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University · Karlstad · Sweden

Karlstad University

In research, Karlstad University stands highest in Social Sciences (#970 of 10,521 worldwide), Social Sciences (#659 of 6,365 worldwide) and Health Sciences (#2,318 of 11,982 worldwide), 2022–2025. Relative to its size it is most specialised in Communication, Marketing and Developmental and Educational Psychology — Communication is 6.2× its share of world research.

kau.seROR OpenAlex
World rank, 2022–2025
#3,102
of 28,054 · #3,467 all time
Rank in Sweden
#23
of 125
Research works
5.6k
▲ 20% vs 2013–17
Citations
122k
21.7 per fractional work
Top-10% rate
29.0%
record average 16.5%
Open access
51%
world 28%

What is Karlstad 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
Social SciencesDomain #970 of 10,521 33.6%620 #927
Social SciencesField #659 of 6,365 34.6%346 #811
Health SciencesDomain #2,318 of 11,982 28.2%114 #2982
EducationSubfield #442 of 1,892 29.9%111 #535
Sociology and Political ScienceSubfield #714 of 2,578 36.7%102 #699
Physical SciencesDomain #3,733 of 12,888 22.8%474 #3978
Environmental ScienceField #1,303 of 3,551 30.4%94 #1435
EngineeringField #2,722 of 6,636 16.1%149 #2745
Computer ScienceField #1,953 of 4,667 29.0%130 #1764
Business, Management and AccountingField #1,105 of 2,578 40.4%91 #610

Each strip is that field’s whole ranked pool, with the notch where Karlstad 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. Social Sciences#927 #970
  2. Social Sciences#811 #659
  3. Health Sciences#2,982 #2,318
  4. Education#535 #442
  5. Sociology and Political Science#699 #714
  6. Physical Sciences#3,978 #3,733
  7. Environmental Science#1,435 #1,303
  8. Engineering#2,745 #2,722
  9. Computer Science#1,764 #1,953
  10. Business, Management and Accounting#610 #1,105
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 Karlstad University specialise in?

Where its research is concentrated relative to its size: Communication takes 6.2× the share of its output that it takes of world research.

  1. CommunicationSubfield · 21.6 works6.2×
  2. MarketingSubfield · 27.3 works5.1×
  3. Developmental and Educational PsychologySubfield · 25.3 works4.4×
← 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: 0.49× its world share, 29 worksAgricultural and Bio…Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology: 0.26× its world share, 18 worksBiochemistry, Geneti…Immunology and Microbiology: 0.05× its world share, 1 worksImmunology and Micro…Neuroscience: 0.37× its world share, 8 worksNeurosciencePharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics: 0.05× its world share, 0 worksPharmacology, Toxico…Chemical Engineering: 0.32× its world share, 1 worksChemical EngineeringChemistry: 0.54× its world share, 11 worksChemistryComputer Science: 1.32× its world share, 130 worksComputer ScienceEarth and Planetary Sciences: 0.17× its world share, 3 worksEarth and Planetary …Energy: 0.41× its world share, 5 worksEnergyEngineering: 0.78× its world share, 149 worksEngineeringEnvironmental Science: 1.50× its world share, 94 worksEnvironmental ScienceMaterials Science: 0.75× its world share, 33 worksMaterials ScienceMathematics: 1.95× its world share, 29 worksMathematicsPhysics and Astronomy: 0.69× its world share, 19 worksPhysics and AstronomyDentistry: 0.48× its world share, 3 worksDentistryHealth Professions: 1.62× its world share, 54 worksHealth ProfessionsMedicine: 0.21× its world share, 52 worksMedicineNursing: 0.76× its world share, 5 worksNursingVeterinary: 0.18× its world share, 0 worksVeterinaryArts and Humanities: 1.27× its world share, 46 worksArts and HumanitiesBusiness, Management and Accounting: 2.24× its world share, 91 worksBusiness, Management…Decision Sciences: 1.61× its world share, 20 worksDecision SciencesEconomics, Econometrics and Finance: 0.61× its world share, 17 worksEconomics, Econometr…Psychology: 2.60× its world share, 100 worksPsychologySocial Sciences: 2.17× its world share, 346 worksSocial Sciences1×world share
more than its size predictsabout as predictedless

Rings at 0.5×, 1× and 2×. Widest outward: Psychology, 2.6×. Every wedge is a field page.

Who are the top researchers at Karlstad University?

Ranked on the composite score, Anders Gustafsson, Lars Witell and Linda J. Beckman lead among researchers whose main affiliation is Karlstad University.

  1. 1 Anders Gustafsson Sweden · #10,343 worldwide 1.3k citations · 98 works
  2. 2 Lars Witell Sweden · #63,922 worldwide 366 citations · 56 works
  3. 3 Linda J. Beckman Sweden · #76,354 worldwide 163 citations · 33 works
  4. 4 Carl‐Gustaf Bornehag Sweden · #81,780 worldwide 319 citations · 66 works
  5. 5 Bengt Starrin Sweden · #83,624 worldwide 117 citations · 95 works
  6. 6 Lars E. Olsson Sweden · #118,710 worldwide 294 citations · 44 works
  7. 7 Henrik Gustafsson Sweden · #121,576 worldwide 153 citations · 55 works
  8. 8 L. S. O. Johansson Sweden · #131,348 worldwide 148 citations · 28 works
  9. 9 Pavel Krakhmalev Sweden · #138,375 worldwide 191 citations · 32 works
  10. 10 Bård Tronvoll Sweden · #145,061 worldwide 366 citations · 27 works
All ranked researchers at Karlstad University

Which keywords describe research at Karlstad University?

By fractional works in 2022–2025, weighted toward what it does more of than the world: Education, Qualitative Research, Discourse Analysis, Pedagogy, Social Sciences, Learning, Special Education and Gender Studies.

▲ 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. Education60▲ 2.8×30 topics
  2. Qualitative Research48▲ 4.3×15 topics
  3. Sustainability46▲ 1.48×53 topics
  4. Climate Change43▲ 1.26×56 topics
  5. Pedagogy39▲ 6.3×12 topics
  6. Mental Health37▲ 2.0×25 topics
  7. Globalization37▲ 1.49×48 topics
  8. Discourse Analysis36▲ 11×5 topics
  9. Social Sciences34▲ 19×4 topics
  10. Learning34▲ 9.1×4 topics
  11. Special Education33▲ 45×4 topics
  12. Social Media32▲ 1.80×22 topics
  13. Gender Studies31▲ 16×2 topics
  14. Methodology31▲ 52×1 topic
  15. Quantitative Methods31▲ 170×1 topic
  16. Mechanical Properties23▲ 1.86×27 topics
  17. Invasive Species20▲ 3.7×14 topics
  18. Co-Creation20▲ 35×2 topics
  19. Social Capital20▲ 2.9×14 topics
  20. Self-Regulation18▲ 7.9×6 topics
  21. Customer Experience17▲ 9.1×4 topics
  22. Trust16▲ 4.4×9 topics
  23. Technology Integration15▲ 3.9×7 topics
  24. 5G Networks14▲ 5.7×3 topics
  25. Environmental Attitudes14▲ 14×2 topics
  26. Reflective Practice14▲ 5.9×6 topics
  27. Online Communication14▲ 6.9×3 topics
  28. Teacher Professional Development13▲ 6.5×3 topics
  29. Professional Learning Communities13▲ 22×2 topics
  30. Value Creation13▲ 26×2 topics
  31. Academic Achievement13▲ 5.9×10 topics
  32. Marketing Strategy12▲ 9.3×3 topics
  33. Distributed Systems12▲ 5.8×5 topics
  34. Product-Service Systems12▲ 52×1 topic
  35. Service Innovation12▲ 52×1 topic
  36. Requirements Engineering12▲ 22×3 topics
  37. Participatory Design12▲ 18×2 topics
  38. Content Analysis11▲ 7.0×3 topics
  39. Social Norms11▲ 8.7×3 topics
  40. Fisheries Sustainability11▲ 9.6×2 topics

Which research topics does Karlstad University publish most on?

By volume in 2022–2025: Social and Educational Sciences, Service and Product Innovation, Environmental Education and Sustainability and Teacher Education and Leadership Studies.

Social and Educational S…31Social and Educational Sciences: 31 fractional worksService and Product Innovation: 12 fractional worksEnvironmental Education and Sustainability: 10 fractional worksTeacher Education and Leadership Studies: 9 fractional worksSocial Media and Politics: 9 fractional worksFish Ecology and Management Studies: 9 fractional worksIoT and Edge/Fog Computing9IoT and Edge/Fog Computing: 9 fractional worksSoftware Engineering Tec…8Software Engineering Techniques and Practices: 8 fractional worksEarly Childhood Educatio…8Early Childhood Education and Development: 8 fractional worksMedia Studies and Commun…8Media Studies and Communication: 8 fractional works
EducationMarketingManagement, Monitoring, Policy and LawCommunication3 others

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

  1. 1 Social and Educational Sciences Education 31 works
  2. 2 Service and Product Innovation Marketing 12 works
  3. 3 Environmental Education and Sustainability Management, Monitoring, Policy and Law 10 works
  4. 4 Teacher Education and Leadership Studies Education 9 works
  5. 5 Social Media and Politics Communication 9 works
  6. 6 Fish Ecology and Management Studies Nature and Landscape Conservation 9 works
  7. 7 IoT and Edge/Fog Computing Computer Networks and Communications 9 works
  8. 8 Software Engineering Techniques and Practices Information Systems 8 works
  9. 9 Early Childhood Education and Development Education 8 works
  10. 10 Media Studies and Communication Communication 8 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 available51.2%not open48.8%

World: 28% of research is openly available.

with international co-authors25.2%domestic only74.8%

World: 19% is written across borders.

How has Karlstad University's research output changed?

Output in 2018–2022 was 20% 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 Karlstad

All research institutions in Karlstad

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.