology and Microbiology: 1.02× its world share, 77 worksImmunology and Micro…Neuroscience: 0.57× its world share, 70 worksNeurosciencePharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics: 0.20× its world share, 5 worksPharmacology, Toxico…Chemical Engineering: 1.42× its world share, 37 worksChemical EngineeringChemistry: 1.36× its world share, 160 worksChemistryComputer Science: 1.12× its world share, 653 worksComputer ScienceEarth and Planetary Sciences: 0.91× its world share, 107 worksEarth and Planetary …Energy: 0.61× its world share, 42 worksEnergyEngineering: 1.28× its world share, 1,450 worksEngineeringEnvironmental Science: 1.28× its world share, 479 worksEnvironmental ScienceMaterials Science: 1.31× its world share, 343 worksMaterials ScienceMathematics: 1.66× its world share, 147 worksMathematicsPhysics and Astronomy: 1.53× its world share, 256 worksPhysics and AstronomyDentistry: 0.09× its world share, 3 worksDentistryHealth Professions: 0.55× its world share, 108 worksHealth ProfessionsMedicine: 0.39× its world share, 568 worksMedicineNursing: 1.04× its world share, 38 worksNursingVeterinary: 7.95× its world share, 81 worksVeterinaryArts and Humanities: 0.89× its world share, 193 worksArts and HumanitiesBusiness, Management and Accounting: 0.79× its world share, 192 worksBusiness, Management…Decision Sciences: 1.16× its world share, 84 worksDecision SciencesEconomics, Econometrics and Finance: 0.62× its world share, 100 worksEconomics, Econometr…Psychology: 1.28× its world share, 294 worksPsychologySocial Sciences: 0.61× its world share, 584 worksSocial Sciences1×world share
more than its size predictsabout as predictedless

Rings at 0.5×, 1× and 2×. Widest outward: Veterinary, 8.0×. Every wedge is a field page.

Who are the top researchers at Iowa State University?

Ranked on the composite score, Noel Cressie, Craig A. Anderson and Rand D. Conger lead among researchers whose main affiliation is Iowa State University.

  1. 1 Noel Cressie · #2,592 worldwide 2.9k citations · 143 works
  2. 2 Craig A. Anderson · #2,872 worldwide 1.5k citations · 90 works
  3. 3 Rand D. Conger · #5,086 worldwide 1.5k citations · 77 works
  4. 4 G. Valencia · #7,285 worldwide 1.6k citations · 57 works
  5. 5 Ronald L. Simons · #9,951 worldwide 1.1k citations · 56 works
  6. 6 James D. McCalley · #10,025 worldwide 994 citations · 60 works
  7. 7 James H. Rose · #11,197 worldwide 946 citations · 56 works
  8. 8 T. R. McMahon · #11,366 worldwide 2k citations · 112 works
  9. 9 M. A. Tabatabai · #13,277 worldwide 627 citations · 51 works
  10. 10 E. I. Rosenberg · #13,309 worldwide 2.7k citations · 187 works
All ranked researchers at Iowa State University

Which keywords describe research at Iowa State University?

By fractional works in 2022–2025, weighted toward what it does more of than the world: Climate Change, Heat Stress, Gut Microbiota, Machine Learning, Probiotics, Amino Acids, Intestinal Barrier and Feed Additives.

▲ 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 Change305▲ 1.51×92 topics
  2. Machine Learning290▲ 1.18×82 topics
  3. Deep Learning254◆ 0.99×76 topics
  4. Epidemiology252▼ 0.85×104 topics
  5. Sustainability232▲ 1.27×81 topics
  6. Environmental Impact164▲ 1.28×53 topics
  7. Globalization133◆ 0.90×68 topics
  8. Gut Microbiota130▲ 5.0×7 topics
  9. Neural Networks129◆ 1.11×37 topics
  10. Heat Stress116▲ 19×2 topics
  11. Mental Health116◆ 1.05×38 topics
  12. Probiotics110▲ 6.2×6 topics
  13. Pathogenesis102▲ 2.7×20 topics
  14. Amino Acids97▲ 14×3 topics
  15. Intestinal Barrier92▲ 15×2 topics
  16. Feed Additives91▲ 21×2 topics
  17. Antibiotic Alternatives91▲ 22×1 topic
  18. Poultry Production91▲ 22×1 topic
  19. Genetic Diversity89▲ 2.7×19 topics
  20. Vaccine89▲ 2.9×10 topics
  21. Animal Welfare74▲ 11×4 topics
  22. Superconductivity66▲ 5.2×9 topics
  23. Genomic Sequencing63▲ 7.1×5 topics
  24. Carbon Nanotubes62▲ 2.4×8 topics
  25. Marker-Assisted Selection55▲ 9.3×3 topics
  26. Consumer Perception55▲ 3.3×8 topics
  27. QTL Mapping51▲ 5.8×6 topics
  28. Metagenomics49▲ 7.1×3 topics
  29. Plant Breeding48▲ 6.6×4 topics
  30. Genetic Improvement47▲ 6.8×4 topics
  31. Meat Quality44▲ 7.6×3 topics
  32. Livestock Production44▲ 6.2×3 topics
  33. Teacher Preparation43▲ 8.3×4 topics
  34. Dairy Cattle40▲ 10×2 topics
  35. Emotional State40▲ 17×1 topic
  36. Stress Indicators40▲ 17×1 topic
  37. Experiential Learning38▲ 10×6 topics
  38. Circovirus38▲ 16×1 topic
  39. Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome Virus38▲ 16×1 topic
  40. Fashion36▲ 12×3 topics

Which research topics does Iowa State University publish most on?

By volume in 2022–2025: Animal Nutrition and Physiology, Animal Behavior and Welfare Studies, Animal Virus Infections Studies and Meat and Animal Product Quality.

Animal Nutrition and Phy…91Animal Nutrition and Physiology: 91 fractional worksAnimal Behavior and Welfare Studies: 40 fractional worksAnimal Virus Infections Studies: 38 fractional worksMeat and Animal Product Quality: 33 fractional worksFashion and Cultural Textiles: 32 fractional worksViral gastroenteritis research and epidemiology: 32 fractional worksDiverse Educational Inno…32Diverse Educational Innovations Studies: 32 fractional worksGenetic and phenotypic traits in livestock: 29 fractional worksAnimal Disease Management and Epidemiology: 29 fractional worksGenetic Mapping and Dive…26Genetic Mapping and Diversity in Plants and Animals: 26 fractional works
Animal Science and ZoologySmall AnimalsMuseologyInfectious Diseases3 others

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

  1. 1 Animal Nutrition and PhysiologyAnimal Science and Zoology 91 works
  2. 2 Animal Behavior and Welfare StudiesSmall Animals 40 works
  3. 3 Animal Virus Infections StudiesAnimal Science and Zoology 38 works
  4. 4 Meat and Animal Product QualityAnimal Science and Zoology 33 works
  5. 5 Fashion and Cultural TextilesMuseology 32 works
  6. 6 Viral gastroenteritis research and epidemiologyInfectious Diseases 32 works
  7. 7 Diverse Educational Innovations StudiesGeneral Agricultural and Biological Sciences 32 works
  8. 8 Genetic and phenotypic traits in livestockGenetics 29 works
  9. 9 Animal Disease Management and EpidemiologyAgronomy and Crop Science 29 works
  10. 10 Genetic Mapping and Diversity in Plants and AnimalsGenetics 26 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 available32.9%not open67.1%

World: 28% of research is openly available.

with international co-authors10.7%domestic only89.3%

World: 19% is written across borders.

How has Iowa State University's research output changed?

Output in 2018–2022 was 2% 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 Ames

All research institutions in Ames

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.