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Archive · London · United Kingdom

Natural History Museum

In research, Natural History Museum stands highest in Paleontology (#6 of 31 worldwide), Physical Sciences (#2,607 of 12,888 worldwide) and Environmental Science (#720 of 3,551 worldwide), 2022–2025. Relative to its size it is most specialised in Paleontology, Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics and Ecological Modeling — Paleontology is 99.3× its share of world research.

nhm.ac.ukROR OpenAlex
World rank, 2022–2025
#3,395
of 28,054 · #1,745 all time
Rank in United Kingdom
#132
of 1,094
Research works
9.5k
◆ 2% vs 2013–17
Citations
277k
29.1 per fractional work
Top-10% rate
17.7%
record average 16.5%
Open access
48%
world 28%

What is Natural History Museum 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
PaleontologySubfield #6 of 31 27.1%163 #8
Physical SciencesDomain #2,607 of 12,888 21.5%701 #1635
Environmental ScienceField #720 of 3,551 19.1%302 #362
Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and SystematicsSubfield #89 of 255 8.6%250 #55
Agricultural and Biological SciencesField #1,302 of 3,409 8.9%385 #432
Earth and Planetary SciencesField #522 of 1,209 25.4%282 #325
Life SciencesDomain #3,743 of 7,800 10.7%537 #2029
EcologySubfield #278 of 578 14.7%140 #169
Social SciencesDomain #5,684 of 10,521 29.7%84 #1592
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular BiologyField #2,772 of 3,579 14.0%138 #1369

Each strip is that field’s whole ranked pool, with the notch where Natural History Museum 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. Paleontology#8 #6
  2. Physical Sciences#1,635 #2,607
  3. Environmental Science#362 #720
  4. Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics#55 #89
  5. Agricultural and Biological Sciences#432 #1,302
  6. Earth and Planetary Sciences#325 #522
  7. Life Sciences#2,029 #3,743
  8. Ecology#169 #278
  9. Social Sciences#1,592 #5,684
  10. Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology#1,369 #2,772
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 Natural History Museum specialise in?

Where its research is concentrated relative to its size: Paleontology takes 99.3× the share of its output that it takes of world research.

  1. PaleontologySubfield · 162.6 works99×
  2. Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and SystematicsSubfield · 250.3 works39×
  3. Ecological ModelingSubfield · 25.4 works25×
  4. Nature and Landscape ConservationSubfield · 55.2 works17×
  5. Insect ScienceSubfield · 56.6 works15×
  6. Earth and Planetary SciencesField · 281.6 works13×
  7. EcologySubfield · 140.2 works13×
  8. OceanographySubfield · 48.3 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: 5.98× its world share, 385 worksAgricultural and Bio…Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology: 1.91× its world share, 138 worksBiochemistry, Geneti…Immunology and Microbiology: 0.68× its world share, 9 worksImmunology and Micro…Neuroscience: 0.14× its world share, 3 worksNeurosciencePharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics: 0.08× its world share, 0 worksPharmacology, Toxico…Chemical Engineering: 0.01× its world share, 0 worksChemical EngineeringChemistry: 0.23× its world share, 5 worksChemistryComputer Science: 0.19× its world share, 20 worksComputer ScienceEarth and Planetary Sciences: 13.23× its world share, 282 worksEarth and Planetary …Energy: 0.07× its world share, 1 worksEnergyEngineering: 0.12× its world share, 25 worksEngineeringEnvironmental Science: 4.48× its world share, 302 worksEnvironmental ScienceMaterials Science: 0.61× its world share, 29 worksMaterials ScienceMathematics: 0.49× its world share, 8 worksMathematicsPhysics and Astronomy: 1.00× its world share, 30 worksPhysics and AstronomyDentistry: 0.04× its world share, 0 worksDentistryHealth Professions: 0.08× its world share, 3 worksHealth ProfessionsMedicine: 0.11× its world share, 28 worksMedicineNursing: 0.12× its world share, 1 worksNursingVeterinary: 1.97× its world share, 4 worksVeterinaryArts and Humanities: 0.96× its world share, 38 worksArts and HumanitiesBusiness, Management and Accounting: 0.04× its world share, 2 worksBusiness, Management…Decision Sciences: 0.18× its world share, 2 worksDecision SciencesEconomics, Econometrics and Finance: 0.08× its world share, 2 worksEconomics, Econometr…Psychology: 0.25× its world share, 10 worksPsychologySocial Sciences: 0.17× its world share, 30 worksSocial Sciences1×world share
more than its size predictsabout as predictedless

Rings at 0.5×, 1× and 2×. Widest outward: Earth and Planetary Sciences, 13.2×. Every wedge is a field page.

Who are the top researchers at Natural History Museum?

Ranked on the composite score, Chris Stringer, David Bass and Alfried P. Vogler lead among researchers whose main affiliation is Natural History Museum.

  1. 1 Chris Stringer United Kingdom · #26,771 worldwide 348 citations · 40 works
  2. 2 David Bass United Kingdom · #35,426 worldwide 551 citations · 43 works
  3. 3 Alfried P. Vogler United Kingdom · #38,441 worldwide 588 citations · 41 works
  4. 4 Paul H. Williams United Kingdom · #39,037 worldwide 409 citations · 43 works
  5. 5 J. R. Young United Kingdom · #72,759 worldwide 820 citations · 97 works
  6. 6 Adrian M. Lister United Kingdom · #77,271 worldwide 322 citations · 41 works
  7. 7 Péter Erzberger United Kingdom · #85,859 worldwide 192 citations · 32 works
  8. 8 L. T. Ellis United Kingdom · #87,974 worldwide 245 citations · 39 works
  9. 9 Baruch Spiro United Kingdom · #91,969 worldwide 418 citations · 44 works
  10. 10 Peter Andrews United Kingdom · #98,206 worldwide 466 citations · 70 works
All ranked researchers at Natural History Museum

Which keywords describe research at Natural History Museum?

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

▲ 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. Biodiversity286▲ 28×29 topics
  2. Biogeography222▲ 63×20 topics
  3. Phylogeny204▲ 99×17 topics
  4. Evolution199▲ 59×17 topics
  5. Invasive Species199▲ 34×21 topics
  6. Climate Change193▲ 5.3×66 topics
  7. Taxonomy156▲ 89×15 topics
  8. DNA Barcoding155▲ 70×9 topics
  9. Morphology149▲ 64×9 topics
  10. Molecular Phylogeny143▲ 68×11 topics
  11. Phylogenetic Analysis137▲ 33×16 topics
  12. Conservation126▲ 22×20 topics
  13. Population Dynamics108▲ 32×11 topics
  14. Ecology108▲ 52×9 topics
  15. Global Change77▲ 22×7 topics
  16. Coleoptera75▲ 282×2 topics
  17. Biological Control69▲ 34×9 topics
  18. Habitat Fragmentation68▲ 23×5 topics
  19. Diversification66▲ 127×2 topics
  20. Adaptation62▲ 16×9 topics
  21. Speciation61▲ 116×3 topics
  22. Groundwater59▲ 54×4 topics
  23. Cavefish58▲ 381×1 topic
  24. Subterranean58▲ 381×1 topic
  25. Ecosystem Functioning55▲ 21×7 topics
  26. beetles54▲ 314×1 topic
  27. Conservation Biology54▲ 38×4 topics
  28. Ecosystem48▲ 33×4 topics
  29. Community Ecology48▲ 42×2 topics
  30. Cretaceous48▲ 166×2 topics
  31. Genetic Diversity44▲ 7.2×13 topics
  32. Fisheries43▲ 81×2 topics
  33. Marine Ecosystems41▲ 57×2 topics
  34. Aquatic Environment40▲ 37×2 topics
  35. Disease Risk40▲ 47×2 topics
  36. Host-Parasite Interactions40▲ 100×1 topic
  37. Parasites40▲ 100×1 topic
  38. Benthic Communities38▲ 48×2 topics
  39. Marine Biodiversity38▲ 48×2 topics
  40. Biodiversity Loss38▲ 55×3 topics

Which research topics does Natural History Museum publish most on?

By volume in 2022–2025: Subterranean biodiversity and taxonomy, Coleoptera Taxonomy and Distribution, Parasite Biology and Host Interactions and Evolution and Paleontology Studies.

Subterranean biodiversity and taxonomy: 58 fractional worksColeoptera Taxonomy and Distribution: 54 fractional worksParasite Biology and Hos…40Parasite Biology and Host Interactions: 40 fractional worksEvolution and Paleontolo…35Evolution and Paleontology Studies: 35 fractional worksIchthyology and Marine Biology: 31 fractional worksMarine Biology and Ecology Research: 30 fractional worksPaleontology and Evoluti…28Paleontology and Evolutionary Biology: 28 fractional worksHymenoptera taxonomy and phylogeny: 27 fractional worksLepidoptera: Biology and Taxonomy: 27 fractional worksPlant and animal studies27Plant and animal studies: 27 fractional works
PaleontologyEcology, Evolution, Behavior and SystematicsEcologyNature and Landscape Conservation2 others

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

  1. 1 Subterranean biodiversity and taxonomy Paleontology 58 works
  2. 2 Coleoptera Taxonomy and Distribution Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics 54 works
  3. 3 Parasite Biology and Host Interactions Ecology 40 works
  4. 4 Evolution and Paleontology Studies Paleontology 35 works
  5. 5 Ichthyology and Marine Biology Nature and Landscape Conservation 31 works
  6. 6 Marine Biology and Ecology Research Oceanography 30 works
  7. 7 Paleontology and Evolutionary Biology Paleontology 28 works
  8. 8 Hymenoptera taxonomy and phylogeny Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics 27 works
  9. 9 Lepidoptera: Biology and Taxonomy Genetics 27 works
  10. 10 Plant and animal studies Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics 27 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 available47.8%not open52.2%

World: 28% of research is openly available.

with international co-authors47.9%domestic only52.1%

World: 19% is written across borders.

How has Natural History Museum's research output changed?

Output in 2018–2022 was 2% 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 London

All research institutions in London

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.