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University · Lynchburg · United States

Liberty University

In research, Liberty University stands highest in Social Sciences (#3,132 of 10,521 worldwide), Psychology (#1,077 of 2,181 worldwide) and Social Sciences (#3,902 of 6,365 worldwide), 2022–2025. Relative to its size it is most specialised in Clinical Psychology — Clinical Psychology is 4.9× its share of world research.

liberty.eduROR OpenAlex
World rank, 2022–2025
#9,820
of 28,054 · #12,770 all time
Rank in United States
#1,311
of 4,192
Research works
3.9k
▲ 40% vs 2013–17
Citations
13k
3.4 per fractional work
Top-10% rate
11.0%
record average 16.5%
Open access
67%
world 28%

What is Liberty 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 #3,132 of 10,521 13.6%336 #2930
PsychologyField #1,077 of 2,181 12.2%72 #2250
Social SciencesField #3,902 of 6,365 16.5%130 #3218
Health SciencesDomain #7,842 of 11,982 8.8%146 #7163
MedicineField #8,035 of 10,443 8.5%122 #13060
Physical SciencesDomain #10,545 of 12,888 8.0%131 #13451

Each strip is that field’s whole ranked pool, with the notch where Liberty 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#2,930 #3,132
  2. Psychology#2,250 #1,077
  3. Social Sciences#3,218 #3,902
  4. Health Sciences#7,163 #7,842
  5. Medicine#13,060 #8,035
  6. Physical Sciences#13,451 #10,545
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 Liberty University specialise in?

Where its research is concentrated relative to its size: Clinical Psychology takes 4.9× the share of its output that it takes of world research.

  1. Clinical PsychologySubfield · 33.6 works4.9×
← 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: 0.18× its world share, 6 worksAgricultural and Bio…Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology: 0.62× its world share, 22 worksBiochemistry, Geneti…Immunology and Microbiology: 0.84× its world share, 6 worksImmunology and Micro…Neuroscience: 0.90× its world share, 10 worksNeurosciencePharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics: 0.29× its world share, 1 worksPharmacology, Toxico…Chemical Engineering: 0.29× its world share, 1 worksChemical EngineeringChemistry: 0.13× its world share, 1 worksChemistryComputer Science: 0.53× its world share, 27 worksComputer ScienceEarth and Planetary Sciences: 0.51× its world share, 5 worksEarth and Planetary …Energy: 0.36× its world share, 2 worksEnergyEngineering: 0.52× its world share, 51 worksEngineeringEnvironmental Science: 0.30× its world share, 10 worksEnvironmental ScienceMaterials Science: 0.55× its world share, 13 worksMaterials ScienceMathematics: 0.51× its world share, 4 worksMathematicsPhysics and Astronomy: 1.17× its world share, 17 worksPhysics and AstronomyDentistry: 0.03× its world share, 0 worksDentistryHealth Professions: 1.20× its world share, 21 worksHealth ProfessionsMedicine: 0.97× its world share, 122 worksMedicineNursing: 0.93× its world share, 3 worksNursingVeterinary: 0.37× its world share, 0 worksVeterinaryArts and Humanities: 2.84× its world share, 54 worksArts and HumanitiesBusiness, Management and Accounting: 2.74× its world share, 58 worksBusiness, Management…Decision Sciences: 1.61× its world share, 10 worksDecision SciencesEconomics, Econometrics and Finance: 0.85× its world share, 12 worksEconomics, Econometr…Psychology: 3.58× its world share, 72 worksPsychologySocial Sciences: 1.57× its world share, 130 worksSocial Sciences1×world share
more than its size predictsabout as predictedless

Rings at 0.5×, 1× and 2×. Widest outward: Psychology, 3.6×. Every wedge is a field page.

Who are the top researchers at Liberty University?

Ranked on the composite score, Joseph C. Gigliotti, David Baggett and James D. Jones lead among researchers whose main affiliation is Liberty University.

  1. 1 Joseph C. Gigliotti United States · #297,929 worldwide 88 citations · 23 works
  2. 2 David Baggett United States · #415,613 worldwide 23 citations · 24 works
  3. 3 James D. Jones United States · #528,337 worldwide 50 citations · 17 works
  4. 4 Fred Volk United States · #573,621 worldwide 54 citations · 18 works
  5. 5 Brenda Ayres United States · #597,265 worldwide 0 citations · 56 works
  6. 6 Lucinda S. Spaulding United States · #650,911 worldwide 24 citations · 21 works
  7. 7 A. Boyd Luter United States · #698,430 worldwide 6 citations · 16 works
  8. 8 John D. Morrison United States · #703,111 worldwide 2 citations · 17 works
  9. 9 Samuel J. Smith United States · #722,797 worldwide 26 citations · 22 works
  10. 10 Gregory A. Smith United States · #725,921 worldwide 21 citations · 30 works
All ranked researchers at Liberty University

Which keywords describe research at Liberty University?

By fractional works in 2022–2025, weighted toward what it does more of than the world: Mental Health, Religion, Social Justice, Organizational Performance, Psychological Adjustment, Spirituality, Social Support and Resilience.

▲ 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. Mental Health40▲ 4.1×32 topics
  2. Epidemiology29◆ 1.11×60 topics
  3. Religion26▲ 8.5×11 topics
  4. Social Justice21▲ 5.4×16 topics
  5. Globalization21▲ 1.61×29 topics
  6. Education19▲ 1.67×27 topics
  7. Quality of Life19▲ 1.99×28 topics
  8. Social Support16▲ 4.3×13 topics
  9. Resilience14▲ 4.4×10 topics
  10. Organizational Performance14▲ 8.3×8 topics
  11. Leadership13▲ 4.2×14 topics
  12. Well-being13▲ 5.2×9 topics
  13. Psychological Adjustment13▲ 13×4 topics
  14. Spirituality12▲ 19×3 topics
  15. Gender12▲ 3.3×12 topics
  16. Health11▲ 4.3×6 topics
  17. Employee Engagement10▲ 9.1×6 topics
  18. Development10▲ 4.4×8 topics
  19. Nationalism10▲ 3.2×7 topics
  20. Social Capital10▲ 2.8×9 topics
  21. Coping10▲ 29×2 topics
  22. NGOs10▲ 15×3 topics
  23. Humanitarianism9▲ 23×3 topics
  24. Community Development9▲ 7.3×3 topics
  25. Cultural Competence9▲ 11×4 topics
  26. Psychological Impact9▲ 4.1×6 topics
  27. Civil Society9▲ 12×2 topics
  28. International Aid9▲ 27×2 topics
  29. Theology9▲ 14×3 topics
  30. End-of-Life Care8▲ 11×2 topics
  31. Faith-Based Organizations8▲ 40×1 topic
  32. Social Services8▲ 28×1 topic
  33. Feminism8▲ 4.3×9 topics
  34. African Christianity7▲ 51×2 topics
  35. Biblical Monotheism7▲ 41×1 topic
  36. Jewish Society7▲ 41×1 topic
  37. Professional Identity7▲ 13×3 topics
  38. Race7▲ 9.3×4 topics
  39. Ethical Principles6▲ 33×1 topic
  40. Multicultural Counseling6▲ 80×1 topic

Which research topics does Liberty University publish most on?

By volume in 2022–2025: Religion, Society, and Development, Religion, Spirituality, and Psychology, Biblical Studies and Interpretation and Counseling Practices and Supervision.

Religion, Society, and Development: 8 fractional worksReligion, Spirituality, and Psychology: 8 fractional worksBiblical Studies and Int…7Biblical Studies and Interpretation: 7 fractional worksCounseling Practices and…6Counseling Practices and Supervision: 6 fractional worksChristian Theology and Mission: 4 fractional worksAmerican Constitutional Law and Politics: 4 fractional worksHuman Resource and Talen…4Human Resource and Talent Management: 4 fractional worksMedia, Religion, Digital Communication: 4 fractional worksDiet and metabolism studies: 4 fractional worksWorkplace Spirituality and Leadership: 4 fractional works
Sociology and Political ScienceHealthReligious studiesSocial Psychology5 others

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

  1. 1 Religion, Society, and Development Sociology and Political Science 8 works
  2. 2 Religion, Spirituality, and Psychology Health 8 works
  3. 3 Biblical Studies and Interpretation Religious studies 7 works
  4. 4 Counseling Practices and Supervision Social Psychology 6 works
  5. 5 Christian Theology and Mission Religious studies 4 works
  6. 6 American Constitutional Law and Politics Political Science and International Relations 4 works
  7. 7 Human Resource and Talent Management Organizational Behavior and Human Resource Management 4 works
  8. 8 Media, Religion, Digital Communication Philosophy 4 works
  9. 9 Diet and metabolism studies Physiology 4 works
  10. 10 Workplace Spirituality and Leadership Demography 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 available66.6%not open33.4%

World: 28% of research is openly available.

with international co-authors3.5%domestic only96.5%

World: 19% is written across borders.

How has Liberty University's research output changed?

Output in 2018–2022 was 40% 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 Lynchburg

All research institutions in Lynchburg

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.