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Institution · Rockville · United States

Natural Philosophy Institute

In research, Natural Philosophy Institute stands highest in Physics and Astronomy (#2,025 of 2,917 worldwide) and Physical Sciences (#16,360 of 17,446 worldwide), over all time.

naturalphilosophyinstitute.orgROR OpenAlex
World rank, all time
#30,952
of 34,923
Rank in United States
#6,539
of 7,310
Research works
335
▼ 32% vs 2018-21
Citations
6.4k
19.0 per fractional work
Top-10% rate
0.0%
all institutions 10.0%
vs its own fields
0.97×
1.00× is exactly expected
Open access
8%
world 40%
International
33%
world 18%
Natural Philosophy Institute

What is Natural Philosophy Institute known for in research?

The fields where it stands highest, over all time, ranked among every institution above the floor in each field.

FieldWorld rankWhere that sitsTop-10% rateWorks
Physics and AstronomyField #2,025 of 2,917 5.4%192
Physical SciencesDomain #16,360 of 17,446 6.5%288

Each strip is that field's whole ranked pool, with the notch where Natural Philosophy Institute 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 average mark, because the average differs by field (from about 6% in Dentistry to 21% in Economics).

Which fields of science does Natural Philosophy Institute work in?

In all years, 86% of research at Natural Philosophy Institute is in Physical Sciences, 5% in Social Sciences. Its largest fields are Physics and Astronomy (57%), Engineering (12%), Materials Science (5%). It does 2.1× the world's share of Physical Sciences.

Physical Sciences: 288 fractional works · 86.0% of its workPhysics and Astronomy: 192 fractional works · 57.3% of its workNuclear and High Energy Physics: 64 fractional works · 19.2% of its workRadiation: 53 fractional works · 16.0% of its workAtomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics: 43 fractional works · 12.9% of its workStatistical and Nonlinear Physics: 17 fractional works · 5.1% of its workAstronomy and Astrophysics: 8 fractional works · 2.5% of its workCondensed Matter Physics: 5 fractional works · 1.6% of its workEngineering: 41 fractional works · 12.3% of its workElectrical and Electronic Engineering: 11 fractional works · 3.3% of its workBiomedical Engineering: 8 fractional works · 2.4% of its workAerospace Engineering: 8 fractional works · 2.3% of its workMechanics of Materials: 7 fractional works · 2.1% of its workComputational Mechanics: 3 fractional works · 0.9% of its workOcean Engineering: 2 fractional works · 0.6% of its workMechanical Engineering: 2 fractional works · 0.5% of its workSmaller subfields together: 1 fractional works · 0.2% of its workMaterials Science: 16 fractional works · 4.6% of its workMaterials Chemistry: 9 fractional works · 2.6% of its workSurfaces, Coatings and Films: 3 fractional works · 0.9% of its workElectronic, Optical and Magnetic Materials: 2 fractional works · 0.7% of its workSmaller subfields together: 1 fractional works · 0.4% of its workChemistry: 11 fractional works · 3.4% of its workSpectroscopy: 7 fractional works · 2.0% of its workInorganic Chemistry: 2 fractional works · 0.7% of its workPhysical and Theoretical Chemistry: 2 fractional works · 0.5% of its workSmaller subfields together: 0 fractional works · 0.1% of its workMathematics: 9 fractional works · 2.6% of its workApplied Mathematics: 4 fractional works · 1.1% of its workMathematical Physics: 3 fractional works · 0.8% of its workSmaller subfields together: 2 fractional works · 0.7% of its workComputer Science: 8 fractional works · 2.5% of its workArtificial Intelligence: 3 fractional works · 0.8% of its workComputational Theory and Mathematics: 2 fractional works · 0.6% of its workComputer Networks and Communications: 2 fractional works · 0.6% of its workComputer Vision and Pattern Recognition: 1 fractional works · 0.3% of its workSmaller subfields together: 1 fractional works · 0.2% of its workEarth and Planetary Sciences: 7 fractional works · 2.2% of its workGeophysics: 3 fractional works · 1.0% of its workAtmospheric Science: 3 fractional works · 0.9% of its workGeochemistry and Petrology: 1 fractional works · 0.2% of its workSmaller subfields together: 0 fractional works · 0.1% of its workEnvironmental Science: 2 fractional works · 0.7% of its workGlobal and Planetary Change: 1 fractional works · 0.2% of its workSmaller subfields together: 1 fractional works · 0.4% of its workChemical Engineering: 1 fractional works · 0.3% of its workEnergy: 0 fractional works · 0.1% of its workSocial Sciences: 18 fractional works · 5.3% of its workArts and Humanities: 7 fractional works · 2.0% of its workHistory and Philosophy of Science: 3 fractional works · 0.9% of its workPhilosophy: 2 fractional works · 0.7% of its workHistory: 1 fractional works · 0.3% of its workSmaller subfields together: 0 fractional works · 0.1% of its workSocial Sciences: 6 fractional works · 1.9% of its workSociology and Political Science: 3 fractional works · 0.9% of its workPolitical Science and International Relations: 2 fractional works · 0.5% of its workSmaller subfields together: 1 fractional works · 0.4% of its workEconomics, Econometrics and Finance: 3 fractional works · 0.9% of its workEconomics and Econometrics: 3 fractional works · 0.8% of its workSmaller subfields together: 0 fractional works · 0.1% of its workDecision Sciences: 1 fractional works · 0.3% of its workStatistics, Probability and Uncertainty: 1 fractional works · 0.2% of its workSmaller subfields together: 0 fractional works · 0.1% of its workPsychology: 0 fractional works · 0.1% of its workHealth Sciences: 15 fractional works · 4.5% of its workMedicine: 14 fractional works · 4.2% of its workPulmonary and Respiratory Medicine: 5 fractional works · 1.5% of its workPublic Health, Environmental and Occupational Health: 4 fractional works · 1.1% of its workRadiology, Nuclear Medicine and Imaging: 4 fractional works · 1.1% of its workSmaller subfields together: 2 fractional works · 0.6% of its workHealth Professions: 1 fractional works · 0.2% of its workRadiological and Ultrasound Technology: 1 fractional works · 0.2% of its workNursing: 0 fractional works · 0.1% of its workLife Sciences: 14 fractional works · 4.3% of its workBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology: 10 fractional works · 2.8% of its workMolecular Biology: 6 fractional works · 1.9% of its workGenetics: 1 fractional works · 0.4% of its workStructural Biology: 1 fractional works · 0.2% of its workSmaller subfields together: 1 fractional works · 0.3% of its workAgricultural and Biological Sciences: 3 fractional works · 0.8% of its workFood Science: 1 fractional works · 0.4% of its workPlant Science: 1 fractional works · 0.2% of its workSmaller subfields together: 1 fractional works · 0.2% of its workNeuroscience: 2 fractional works · 0.5% of its workCognitive Neuroscience: 2 fractional works · 0.4% of its workSmaller subfields together: 0 fractional works · 0.1% of its workPharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics: 0 fractional works · 0.1% of its workALL ITS WORKNaturalPhilosophy…334fractional works, all years
Life Sciences4%Physical Sciences86%Health Sciences5%Social Sciences5%

Each ring splits the one inside it: the four domains of science, their fields, their subfields. Size is fractional works in all years. Every slice is a page; the interactive view zooms down to single topics and colours each by how much more of it this institution does than the world.

Its 4 domains and 22 fields, with their numbers
    1. Physics and Astronomy19257.3%
    2. Engineering4112.3%
    3. Materials Science164.6%
    4. Chemistry113.4%
    5. Mathematics92.6%
    6. Computer Science82.5%
    7. Earth and Planetary Sciences72.2%
    8. Environmental Science20.7%
    9. Chemical Engineering10.3%
    10. Energy00.1%
    1. Arts and Humanities72.0%
    2. Social Sciences61.9%
    3. Economics, Econometrics and Finance30.9%
    4. Decision Sciences10.3%
    5. Psychology00.1%
    1. Medicine144.2%
    2. Health Professions10.2%
    3. Nursing00.1%
    1. Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology102.8%
    2. Agricultural and Biological Sciences30.8%
    3. Neuroscience20.5%
    4. Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics00.1%
All of science, and how each field's share has moved since 1950: the Science domain explorer

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: 0.44× its world share, 0 worksAgricultural and Bio…Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology: 0.78× its world share, 0 worksBiochemistry, Geneti…Neuroscience: 6.42× its world share, 0 worksNeuroscienceComputer Science: 1.34× its world share, 0 worksComputer ScienceEnvironmental Science: 3.15× its world share, 0 worksEnvironmental SciencePhysics and Astronomy: 4.68× its world share, 0 worksPhysics and AstronomyArts and Humanities: 10.82× its world share, 1 worksArts and HumanitiesEconomics, Econometrics and Finance: 7.30× its world share, 0 worksEconomics, Econometr…1×world share
more than its size predictsabout as predictedless

Rings at 0.5×, 1× and 2×. Widest outward: Arts and Humanities, 10.8×. Every wedge is a field page.

All 8 fields, with their numbers
  1. Arts and Humanities10.82×1 works
  2. Economics, Econometrics and Finance7.30×0 works
  3. Neuroscience6.42×0 works
  4. Physics and Astronomy4.68×0 works
  5. Environmental Science3.15×0 works
  6. Computer Science1.34×0 works
  7. Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology0.78×0 works
  8. Agricultural and Biological Sciences0.44×0 works

Who are the top researchers at Natural Philosophy Institute?

Ranked on the quality score, F. L. Arnot, G.M. Lewis and J. R. Atkinson lead among researchers whose main affiliation is Natural Philosophy Institute.

  1. 1 F. L. Arnot United States · #3,869,634 worldwide 463 citations · 32 works
  2. 2 G.M. Lewis United States · #5,437,834 worldwide 818 citations · 48 works
  3. 3 J. R. Atkinson United States · #6,143,828 worldwide 171 citations · 27 works
  4. 4 Kimiaki Tokumaru United States · #6,536,022 worldwide 2 citations · 35 works
All ranked researchers at Natural Philosophy Institute

What are the most cited papers from Natural Philosophy Institute?

The most cited paper from Natural Philosophy Institute is "Scintillations from Organic Crystals: Specific Fluorescence and Relative Response to Different Radiations" (J. B. Birks, 1951), with 553 citations. Next come "Continuum distorted wave approximation; resonant charge transfer by fast protons in atomic hydrogen" (376) and "Stability and Complexity in Model Ecosystems" (288).

Most cited papers
#PaperReleasedCitations
1 Scintillations from Organic Crystals: Specific Fluorescence and Relative Response to Different Radiations J. B. Birks · Proceedings of the Physical Society Section A Open access Oct 1951 553
2 Continuum distorted wave approximation; resonant charge transfer by fast protons in atomic hydrogen Ian M. Cheshire · Proceedings of the Physical Society Open access Jul 1964 376
3 Stability and Complexity in Model Ecosystems Robert Mccredie May, Natasha Ita MacDonald · IEEE Transactions on Systems Man and Cybernetics Oct 1978 288
4 A search for anisotropy of inertial mass using a free precession technique Ronald W. P. Drever · Philosophical magazine May 1961 250
5 Ecosystem Analysis and Prediction Simon A. Levin, Neil Macdonald · IEEE Transactions on Systems Man and Cybernetics Oct 1978 220
All 60 most cited papers, with filters and sorting

Which keywords describe research at Natural Philosophy Institute?

By fractional works in all years, weighted toward what it does more of than the world: Tomography, Nucleosynthesis, Data Analysis, Small-Angle Scattering, Neutron Activation Analysis, Neutron Imaging, Nuclear Forces and Nuclear Structure.

▲ more of its work than of the world's◆ about the world's share▼ less than the world's

Size is fractional works in all years 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. Tomography30▲ 33×4 topics
  2. Nucleosynthesis28▲ 80×3 topics
  3. Data Analysis27▲ 25×2 topics
  4. Small-Angle Scattering27▲ 63×2 topics
  5. Neutron Activation Analysis27▲ 100×1 topic
  6. Neutron Imaging27▲ 100×1 topic
  7. Nuclear Forces25▲ 132×1 topic
  8. Nuclear Structure25▲ 132×1 topic
  9. Lattice QCD17▲ 38×2 topics
  10. Crystal Growth15▲ 13×4 topics
  11. Spectroscopy14▲ 13×5 topics
  12. Radiation Detection13▲ 57×2 topics
  13. Dark Matter13▲ 20×3 topics
  14. Particle Physics12▲ 28×2 topics
  15. QCD12▲ 44×1 topic
  16. charmonium12▲ 44×1 topic
  17. Magnetic Resonance Imaging12▲ 9.4×3 topics
  18. Medical Imaging12▲ 13×2 topics
  19. Inorganic Scintillators12▲ 81×1 topic
  20. Scintillation Detectors12▲ 81×1 topic
  21. Higgs Boson11▲ 34×1 topic
  22. High-Energy Collider11▲ 34×1 topic
  23. Decay Rates9▲ 262×1 topic
  24. Radionuclide Metrology9▲ 262×1 topic
  25. DNA Strand Breaks8▲ 38×1 topic
  26. Low-Energy Electrons8▲ 38×1 topic
  27. Atomic Magnetometer7▲ 42×1 topic
  28. Hyperpolarized Gases7▲ 42×1 topic
  29. Superfluidity7▲ 21×2 topics
  30. Density Functional Theory6▲ 7.2×4 topics
  31. Quantum Mechanics6▲ 21×3 topics
  32. Electronic Structure Calculations6▲ 7.7×2 topics
  33. Quantitative Analysis6▲ 10.0×2 topics
  34. Phase Transitions6▲ 12×3 topics
  35. X-ray Absorption5▲ 42×2 topics
  36. High Resolution5▲ 50×1 topic
  37. X-ray Emission5▲ 50×1 topic
  38. Ab Initio Parametrization5▲ 12×1 topic
  39. Heavy-Ion Collisions5▲ 29×1 topic
  40. Quark-Gluon Plasma5▲ 29×1 topic

Which research topics does Natural Philosophy Institute publish most on?

By volume in 2022-now: Evolution and Science Education, Sustainable Development and Environmental Policy, Economic Theory and Institutions and Space Science and Extraterrestrial Life.

Evolution and Science Ed…1Evolution and Science Education: 1 fractional worksSustainable Development and Environmental Policy: 0 fractional worksEconomic Theory and Institutions: 0 fractional worksSpace Science and Extraterrestrial Life: 0 fractional worksComputability, Logic, AI Algorithms: 0 fractional worksEmbodied and Extended Cognition: 0 fractional worksOrthoptera Research and Taxonomy: 0 fractional worksSpider Taxonomy and Behavior Studies: 0 fractional worksLepidoptera: Biology and Taxonomy: 0 fractional works
History and Philosophy of ScienceManagement, Monitoring, Policy and LawEconomics and EconometricsAstronomy and Astrophysics4 others

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

  1. 1 Evolution and Science Education History and Philosophy of Science 1 works
  2. 2 Sustainable Development and Environmental Policy Management, Monitoring, Policy and Law 0 works
  3. 3 Economic Theory and Institutions Economics and Econometrics 0 works
  4. 4 Space Science and Extraterrestrial Life Astronomy and Astrophysics 0 works
  5. 5 Computability, Logic, AI Algorithms Computational Theory and Mathematics 0 works
  6. 6 Embodied and Extended Cognition Cognitive Neuroscience 0 works
  7. 7 Orthoptera Research and Taxonomy Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics 0 works
  8. 8 Spider Taxonomy and Behavior Studies Genetics 0 works
  9. 9 Lepidoptera: Biology and Taxonomy Genetics 0 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 available7.8%not open92.2%

World: 40% of research is openly available.

with international co-authors33.2%domestic only66.8%

World: 18% is written across borders.

How has Natural Philosophy Institute's research output changed?

Output in 2022-2025 was 32% lower than in 2018-2021.

1990200020102020
grewheldshrank

The same series as a ribbon: one cell per year, darker for more. The line above answers how much; this answers when.

Its share of all research

Growing output can still be a shrinking share: all of science grows. This is Natural Philosophy Institute as a percentage of every work published that year, 0.000056% in 2023.

0.0020%0.0040%Natural Philosophy Institute0.0000036% in 202419801990200020102020

Fractional works of Natural Philosophy Institute over all fractional works that year. How the balance of science has shifted.

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Natural Philosophy Institute on Science Explorer

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