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University · East Lansing · United States

Michigan State University

In research, Michigan State University stands highest in Social Sciences (#78 of 10,521 worldwide), Social Sciences (#66 of 6,365 worldwide) and Sociology and Political Science (#30 of 2,578 worldwide), 2022–2025. Relative to its size it is most specialised in Environmental Chemistry, Oceanography and Astronomy and Astrophysics — Environmental Chemistry is 11.1× its share of world research.

msu.eduROR OpenAlex
World rank, 2022–2025
#174
of 28,054 · #87 all time
Rank in United States
#50
of 4,192
Research works
122k
▲ 11% vs 2013–17
Citations
4.3M
35.2 per fractional work
Top-10% rate
21.0%
record average 16.5%
Open access
31%
world 28%

What is Michigan 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
Social SciencesDomain #78 of 10,521 29.3%3,703 #31
Social SciencesField #66 of 6,365 31.4%1,916 #29
Sociology and Political ScienceSubfield #30 of 2,578 32.3%677 #22
Agricultural and Biological SciencesField #62 of 3,409 30.2%1,003 #9
Environmental ScienceField #70 of 3,551 18.0%1,172 #33
Physical SciencesDomain #261 of 12,888 16.8%5,780 #116
Literature and Literary TheorySubfield #8 of 390 40.3%101 #3
Life SciencesDomain #165 of 7,800 24.7%2,486 #93
EducationSubfield #51 of 1,892 39.0%381 #3
Health SciencesDomain #354 of 11,982 15.1%2,705 #150

Each strip is that field’s whole ranked pool, with the notch where Michigan 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. Social Sciences#31 #78
  2. Social Sciences#29 #66
  3. Sociology and Political Science#22 #30
  4. Agricultural and Biological Sciences#9 #62
  5. Environmental Science#33 #70
  6. Physical Sciences#116 #261
  7. Literature and Literary Theory#3 #8
  8. Life Sciences#93 #165
  9. Education#3 #51
  10. Health Sciences#150 #354
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 Michigan State University specialise in?

Where its research is concentrated relative to its size: Environmental Chemistry takes 11.1× the share of its output that it takes of world research.

  1. Environmental ChemistrySubfield · 357.1 works11×
  2. OceanographySubfield · 293.1 works7.1×
  3. Astronomy and AstrophysicsSubfield · 410.3 works5.4×
  4. VeterinaryField · 89.8 works4.5×
  5. Small AnimalsSubfield · 75.5 works4.2×
  6. Nuclear and High Energy PhysicsSubfield · 159.4 works3.5×
← 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: 1.44× its world share, 1,003 worksAgricultural and Bio…Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology: 1.30× its world share, 1,018 worksBiochemistry, Geneti…Immunology and Microbiology: 0.92× its world share, 136 worksImmunology and Micro…Neuroscience: 1.29× its world share, 308 worksNeurosciencePharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics: 0.41× its world share, 21 worksPharmacology, Toxico…Chemical Engineering: 0.82× its world share, 42 worksChemical EngineeringChemistry: 0.91× its world share, 210 worksChemistryComputer Science: 0.81× its world share, 921 worksComputer ScienceEarth and Planetary Sciences: 2.39× its world share, 550 worksEarth and Planetary …Energy: 0.51× its world share, 69 worksEnergyEngineering: 0.65× its world share, 1,424 worksEngineeringEnvironmental Science: 1.61× its world share, 1,172 worksEnvironmental ScienceMaterials Science: 0.57× its world share, 294 worksMaterials ScienceMathematics: 1.57× its world share, 271 worksMathematicsPhysics and Astronomy: 2.54× its world share, 828 worksPhysics and AstronomyDentistry: 0.15× its world share, 10 worksDentistryHealth Professions: 0.86× its world share, 332 worksHealth ProfessionsMedicine: 0.78× its world share, 2,201 worksMedicineNursing: 1.00× its world share, 72 worksNursingVeterinary: 4.50× its world share, 90 worksVeterinaryArts and Humanities: 0.88× its world share, 373 worksArts and HumanitiesBusiness, Management and Accounting: 0.54× its world share, 255 worksBusiness, Management…Decision Sciences: 0.98× its world share, 139 worksDecision SciencesEconomics, Econometrics and Finance: 0.77× its world share, 242 worksEconomics, Econometr…Psychology: 1.74× its world share, 779 worksPsychologySocial Sciences: 1.03× its world share, 1,916 worksSocial Sciences1×world share
more than its size predictsabout as predictedless

Rings at 0.5×, 1× and 2×. Widest outward: Veterinary, 4.5×. Every wedge is a field page.

Who are the top researchers at Michigan State University?

Ranked on the composite score, W. H. Bell, Anil K. Jain and Fang Zheng Peng lead among researchers whose main affiliation is Michigan State University.

  1. 1 W. H. Bell United States · #146 worldwide 5.5k citations · 171 works
  2. 2 Anil K. Jain United States · #178 worldwide 6.3k citations · 275 works
  3. 3 Fang Zheng Peng United States · #190 worldwide 3.7k citations · 136 works
  4. 4 G. Volpi United States · #278 worldwide 5k citations · 160 works
  5. 5 Kalyanmoy Deb United States · #287 worldwide 6.7k citations · 218 works
  6. 6 J. Tseng United States · #348 worldwide 5k citations · 138 works
  7. 7 V. Boldea United States · #432 worldwide 4.6k citations · 138 works
  8. 8 C. Deluca United States · #518 worldwide 4.9k citations · 164 works
  9. 9 L. Zanello United States · #530 worldwide 4.1k citations · 136 works
  10. 10 F. Garberson United States · #570 worldwide 4.3k citations · 129 works
All ranked researchers at Michigan State University

Which keywords describe research at Michigan State University?

By fractional works in 2022–2025, weighted toward what it does more of than the world: Climate Change, Solar Wind, Microbial Communities, Hydrological Modeling, Methane Oxidation, Anaerobic, Gas Hydrates and Electron Acceleration.

▲ 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 Change791▲ 2.0×103 topics
  2. Epidemiology550◆ 0.95×133 topics
  3. Machine Learning454◆ 0.95×85 topics
  4. Microbial Communities382▲ 6.1×10 topics
  5. Deep Learning376▼ 0.75×81 topics
  6. Solar Wind347▲ 26×2 topics
  7. Mental Health344▲ 1.60×43 topics
  8. Hydrological Modeling318▲ 9.2×5 topics
  9. Methane Oxidation314▲ 26×2 topics
  10. Anaerobic313▲ 31×1 topic
  11. Gas Hydrates313▲ 31×1 topic
  12. Electron Acceleration285▲ 29×2 topics
  13. Sea Level Rise285▲ 15×3 topics
  14. Geodetic Measurements284▲ 18×2 topics
  15. GRACE278▲ 37×1 topic
  16. groundwater depletion278▲ 37×1 topic
  17. Ionosphere275▲ 34×1 topic
  18. Magnetosphere275▲ 34×1 topic
  19. Globalization274◆ 0.95×106 topics
  20. Inflammation266◆ 0.87×81 topics
  21. Sustainability256▼ 0.72×95 topics
  22. Public Health242◆ 1.14×63 topics
  23. Oxidative Stress230◆ 0.96×61 topics
  24. Social Media199◆ 0.95×35 topics
  25. Biodiversity162▲ 1.48×31 topics
  26. Invasive Species156▲ 2.5×21 topics
  27. Depression153▲ 1.18×23 topics
  28. Tomography147▲ 5.5×5 topics
  29. Social Support141▲ 1.73×18 topics
  30. Health Effects132▲ 1.49×23 topics
  31. Resilience123▲ 1.75×16 topics
  32. Seismic Noise113▲ 16×1 topic
  33. Surface Wave113▲ 16×1 topic
  34. Adolescents109▲ 1.99×10 topics
  35. Developmental Trajectories86▲ 4.8×3 topics
  36. Neighborhood Effects77▲ 4.8×3 topics
  37. Coronal Mass Ejections72▲ 13×1 topic
  38. Solar Dynamics Observatory72▲ 13×1 topic
  39. Teacher Preparation63▲ 6.2×4 topics
  40. Nucleosynthesis55▲ 7.7×3 topics

Which research topics does Michigan State University publish most on?

By volume in 2022–2025: Methane Hydrates and Related Phenomena, Geophysics and Gravity Measurements, Ionosphere and magnetosphere dynamics and Seismic Waves and Analysis.

Methane Hydrates and Rel…313Methane Hydrates and Related Phenomena: 313 fractional worksGeophysics and Gravity M…278Geophysics and Gravity Measurements: 278 fractional worksIonosphere and magnetosp…275Ionosphere and magnetosphere dynamics: 275 fractional worksSeismic Waves and Analysis: 113 fractional worksSolar and Space Plasma Dynamics: 72 fractional worksChild and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional Development: 41 fractional worksNuclear physics research studies: 38 fractional worksCrime Patterns and Interventions: 37 fractional worksEFL/ESL Teaching and Learning: 35 fractional worksPhotosynthetic Processes and Mechanisms: 35 fractional works
Environmental ChemistryOceanographyAstronomy and AstrophysicsGeophysics5 others

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

  1. 1 Methane Hydrates and Related Phenomena Environmental Chemistry 313 works
  2. 2 Geophysics and Gravity Measurements Oceanography 278 works
  3. 3 Ionosphere and magnetosphere dynamics Astronomy and Astrophysics 275 works
  4. 4 Seismic Waves and Analysis Geophysics 113 works
  5. 5 Solar and Space Plasma Dynamics Astronomy and Astrophysics 72 works
  6. 6 Child and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional Development Clinical Psychology 41 works
  7. 7 Nuclear physics research studies Nuclear and High Energy Physics 38 works
  8. 8 Crime Patterns and Interventions Sociology and Political Science 37 works
  9. 9 EFL/ESL Teaching and Learning Language and Linguistics 35 works
  10. 10 Photosynthetic Processes and Mechanisms Molecular Biology 35 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 available31.3%not open68.7%

World: 28% of research is openly available.

with international co-authors13.0%domestic only87.0%

World: 19% is written across borders.

How has Michigan State University's research output changed?

Output in 2018–2022 was 11% 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 East Lansing

All research institutions in East Lansing

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.