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University · DeKalb · United States

Northern Illinois University

In research, Northern Illinois University stands highest in Social Sciences (#1,074 of 10,521 worldwide), Social Sciences (#945 of 6,365 worldwide) and Physical Sciences (#2,283 of 12,888 worldwide), 2022–2025. Relative to its size it is most specialised in Safety Research and Nuclear and High Energy Physics — Safety Research is 6.3× its share of world research.

niu.eduROR OpenAlex
World rank, 2022–2025
#2,769
of 28,054 · #1,112 all time
Rank in United States
#399
of 4,192
Research works
21k
▼ 7% vs 2013–17
Citations
427k
20.6 per fractional work
Top-10% rate
17.0%
record average 16.5%
Open access
20%
world 28%

What is Northern Illinois 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 #1,074 of 10,521 19.4%807 #402
Social SciencesField #945 of 6,365 21.1%414 #330
Physical SciencesDomain #2,283 of 12,888 15.1%529 #1120
Sociology and Political ScienceSubfield #1,131 of 2,578 21.8%115 #462
Health SciencesDomain #5,373 of 11,982 14.6%182 #1366
PsychologyField #1,013 of 2,181 19.2%150 #402
EngineeringField #3,111 of 6,636 12.4%150 #1830
Computer ScienceField #2,242 of 4,667 17.3%115 #1376
EducationSubfield #1,023 of 1,892 30.0%84 #226
Life SciencesDomain #5,258 of 7,800 13.1%107 #2403

Each strip is that field’s whole ranked pool, with the notch where Northern Illinois 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#402 #1,074
  2. Social Sciences#330 #945
  3. Physical Sciences#1,120 #2,283
  4. Sociology and Political Science#462 #1,131
  5. Health Sciences#1,366 #5,373
  6. Psychology#402 #1,013
  7. Engineering#1,830 #3,111
  8. Computer Science#1,376 #2,242
  9. Education#226 #1,023
  10. Life Sciences#2,403 #5,258
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 Northern Illinois University specialise in?

Where its research is concentrated relative to its size: Safety Research takes 6.3× the share of its output that it takes of world research.

  1. Safety ResearchSubfield · 28.3 works6.3×
  2. Nuclear and High Energy PhysicsSubfield · 21.4 works4.2×
← 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: 0.38× its world share, 30 worksAgricultural and Bio…Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology: 0.46× its world share, 40 worksBiochemistry, Geneti…Immunology and Microbiology: 0.11× its world share, 2 worksImmunology and Micro…Neuroscience: 1.32× its world share, 35 worksNeurosciencePharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics: 0.13× its world share, 1 worksPharmacology, Toxico…Chemical Engineering: 1.36× its world share, 8 worksChemical EngineeringChemistry: 1.13× its world share, 29 worksChemistryComputer Science: 0.91× its world share, 115 worksComputer ScienceEarth and Planetary Sciences: 1.08× its world share, 28 worksEarth and Planetary …Energy: 0.67× its world share, 10 worksEnergyEngineering: 0.62× its world share, 150 worksEngineeringEnvironmental Science: 0.72× its world share, 58 worksEnvironmental ScienceMaterials Science: 0.59× its world share, 34 worksMaterials ScienceMathematics: 1.69× its world share, 32 worksMathematicsPhysics and Astronomy: 1.82× its world share, 66 worksPhysics and AstronomyDentistry: 0.06× its world share, 0 worksDentistryHealth Professions: 1.38× its world share, 59 worksHealth ProfessionsMedicine: 0.37× its world share, 115 worksMedicineNursing: 0.88× its world share, 7 worksNursingVeterinary: 0.28× its world share, 1 worksVeterinaryArts and Humanities: 2.62× its world share, 123 worksArts and HumanitiesBusiness, Management and Accounting: 1.02× its world share, 54 worksBusiness, Management…Decision Sciences: 1.25× its world share, 20 worksDecision SciencesEconomics, Econometrics and Finance: 1.35× its world share, 47 worksEconomics, Econometr…Psychology: 3.04× its world share, 150 worksPsychologySocial Sciences: 2.01× its world share, 414 worksSocial Sciences1×world share
more than its size predictsabout as predictedless

Rings at 0.5×, 1× and 2×. Widest outward: Psychology, 3.0×. Every wedge is a field page.

Who are the top researchers at Northern Illinois University?

Ranked on the composite score, Anne T. Berg, C. L. Sotiropoulou and S. Prince lead among researchers whose main affiliation is Northern Illinois University.

  1. 1 Anne T. Berg United States · #7,688 worldwide 930 citations · 59 works
  2. 2 C. L. Sotiropoulou United States · #16,647 worldwide 1.5k citations · 120 works
  3. 3 S. Prince United States · #16,648 worldwide 1.6k citations · 127 works
  4. 4 S. P. Denisov United States · #29,043 worldwide 789 citations · 47 works
  5. 5 Benjamin Keen United States · #29,520 worldwide 145 citations · 49 works
  6. 6 V. Zutshi United States · #44,159 worldwide 1.1k citations · 102 works
  7. 7 J. M. Butler United States · #48,649 worldwide 865 citations · 63 works
  8. 8 D. Hedin United States · #63,440 worldwide 1.1k citations · 124 works
  9. 9 Richard Quinney United States · #63,602 worldwide 202 citations · 32 works
  10. 10 John J. Skowronski United States · #64,095 worldwide 469 citations · 38 works
All ranked researchers at Northern Illinois University

Which keywords describe research at Northern Illinois University?

By fractional works in 2022–2025, weighted toward what it does more of than the world: Mental Health, Gender, Globalization, Identity, Social Support, Resilience, Discrimination and Diversity.

▲ 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. Mental Health67▲ 2.8×33 topics
  2. Globalization52▲ 1.62×67 topics
  3. Machine Learning50◆ 0.94×53 topics
  4. Climate Change43◆ 0.98×58 topics
  5. Education39▲ 1.40×45 topics
  6. Gender35▲ 4.0×31 topics
  7. Social Media32▲ 1.39×26 topics
  8. Identity32▲ 2.7×32 topics
  9. History28▲ 2.4×26 topics
  10. Depression27▲ 1.91×21 topics
  11. Social Support27▲ 3.0×14 topics
  12. Resilience25▲ 3.3×11 topics
  13. Social Justice25▲ 2.6×22 topics
  14. Big Data25▲ 1.71×14 topics
  15. Human Rights25▲ 1.48×32 topics
  16. Colonialism24▲ 3.2×30 topics
  17. Ethics24▲ 3.1×20 topics
  18. Nationalism23▲ 3.0×20 topics
  19. Student Engagement23▲ 3.5×12 topics
  20. Literature22▲ 2.5×31 topics
  21. Culture22▲ 2.6×14 topics
  22. Gender Differences21▲ 3.5×15 topics
  23. Feminism19▲ 4.2×14 topics
  24. Discrimination19▲ 6.0×6 topics
  25. Religion19▲ 2.5×19 topics
  26. Technology Integration18▲ 3.7×8 topics
  27. Diversity18▲ 6.4×7 topics
  28. Emotion Regulation18▲ 3.6×8 topics
  29. Psychological Impact18▲ 3.3×7 topics
  30. Health Disparities17▲ 4.0×7 topics
  31. Intersectionality16▲ 5.6×9 topics
  32. Academic Achievement16▲ 5.6×9 topics
  33. Society14▲ 4.5×8 topics
  34. Youth13▲ 5.7×5 topics
  35. Cultural Competence13▲ 6.2×7 topics
  36. Academic Performance12▲ 9.0×4 topics
  37. Accountability12▲ 7.1×3 topics
  38. Fairness10▲ 7.5×2 topics
  39. Particle Physics10▲ 8.4×2 topics
  40. Teacher Preparation10▲ 9.1×3 topics

Which research topics does Northern Illinois University publish most on?

By volume in 2022–2025: Ethics and Social Impacts of AI, Particle physics theoretical and experimental studies, Higher Education Research Studies and Child and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional Development.

Ethics and Social Impact…10Ethics and Social Impacts of AI: 10 fractional worksParticle physics theoret…9Particle physics theoretical and experimental studies: 9 fractional worksHigher Education Research Studies: 8 fractional worksChild and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional Development: 8 fractional worksParticle Accelerators and Free-Electron Lasers: 8 fractional worksFamily and Disability Support Research: 7 fractional worksYouth Development and Social Support: 7 fractional worksRace, History, and Ameri…7Race, History, and American Society: 7 fractional worksAdvancements in Battery Materials: 6 fractional worksParticle accelerators and beam dynamics: 6 fractional works
Safety ResearchNuclear and High Energy PhysicsEducationClinical Psychology3 others

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

  1. 1 Ethics and Social Impacts of AI Safety Research 10 works
  2. 2 Particle physics theoretical and experimental studies Nuclear and High Energy Physics 9 works
  3. 3 Higher Education Research Studies Education 8 works
  4. 4 Child and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional Development Clinical Psychology 8 works
  5. 5 Particle Accelerators and Free-Electron Lasers Electrical and Electronic Engineering 8 works
  6. 6 Family and Disability Support Research Clinical Psychology 7 works
  7. 7 Youth Development and Social Support Safety Research 7 works
  8. 8 Race, History, and American Society Sociology and Political Science 7 works
  9. 9 Advancements in Battery Materials Electrical and Electronic Engineering 6 works
  10. 10 Particle accelerators and beam dynamics Aerospace Engineering 6 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 available19.9%not open80.1%

World: 28% of research is openly available.

with international co-authors7.9%domestic only92.1%

World: 19% is written across borders.

How has Northern Illinois University's research output changed?

Output in 2018–2022 was 7% 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 DeKalb

All research institutions in DeKalb

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.