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University · Lancaster · United Kingdom

Lancaster University

In research, Lancaster University stands highest in Social Sciences (#134 of 10,521 worldwide), Social Sciences (#125 of 6,365 worldwide) and Physical Sciences (#647 of 12,888 worldwide), 2022–2025. Relative to its size it is most specialised in Human-Computer Interaction, Finance and Literature and Literary Theory — Human-Computer Interaction is 5.8× its share of world research.

lancaster.ac.ukROR OpenAlex
World rank, 2022–2025
#578
of 28,054 · #388 all time
Rank in United Kingdom
#29
of 1,094
Research works
38k
▲ 8% vs 2013–17
Citations
1.2M
30.7 per fractional work
Top-10% rate
24.2%
record average 16.5%
Open access
40%
world 28%

What is Lancaster 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 #134 of 10,521 26.5%2,475 #103
Social SciencesField #125 of 6,365 28.4%1,141 #93
Physical SciencesDomain #647 of 12,888 21.8%2,020 #426
Sociology and Political ScienceSubfield #142 of 2,578 26.1%392 #67
Business, Management and AccountingField #150 of 2,578 36.1%251 #48
EducationSubfield #120 of 1,892 44.9%139 #86
Language and LinguisticsSubfield #24 of 303 30.3%73 #11
Arts and HumanitiesField #181 of 1,998 20.2%400 #67
Health SciencesDomain #1,202 of 11,982 21.9%592 #1113
Environmental ScienceField #368 of 3,551 26.6%337 #125

Each strip is that field’s whole ranked pool, with the notch where Lancaster 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#103 #134
  2. Social Sciences#93 #125
  3. Physical Sciences#426 #647
  4. Sociology and Political Science#67 #142
  5. Business, Management and Accounting#48 #150
  6. Education#86 #120
  7. Language and Linguistics#11 #24
  8. Arts and Humanities#67 #181
  9. Health Sciences#1,113 #1,202
  10. Environmental Science#125 #368
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 Lancaster University specialise in?

Where its research is concentrated relative to its size: Human-Computer Interaction takes 5.8× the share of its output that it takes of world research.

  1. Human-Computer InteractionSubfield · 65.4 works5.8×
  2. FinanceSubfield · 63.5 works3.9×
  3. Literature and Literary TheorySubfield · 105.3 works3.6×
  4. Linguistics and LanguageSubfield · 21.1 works3.4×
← 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: 0.54× its world share, 140 worksAgricultural and Bio…Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology: 0.34× its world share, 98 worksBiochemistry, Geneti…Immunology and Microbiology: 0.30× its world share, 16 worksImmunology and Micro…Neuroscience: 1.10× its world share, 97 worksNeurosciencePharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics: 0.20× its world share, 4 worksPharmacology, Toxico…Chemical Engineering: 0.57× its world share, 11 worksChemical EngineeringChemistry: 0.69× its world share, 59 worksChemistryComputer Science: 1.26× its world share, 532 worksComputer ScienceEarth and Planetary Sciences: 0.85× its world share, 73 worksEarth and Planetary …Energy: 0.80× its world share, 40 worksEnergyEngineering: 0.69× its world share, 566 worksEngineeringEnvironmental Science: 1.25× its world share, 337 worksEnvironmental ScienceMaterials Science: 0.51× its world share, 96 worksMaterials ScienceMathematics: 1.87× its world share, 120 worksMathematicsPhysics and Astronomy: 1.54× its world share, 186 worksPhysics and AstronomyDentistry: 0.21× its world share, 6 worksDentistryHealth Professions: 1.19× its world share, 171 worksHealth ProfessionsMedicine: 0.39× its world share, 404 worksMedicineNursing: 0.30× its world share, 8 worksNursingVeterinary: 0.49× its world share, 4 worksVeterinaryArts and Humanities: 2.54× its world share, 400 worksArts and HumanitiesBusiness, Management and Accounting: 1.43× its world share, 251 worksBusiness, Management…Decision Sciences: 2.10× its world share, 110 worksDecision SciencesEconomics, Econometrics and Finance: 2.02× its world share, 236 worksEconomics, Econometr…Psychology: 2.04× its world share, 338 worksPsychologySocial Sciences: 1.66× its world share, 1,141 worksSocial Sciences1×world share
more than its size predictsabout as predictedless

Rings at 0.5×, 1× and 2×. Widest outward: Arts and Humanities, 2.5×. Every wedge is a field page.

Who are the top researchers at Lancaster University?

Ranked on the composite score, John Urry, Geoffrey Leech and Graham K. Rand lead among researchers whose main affiliation is Lancaster University.

  1. 1 John Urry United Kingdom · #1,059 worldwide 2k citations · 95 works
  2. 2 Geoffrey Leech United Kingdom · #1,726 worldwide 1.8k citations · 80 works
  3. 3 Graham K. Rand United Kingdom · #1,780 worldwide 1.5k citations · 86 works
  4. 4 Bob Jessop United Kingdom · #4,009 worldwide 1k citations · 163 works
  5. 5 Robert Fildes United Kingdom · #5,925 worldwide 1.5k citations · 71 works
  6. 6 John Law United Kingdom · #7,099 worldwide 1.9k citations · 53 works
  7. 7 Sylvia Walby United Kingdom · #7,520 worldwide 613 citations · 77 works
  8. 8 Jonathan Culpeper United Kingdom · #8,449 worldwide 571 citations · 61 works
  9. 9 Celia Roberts United Kingdom · #8,486 worldwide 569 citations · 81 works
  10. 10 David Archard United Kingdom · #9,793 worldwide 449 citations · 55 works
All ranked researchers at Lancaster University

Which keywords describe research at Lancaster University?

By fractional works in 2022–2025, weighted toward what it does more of than the world: Globalization, Climate Change, Gender, Social Interaction, Neoliberalism, Machine Learning, Sustainability and Identity.

▲ 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. Globalization244▲ 2.3×105 topics
  2. Climate Change220▲ 1.50×98 topics
  3. Machine Learning188◆ 1.06×80 topics
  4. Deep Learning173◆ 0.93×74 topics
  5. Sustainability166▲ 1.26×87 topics
  6. Mental Health123▲ 1.54×40 topics
  7. Public Health112▲ 1.41×55 topics
  8. Social Media108▲ 1.39×32 topics
  9. Gender108▲ 3.7×49 topics
  10. Identity99▲ 2.5×54 topics
  11. Social Interaction95▲ 4.4×11 topics
  12. Neural Networks95◆ 1.13×37 topics
  13. Neoliberalism91▲ 4.7×23 topics
  14. Human Rights84▲ 1.51×52 topics
  15. History83▲ 2.2×41 topics
  16. Innovation80▲ 1.40×47 topics
  17. Literature79▲ 2.7×41 topics
  18. Economic Growth78▲ 1.69×27 topics
  19. Ethics76▲ 2.9×35 topics
  20. Nationalism73▲ 2.9×29 topics
  21. Colonialism71▲ 2.7×42 topics
  22. Corporate Governance69▲ 1.71×18 topics
  23. Social Capital69▲ 2.4×18 topics
  24. Higher Education68▲ 2.3×21 topics
  25. Feminism61▲ 3.9×21 topics
  26. Embodiment60▲ 5.9×7 topics
  27. Ethical Considerations58▲ 3.1×19 topics
  28. Corpus Linguistics56▲ 4.7×5 topics
  29. Monetary Policy52▲ 4.0×8 topics
  30. Emotion50▲ 4.4×12 topics
  31. Politics49▲ 3.3×17 topics
  32. Participatory Design44▲ 16×2 topics
  33. User Experience40▲ 8.9×3 topics
  34. Aesthetics39▲ 9.5×8 topics
  35. Language Development38▲ 5.7×6 topics
  36. Health Behavior Change37▲ 14×2 topics
  37. Neural Basis37▲ 7.9×4 topics
  38. Postcolonialism36▲ 5.3×18 topics
  39. Design Research31▲ 22×1 topic
  40. Interaction Design31▲ 22×1 topic

Which research topics does Lancaster University publish most on?

By volume in 2022–2025: Innovative Human-Technology Interaction, Language, Metaphor, and Cognition, Language, Discourse, Communication Strategies and Discourse Analysis in Language Studies.

Innovative Human-Technol…31Innovative Human-Technology Interaction: 31 fractional worksLanguage, Metaphor, and …29Language, Metaphor, and Cognition: 29 fractional worksLanguage, Discourse, Com…22Language, Discourse, Communication Strategies: 22 fractional worksDiscourse Analysis in La…22Discourse Analysis in Language Studies: 22 fractional worksPalliative Care and End-of-Life Issues: 19 fractional worksGender, Feminism, and Media: 18 fractional worksEmployment and Welfare S…16Employment and Welfare Studies: 16 fractional worksEFL/ESL Teaching and Learning: 16 fractional worksEthics and Social Impacts of AI: 15 fractional worksEntrepreneurship Studies…15Entrepreneurship Studies and Influences: 15 fractional works
Human-Computer InteractionExperimental and Cognitive PsychologyLanguage and LinguisticsLiterature and Literary Theory5 others

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

  1. 1 Innovative Human-Technology Interaction Human-Computer Interaction 31 works
  2. 2 Language, Metaphor, and Cognition Experimental and Cognitive Psychology 29 works
  3. 3 Language, Discourse, Communication Strategies Language and Linguistics 22 works
  4. 4 Discourse Analysis in Language Studies Literature and Literary Theory 22 works
  5. 5 Palliative Care and End-of-Life Issues Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health 19 works
  6. 6 Gender, Feminism, and Media Gender Studies 18 works
  7. 7 Employment and Welfare Studies General Health Professions 16 works
  8. 8 EFL/ESL Teaching and Learning Language and Linguistics 16 works
  9. 9 Ethics and Social Impacts of AI Safety Research 15 works
  10. 10 Entrepreneurship Studies and Influences Management of Technology and Innovation 15 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 available40.5%not open59.5%

World: 28% of research is openly available.

with international co-authors25.4%domestic only74.6%

World: 19% is written across borders.

How has Lancaster University's research output changed?

Output in 2018–2022 was 8% 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 Lancaster

All research institutions in Lancaster

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.