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University · Loughborough · United Kingdom

Loughborough University

In research, Loughborough University stands highest in Social Sciences (#313 of 10,521 worldwide), Social Sciences (#298 of 6,365 worldwide) and Engineering (#411 of 6,636 worldwide), 2022–2025. Relative to its size it is most specialised in Orthopedics and Sports Medicine, Gender Studies and Automotive Engineering — Orthopedics and Sports Medicine is 6.4× its share of world research.

lboro.ac.ukROR OpenAlex
World rank, 2022–2025
#874
of 28,054 · #456 all time
Rank in United Kingdom
#39
of 1,094
Research works
43k
▼ 6% vs 2013–17
Citations
1.1M
25.1 per fractional work
Top-10% rate
24.3%
record average 16.5%
Open access
44%
world 28%

What is Loughborough 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 #313 of 10,521 31.6%1,674 #113
Social SciencesField #298 of 6,365 33.8%800 #53
EngineeringField #411 of 6,636 18.4%1,200 #232
Physical SciencesDomain #841 of 12,888 19.0%2,322 #470
Sociology and Political ScienceSubfield #229 of 2,578 33.1%304 #141
Health SciencesDomain #1,167 of 11,982 24.0%611 #798
Business, Management and AccountingField #267 of 2,578 35.9%187 #140
Computer ScienceField #569 of 4,667 21.9%380 #468
Gender StudiesSubfield #26 of 201 37.8%80 #59
MedicineField #1,541 of 10,443 22.5%457 #1494

Each strip is that field’s whole ranked pool, with the notch where Loughborough 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#113 #313
  2. Social Sciences#53 #298
  3. Engineering#232 #411
  4. Physical Sciences#470 #841
  5. Sociology and Political Science#141 #229
  6. Health Sciences#798 #1,167
  7. Business, Management and Accounting#140 #267
  8. Computer Science#468 #569
  9. Gender Studies#59 #26
  10. Medicine#1,494 #1,541
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 Loughborough University specialise in?

Where its research is concentrated relative to its size: Orthopedics and Sports Medicine takes 6.4× the share of its output that it takes of world research.

  1. Orthopedics and Sports MedicineSubfield · 79.0 works6.4×
  2. Gender StudiesSubfield · 79.8 works4.6×
  3. Automotive EngineeringSubfield · 109.3 works4.2×
  4. CommunicationSubfield · 37.3 works2.8×
← 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: 0.32× its world share, 73 worksAgricultural and Bio…Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology: 0.35× its world share, 91 worksBiochemistry, Geneti…Immunology and Microbiology: 0.12× its world share, 6 worksImmunology and Micro…Neuroscience: 0.70× its world share, 55 worksNeurosciencePharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics: 0.39× its world share, 7 worksPharmacology, Toxico…Chemical Engineering: 1.07× its world share, 18 worksChemical EngineeringChemistry: 0.69× its world share, 52 worksChemistryComputer Science: 1.01× its world share, 380 worksComputer ScienceEarth and Planetary Sciences: 0.70× its world share, 53 worksEarth and Planetary …Energy: 1.31× its world share, 58 worksEnergyEngineering: 1.65× its world share, 1,200 worksEngineeringEnvironmental Science: 0.87× its world share, 210 worksEnvironmental ScienceMaterials Science: 0.96× its world share, 162 worksMaterials ScienceMathematics: 1.66× its world share, 94 worksMathematicsPhysics and Astronomy: 0.88× its world share, 95 worksPhysics and AstronomyDentistry: 0.23× its world share, 5 worksDentistryHealth Professions: 1.02× its world share, 130 worksHealth ProfessionsMedicine: 0.49× its world share, 457 worksMedicineNursing: 0.66× its world share, 16 worksNursingVeterinary: 0.45× its world share, 3 worksVeterinaryArts and Humanities: 1.27× its world share, 177 worksArts and HumanitiesBusiness, Management and Accounting: 1.20× its world share, 187 worksBusiness, Management…Decision Sciences: 1.68× its world share, 78 worksDecision SciencesEconomics, Econometrics and Finance: 1.47× its world share, 152 worksEconomics, Econometr…Psychology: 1.89× its world share, 279 worksPsychologySocial Sciences: 1.31× its world share, 800 worksSocial Sciences1×world share
more than its size predictsabout as predictedless

Rings at 0.5×, 1× and 2×. Widest outward: Psychology, 1.9×. Every wedge is a field page.

Who are the top researchers at Loughborough University?

Ranked on the composite score, Charles Oppenheim, Peter Ackers and Yu Zhang lead among researchers whose main affiliation is Loughborough University.

  1. 1 Charles Oppenheim United Kingdom · #7,795 worldwide 344 citations · 122 works
  2. 2 Peter Ackers United Kingdom · #10,865 worldwide 442 citations · 71 works
  3. 3 Yu Zhang United Kingdom · #11,974 worldwide 866 citations · 81 works
  4. 4 Gan Zheng United Kingdom · #13,481 worldwide 956 citations · 94 works
  5. 5 Peter J. Taylor United Kingdom · #14,231 worldwide 585 citations · 115 works
  6. 6 Alan Bryman United Kingdom · #14,870 worldwide 609 citations · 66 works
  7. 7 Denis Cosgrove United Kingdom · #37,446 worldwide 300 citations · 34 works
  8. 8 Martin Maguire United Kingdom · #37,861 worldwide 302 citations · 43 works
  9. 9 Alistair Gibb United Kingdom · #38,940 worldwide 384 citations · 46 works
  10. 10 James N. Miller United Kingdom · #41,482 worldwide 344 citations · 64 works
All ranked researchers at Loughborough University

Which keywords describe research at Loughborough University?

By fractional works in 2022–2025, weighted toward what it does more of than the world: Sustainability, Globalization, Gender, Deep Learning, Social Media, Identity, High-Intensity Interval Training and Resistance Training.

▲ 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. Sustainability194▲ 1.65×81 topics
  2. Deep Learning183◆ 1.10×78 topics
  3. Globalization152▲ 1.61×95 topics
  4. Machine Learning134▼ 0.85×80 topics
  5. Epidemiology128▼ 0.67×93 topics
  6. Social Media127▲ 1.84×30 topics
  7. Climate Change118◆ 0.91×85 topics
  8. Public Health100▲ 1.42×46 topics
  9. Identity98▲ 2.8×39 topics
  10. Renewable Energy98▲ 1.41×40 topics
  11. Gender93▲ 3.5×33 topics
  12. Neural Networks89▲ 1.19×36 topics
  13. Energy Efficiency71▲ 1.57×29 topics
  14. Neoliberalism64▲ 3.7×21 topics
  15. Physical Activity64▲ 2.7×12 topics
  16. Social Capital62▲ 2.4×16 topics
  17. Additive Manufacturing57▲ 3.8×8 topics
  18. Model Predictive Control55▲ 4.4×6 topics
  19. Colonialism54▲ 2.3×35 topics
  20. Electric Vehicles53▲ 3.7×4 topics
  21. Well-being51▲ 2.7×12 topics
  22. 3D Printing50▲ 4.4×5 topics
  23. High-Intensity Interval Training48▲ 9.4×2 topics
  24. Resistance Training48▲ 11×2 topics
  25. Injury Prevention45▲ 7.6×5 topics
  26. Materials43▲ 3.8×6 topics
  27. Community Development42▲ 4.6×7 topics
  28. Masculinity38▲ 9.4×3 topics
  29. Ceramics37▲ 5.0×4 topics
  30. Urban Regeneration36▲ 15×2 topics
  31. Physiological Demands36▲ 12×1 topic
  32. Training Load36▲ 12×1 topic
  33. Mega Events35▲ 20×1 topic
  34. Sport Tourism35▲ 20×1 topic
  35. Sport34▲ 18×2 topics
  36. Fan Culture33▲ 26×1 topic
  37. Femininity33▲ 26×1 topic
  38. Athletic Training33▲ 7.4×3 topics
  39. Muscle Injuries32▲ 9.9×1 topic
  40. Sports Injury32▲ 9.9×1 topic

Which research topics does Loughborough University publish most on?

By volume in 2022–2025: Sports Performance and Training, Sport and Mega-Event Impacts, Sports, Gender, and Society and Additive Manufacturing and 3D Printing Technologies.

Sports Performance and T…36Sports Performance and Training: 36 fractional worksSport and Mega-Event Imp…35Sport and Mega-Event Impacts: 35 fractional worksSports, Gender, and Society: 33 fractional worksAdditive Manufacturing a…33Additive Manufacturing and 3D Printing Technologies: 33 fractional worksSports injuries and prev…32Sports injuries and prevention: 32 fractional worksSport Psychology and Performance: 28 fractional worksMotivation and Self-Concept in Sports: 23 fractional worksAdvanced Battery Technol…23Advanced Battery Technologies Research: 23 fractional worksCognitive and developmental aspects of mathematical skills: 18 fractional worksBuilding Energy and Comfort Optimization: 17 fractional works
Orthopedics and Sports MedicineSociology and Political ScienceGender StudiesAutomotive Engineering4 others

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

  1. 1 Sports Performance and Training Orthopedics and Sports Medicine 36 works
  2. 2 Sport and Mega-Event Impacts Sociology and Political Science 35 works
  3. 3 Sports, Gender, and Society Gender Studies 33 works
  4. 4 Additive Manufacturing and 3D Printing Technologies Automotive Engineering 33 works
  5. 5 Sports injuries and prevention Orthopedics and Sports Medicine 32 works
  6. 6 Sport Psychology and Performance Developmental and Educational Psychology 28 works
  7. 7 Motivation and Self-Concept in Sports Social Psychology 23 works
  8. 8 Advanced Battery Technologies Research Automotive Engineering 23 works
  9. 9 Cognitive and developmental aspects of mathematical skills Statistics and Probability 18 works
  10. 10 Building Energy and Comfort Optimization Building and Construction 17 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 available44.1%not open55.9%

World: 28% of research is openly available.

with international co-authors20.5%domestic only79.5%

World: 19% is written across borders.

How has Loughborough University'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 Loughborough

All research institutions in Loughborough

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.