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National Museum of Natural History

In research, National Museum of Natural History stands highest in Physical Sciences (#3,816 of 12,888 worldwide), Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics (#100 of 255 worldwide) and Environmental Science (#1,414 of 3,551 worldwide), 2022–2025. Relative to its size it is most specialised in Paleontology, Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics and Nature and Landscape Conservation — Paleontology is 132.7× its share of world research.

naturalhistory.si.eduROR OpenAlex
World rank, 2022–2025
#4,388
of 28,054 · #2,407 all time
Rank in United States
#616
of 4,192
Research works
4.7k
◆ 1% vs 2013–17
Citations
150k
31.5 per fractional work
Top-10% rate
19.2%
record average 16.5%
Open access
43%
world 28%

What is National Museum of Natural History 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
Physical SciencesDomain #3,816 of 12,888 17.4%346 #2338
Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and SystematicsSubfield #100 of 255 15.5%131 #102
Environmental ScienceField #1,414 of 3,551 16.7%151 #653
Agricultural and Biological SciencesField #1,907 of 3,409 15.0%196 #750
PaleontologySubfield #19 of 31 16.8%112 #18
Earth and Planetary SciencesField #762 of 1,209 17.7%169 #498
Life SciencesDomain #5,178 of 7,800 16.8%284 #2854
EcologySubfield #416 of 578 15.9%72 #284
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular BiologyField #3,228 of 3,579 21.7%77 #2072

Each strip is that field’s whole ranked pool, with the notch where National Museum of Natural History 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. Physical Sciences#2,338 #3,816
  2. Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics#102 #100
  3. Environmental Science#653 #1,414
  4. Agricultural and Biological Sciences#750 #1,907
  5. Paleontology#18 #19
  6. Earth and Planetary Sciences#498 #762
  7. Life Sciences#2,854 #5,178
  8. Ecology#284 #416
  9. Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology#2,072 #3,228
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 National Museum of Natural History specialise in?

Where its research is concentrated relative to its size: Paleontology takes 132.7× the share of its output that it takes of world research.

  1. PaleontologySubfield · 111.9 works133×
  2. Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and SystematicsSubfield · 131.1 works40×
  3. Nature and Landscape ConservationSubfield · 36.0 works22×
  4. Earth and Planetary SciencesField · 169.4 works15×
  5. OceanographySubfield · 28.3 works14×
  6. EcologySubfield · 72.1 works13×
← 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: 5.92× its world share, 196 worksAgricultural and Bio…Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology: 2.05× its world share, 76 worksBiochemistry, Geneti…Immunology and Microbiology: 1.02× its world share, 7 worksImmunology and Micro…Neuroscience: 0.34× its world share, 4 worksNeurosciencePharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics: 0.14× its world share, 0 worksPharmacology, Toxico…Chemistry: 0.08× its world share, 1 worksChemistryComputer Science: 0.08× its world share, 4 worksComputer ScienceEarth and Planetary Sciences: 15.46× its world share, 169 worksEarth and Planetary …Energy: 0.13× its world share, 1 worksEnergyEngineering: 0.07× its world share, 7 worksEngineeringEnvironmental Science: 4.35× its world share, 151 worksEnvironmental ScienceMaterials Science: 0.18× its world share, 4 worksMaterials ScienceMathematics: 0.23× its world share, 2 worksMathematicsPhysics and Astronomy: 0.41× its world share, 6 worksPhysics and AstronomyDentistry: 0.02× its world share, 0 worksDentistryHealth Professions: 0.08× its world share, 2 worksHealth ProfessionsMedicine: 0.11× its world share, 15 worksMedicineNursing: 0.04× its world share, 0 worksNursingVeterinary: 1.26× its world share, 1 worksVeterinaryArts and Humanities: 1.06× its world share, 21 worksArts and HumanitiesBusiness, Management and Accounting: 0.03× its world share, 1 worksBusiness, Management…Decision Sciences: 0.13× its world share, 1 worksDecision SciencesPsychology: 0.31× its world share, 7 worksPsychologySocial Sciences: 0.23× its world share, 21 worksSocial Sciences1×world share
more than its size predictsabout as predictedless

Rings at 0.5×, 1× and 2×. Widest outward: Earth and Planetary Sciences, 15.5×. Every wedge is a field page.

Who are the top researchers at National Museum of Natural History?

Ranked on the composite score, Douglas H. Erwin, Don E. Wilson and Richard Potts lead among researchers whose main affiliation is National Museum of Natural History.

  1. 1 Douglas H. Erwin United States · #60,685 worldwide 446 citations · 41 works
  2. 2 Don E. Wilson United States · #87,472 worldwide 261 citations · 50 works
  3. 3 Richard Potts United States · #90,472 worldwide 323 citations · 29 works
  4. 4 Robert J. Soreng United States · #92,660 worldwide 229 citations · 31 works
  5. 5 G. David Johnson United States · #98,574 worldwide 207 citations · 40 works
  6. 6 Jonathan A. Coddington United States · #107,896 worldwide 248 citations · 26 works
  7. 7 A. S. Konstantinov United States · #127,713 worldwide 239 citations · 56 works
  8. 8 Lynne R. Parenti United States · #174,898 worldwide 227 citations · 31 works
  9. 9 Mary Jo Arnoldi United States · #191,629 worldwide 53 citations · 24 works
  10. 10 Warren L. Wagner United States · #194,135 worldwide 166 citations · 42 works
All ranked researchers at National Museum of Natural History

Which keywords describe research at National Museum of Natural History?

By fractional works in 2022–2025, weighted toward what it does more of than the world: Biogeography, Biodiversity, Molecular Phylogeny, Climate Change, Evolution, Phylogeny, Invasive Species and Phylogenetic Analysis.

▲ 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. Biogeography115▲ 63×20 topics
  2. Climate Change113▲ 6.0×56 topics
  3. Biodiversity103▲ 20×24 topics
  4. Molecular Phylogeny101▲ 93×11 topics
  5. Evolution90▲ 52×14 topics
  6. Phylogeny83▲ 79×17 topics
  7. Invasive Species82▲ 28×20 topics
  8. Phylogenetic Analysis81▲ 38×16 topics
  9. Conservation77▲ 26×22 topics
  10. Morphology74▲ 62×6 topics
  11. Cretaceous73▲ 493×2 topics
  12. Population Dynamics60▲ 34×11 topics
  13. Taxonomy58▲ 64×13 topics
  14. DNA Barcoding55▲ 48×9 topics
  15. Phylogenetics46▲ 149×3 topics
  16. Dinosaur43▲ 505×1 topic
  17. Paleontology43▲ 505×1 topic
  18. Ecology39▲ 36×9 topics
  19. Habitat Fragmentation37▲ 24×5 topics
  20. Global Change34▲ 19×6 topics
  21. Marine Ecosystems33▲ 90×2 topics
  22. Fisheries31▲ 113×2 topics
  23. Adaptive Radiation30▲ 148×2 topics
  24. Amber Fossils30▲ 477×1 topic
  25. Insect Evolution30▲ 477×1 topic
  26. Mammal Evolution28▲ 198×1 topic
  27. Phylogenetic Comparative Analysis28▲ 198×1 topic
  28. Ecosystem Services27▲ 10×7 topics
  29. Genetic Diversity27▲ 8.8×15 topics
  30. Ecosystem Functioning27▲ 20×7 topics
  31. Diversification25▲ 94×2 topics
  32. Biological Control24▲ 23×9 topics
  33. Biogeochemical Cycling24▲ 103×2 topics
  34. Marine Sediments24▲ 57×2 topics
  35. Paleoproductivity24▲ 121×1 topic
  36. Paleoredox24▲ 121×1 topic
  37. Migration24▲ 10×4 topics
  38. Rays23▲ 167×1 topic
  39. Sharks23▲ 167×1 topic
  40. Benthic Communities22▲ 55×2 topics

Which research topics does National Museum of Natural History publish most on?

By volume in 2022–2025: Paleontology and Evolutionary Biology, Fossil Insects in Amber, Evolution and Paleontology Studies and Paleontology and Stratigraphy of Fossils.

Paleontology and Evolutionary Biology: 43 fractional worksFossil Insects in Amber: 30 fractional worksEvolution and Paleontolo…28Evolution and Paleontology Studies: 28 fractional worksPaleontology and Stratig…24Paleontology and Stratigraphy of Fossils: 24 fractional worksIchthyology and Marine Biology: 23 fractional worksPlant and animal studies: 20 fractional worksMarine Biology and Ecolo…17Marine Biology and Ecology Research: 17 fractional worksPlant Diversity and Evolution: 15 fractional worksLepidoptera: Biology and Taxonomy: 12 fractional worksFish Biology and Ecology Studies: 10 fractional works
PaleontologyEcology, Evolution, Behavior and SystematicsNature and Landscape ConservationOceanography2 others

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

  1. 1 Paleontology and Evolutionary Biology Paleontology 43 works
  2. 2 Fossil Insects in Amber Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics 30 works
  3. 3 Evolution and Paleontology Studies Paleontology 28 works
  4. 4 Paleontology and Stratigraphy of Fossils Paleontology 24 works
  5. 5 Ichthyology and Marine Biology Nature and Landscape Conservation 23 works
  6. 6 Plant and animal studies Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics 20 works
  7. 7 Marine Biology and Ecology Research Oceanography 17 works
  8. 8 Plant Diversity and Evolution Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics 15 works
  9. 9 Lepidoptera: Biology and Taxonomy Genetics 12 works
  10. 10 Fish Biology and Ecology Studies Aquatic Science 10 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 available42.8%not open57.2%

World: 28% of research is openly available.

with international co-authors37.3%domestic only62.7%

World: 19% is written across borders.

How has National Museum of Natural History's research output changed?

Output in 2018–2022 was 1% 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 Washington

All research institutions in Washington

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.