Science Explorer Back to mapMap
Discussion
University · Malibu · United States

Pepperdine University

In research, Pepperdine University stands highest in Social Sciences (#2,177 of 9,585 worldwide), Social Sciences (#2,258 of 5,988 worldwide) and Sociology and Political Science (#1,381 of 2,526 worldwide), 2022-now. Relative to its size it is most specialised in Gender Studies, Organizational Behavior and Human Resource Management and Social Psychology (Gender Studies is 7.6× its share of world research).

World rank, 2022-now
#4,653
of 22,385 · #4,125 all time
Rank in United States
#649
of 3,332
Research works
6k
▲ 10% vs 2018-21
Citations
66k
11.0 per fractional work
Top-10% rate
8.5%
all institutions 10.0%
vs its own fields
0.91×
1.00× is exactly expected
Open access
55%
world 40%
International
5%
world 18%

What is Pepperdine University known for in research?

The fields where it stands highest, 2022-now, ranked among every institution above the floor in each field.

FieldWorld rankWhere that sitsTop-10% rateWorksAll time
Social SciencesDomain #2,177 of 9,585 9.1%587 #1747
Social SciencesField #2,258 of 5,988 9.2%286 #1858
Sociology and Political ScienceSubfield #1,381 of 2,526 12.6%92 #1836
PsychologyField #1,271 of 2,121 8.1%92 #1083
Business, Management and AccountingField #1,726 of 2,581 9.5%95 #1781
Physical SciencesDomain #9,614 of 10,670 5.9%74 #10056

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

Which of those standings moved

The same fields on both windows: where it stood over the whole record, and where it stands in 2022-now. The distance is the story, and it is the one thing the two rank columns above cannot show.

  1. Social Sciences#1,747 #2,177
  2. Social Sciences#1,858 #2,258
  3. Sociology and Political Science#1,836 #1,381
  4. Psychology#1,083 #1,271
  5. Business, Management and Accounting#1,781 #1,726
  6. Physical Sciences#10,056 #9,614
all time2022-now, better2022-now, worse

A dot further right is a better standing. Fields it was not ranked in over the whole record are left out.

Which fields of science does Pepperdine University work in?

In 2022-now, 76% of research at Pepperdine University is in Social Sciences, 11% in Physical Sciences. Its largest fields are Social Sciences (37%), Psychology (12%), Business, Management and Accounting (11%). It does 3.0× the world's share of Social Sciences.

Social Sciences: 685 fractional works · 75.9% of its workSocial Sciences: 337 fractional works · 37.4% of its workSociology and Political Science: 108 fractional works · 12.0% of its workEducation: 63 fractional works · 7.0% of its workPolitical Science and International Relations: 48 fractional works · 5.3% of its workGender Studies: 25 fractional works · 2.8% of its workCommunication: 17 fractional works · 1.9% of its workDemography: 13 fractional works · 1.4% of its workLaw: 12 fractional works · 1.4% of its workSafety Research: 11 fractional works · 1.2% of its workHealth: 9 fractional works · 1.0% of its workCultural Studies: 8 fractional works · 0.9% of its workAnthropology: 5 fractional works · 0.6% of its workLinguistics and Language: 4 fractional works · 0.5% of its workDevelopment: 4 fractional works · 0.4% of its workLife-span and Life-course Studies: 2 fractional works · 0.2% of its workSmaller subfields together: 8 fractional works · 0.9% of its workPsychology: 108 fractional works · 11.9% of its workClinical Psychology: 40 fractional works · 4.4% of its workSocial Psychology: 36 fractional works · 4.0% of its workDevelopmental and Educational Psychology: 16 fractional works · 1.8% of its workExperimental and Cognitive Psychology: 7 fractional works · 0.8% of its workApplied Psychology: 7 fractional works · 0.7% of its workSmaller subfields together: 2 fractional works · 0.2% of its workBusiness, Management and Accounting: 102 fractional works · 11.3% of its workOrganizational Behavior and Human Resource Management: 28 fractional works · 3.1% of its workStrategy and Management: 23 fractional works · 2.6% of its workAccounting: 23 fractional works · 2.6% of its workMarketing: 10 fractional works · 1.2% of its workManagement of Technology and Innovation: 10 fractional works · 1.1% of its workManagement Information Systems: 7 fractional works · 0.7% of its workSmaller subfields together: 1 fractional works · 0.1% of its workArts and Humanities: 70 fractional works · 7.8% of its workLiterature and Literary Theory: 17 fractional works · 1.9% of its workPhilosophy: 14 fractional works · 1.6% of its workHistory: 9 fractional works · 1.0% of its workHistory and Philosophy of Science: 8 fractional works · 0.9% of its workReligious studies: 6 fractional works · 0.7% of its workLanguage and Linguistics: 5 fractional works · 0.5% of its workMusic: 3 fractional works · 0.3% of its workVisual Arts and Performing Arts: 2 fractional works · 0.3% of its workArcheology: 2 fractional works · 0.3% of its workSmaller subfields together: 3 fractional works · 0.4% of its workEconomics, Econometrics and Finance: 51 fractional works · 5.6% of its workEconomics and Econometrics: 39 fractional works · 4.4% of its workFinance: 8 fractional works · 0.9% of its workGeneral Economics, Econometrics and Finance: 3 fractional works · 0.3% of its workDecision Sciences: 17 fractional works · 1.9% of its workInformation Systems and Management: 8 fractional works · 0.9% of its workManagement Science and Operations Research: 8 fractional works · 0.8% of its workSmaller subfields together: 1 fractional works · 0.1% of its workPhysical Sciences: 100 fractional works · 11.0% of its workComputer Science: 31 fractional works · 3.4% of its workArtificial Intelligence: 10 fractional works · 1.1% of its workInformation Systems: 9 fractional works · 1.0% of its workComputer Science Applications: 5 fractional works · 0.6% of its workComputer Vision and Pattern Recognition: 2 fractional works · 0.3% of its workSmaller subfields together: 5 fractional works · 0.6% of its workEnvironmental Science: 27 fractional works · 3.0% of its workEcology: 8 fractional works · 0.9% of its workManagement, Monitoring, Policy and Law: 6 fractional works · 0.7% of its workGlobal and Planetary Change: 4 fractional works · 0.4% of its workHealth, Toxicology and Mutagenesis: 3 fractional works · 0.3% of its workNature and Landscape Conservation: 3 fractional works · 0.3% of its workSmaller subfields together: 3 fractional works · 0.4% of its workEngineering: 18 fractional works · 2.0% of its workIndustrial and Manufacturing Engineering: 4 fractional works · 0.5% of its workMedia Technology: 4 fractional works · 0.4% of its workElectrical and Electronic Engineering: 2 fractional works · 0.3% of its workSmaller subfields together: 8 fractional works · 0.8% of its workPhysics and Astronomy: 9 fractional works · 0.9% of its workAstronomy and Astrophysics: 3 fractional works · 0.4% of its workStatistical and Nonlinear Physics: 3 fractional works · 0.3% of its workSmaller subfields together: 2 fractional works · 0.3% of its workMathematics: 5 fractional works · 0.6% of its workChemistry: 4 fractional works · 0.4% of its workEarth and Planetary Sciences: 3 fractional works · 0.3% of its workEnergy: 2 fractional works · 0.3% of its workMaterials Science: 0 fractional works · 0.1% of its workHealth Sciences: 74 fractional works · 8.2% of its workMedicine: 51 fractional works · 5.7% of its workPhysiology: 7 fractional works · 0.8% of its workPublic Health, Environmental and Occupational Health: 7 fractional works · 0.7% of its workEpidemiology: 4 fractional works · 0.4% of its workComplementary and alternative medicine: 3 fractional works · 0.3% of its workRehabilitation: 3 fractional works · 0.3% of its workPsychiatry and Mental health: 3 fractional works · 0.3% of its workReproductive Medicine: 2 fractional works · 0.3% of its workRadiology, Nuclear Medicine and Imaging: 2 fractional works · 0.3% of its workOrthopedics and Sports Medicine: 2 fractional works · 0.3% of its workPulmonary and Respiratory Medicine: 2 fractional works · 0.2% of its workHealth Informatics: 2 fractional works · 0.2% of its workSmaller subfields together: 14 fractional works · 1.6% of its workHealth Professions: 20 fractional works · 2.2% of its workGeneral Health Professions: 15 fractional works · 1.6% of its workSmaller subfields together: 5 fractional works · 0.5% of its workNursing: 3 fractional works · 0.3% of its workNutrition and Dietetics: 2 fractional works · 0.3% of its workSmaller subfields together: 0 fractional works · 0.0% of its workVeterinary: 0 fractional works · 0.1% of its workDentistry: 0 fractional works · 0.1% of its workLife Sciences: 44 fractional works · 4.9% of its workBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology: 15 fractional works · 1.6% of its workMolecular Biology: 6 fractional works · 0.6% of its workGenetics: 4 fractional works · 0.4% of its workCell Biology: 3 fractional works · 0.4% of its workSmaller subfields together: 2 fractional works · 0.2% of its workAgricultural and Biological Sciences: 15 fractional works · 1.6% of its workPlant Science: 5 fractional works · 0.5% of its workFood Science: 3 fractional works · 0.3% of its workEcology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics: 2 fractional works · 0.2% of its workAquatic Science: 2 fractional works · 0.2% of its workSmaller subfields together: 3 fractional works · 0.3% of its workNeuroscience: 7 fractional works · 0.8% of its workCognitive Neuroscience: 5 fractional works · 0.6% of its workSmaller subfields together: 2 fractional works · 0.3% of its workImmunology and Microbiology: 7 fractional works · 0.7% of its workParasitology: 3 fractional works · 0.4% of its workImmunology: 3 fractional works · 0.3% of its workSmaller subfields together: 0 fractional works · 0.0% of its workPharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics: 0 fractional works · 0.0% of its workALL ITS WORKPepperdineUniversity903fractional works, 2022-now
Life Sciences5%Physical Sciences11%Health Sciences8%Social Sciences76%

Each ring splits the one inside it: the four domains of science, their fields, their subfields. Size is fractional works in 2022-now. 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 26 fields, with their numbers
    1. Social Sciences33737.4%
    2. Psychology10811.9%
    3. Business, Management and Accounting10211.3%
    4. Arts and Humanities707.8%
    5. Economics, Econometrics and Finance515.6%
    6. Decision Sciences171.9%
    1. Computer Science313.4%
    2. Environmental Science273.0%
    3. Engineering182.0%
    4. Physics and Astronomy90.9%
    5. Mathematics50.6%
    6. Chemistry40.4%
    7. Earth and Planetary Sciences30.3%
    8. Energy20.3%
    9. Materials Science00.1%
    10. Chemical Engineering00.0%
    1. Medicine515.7%
    2. Health Professions202.2%
    3. Nursing30.3%
    4. Veterinary00.1%
    5. Dentistry00.1%
    1. Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology151.6%
    2. Agricultural and Biological Sciences151.6%
    3. Neuroscience70.8%
    4. Immunology and Microbiology70.7%
    5. Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics00.0%
All of science, and how each field's share has moved since 1950: the Science domain explorer

What does Pepperdine University specialise in?

Where its research is concentrated relative to its size: Gender Studies takes 7.6× the share of its output that it takes of world research.

  1. Gender StudiesSubfield · 24.9 works7.6×
  2. Organizational Behavior and Human Resource ManagementSubfield · 27.6 works6.4×
  3. Social PsychologySubfield · 36.3 works4.5×
← 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: 0.34× its world share, 15 worksAgricultural and Bio…Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology: 0.30× its world share, 15 worksBiochemistry, Geneti…Immunology and Microbiology: 0.72× its world share, 7 worksImmunology and Micro…Neuroscience: 0.51× its world share, 8 worksNeurosciencePharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics: 0.14× its world share, 0 worksPharmacology, Toxico…Chemical Engineering: 0.05× its world share, 0 worksChemical EngineeringChemistry: 0.28× its world share, 4 worksChemistryComputer Science: 0.44× its world share, 31 worksComputer ScienceEarth and Planetary Sciences: 0.22× its world share, 3 worksEarth and Planetary …Energy: 0.28× its world share, 2 worksEnergyEngineering: 0.13× its world share, 18 worksEngineeringEnvironmental Science: 0.60× its world share, 27 worksEnvironmental ScienceMaterials Science: 0.02× its world share, 0 worksMaterials ScienceMathematics: 0.48× its world share, 5 worksMathematicsPhysics and Astronomy: 0.42× its world share, 8 worksPhysics and AstronomyDentistry: 0.11× its world share, 0 worksDentistryHealth Professions: 0.82× its world share, 20 worksHealth ProfessionsMedicine: 0.30× its world share, 51 worksMedicineNursing: 0.58× its world share, 3 worksNursingVeterinary: 0.41× its world share, 0 worksVeterinaryArts and Humanities: 2.70× its world share, 70 worksArts and HumanitiesBusiness, Management and Accounting: 3.51× its world share, 102 worksBusiness, Management…Decision Sciences: 1.92× its world share, 17 worksDecision SciencesEconomics, Econometrics and Finance: 2.63× its world share, 51 worksEconomics, Econometr…Psychology: 3.91× its world share, 108 worksPsychologySocial Sciences: 2.95× its world share, 337 worksSocial Sciences1×world share
more than its size predictsabout as predictedless

Rings at 0.5×, 1× and 2×. Widest outward: Psychology, 3.9×. Every wedge is a field page.

All 26 fields, with their numbers
  1. Psychology3.91×108 works
  2. Business, Management and Accounting3.51×102 works
  3. Social Sciences2.95×337 works
  4. Arts and Humanities2.70×70 works
  5. Economics, Econometrics and Finance2.63×51 works
  6. Decision Sciences1.92×17 works
  7. Health Professions0.82×20 works
  8. Immunology and Microbiology0.72×7 works
  9. Environmental Science0.60×27 works
  10. Nursing0.58×3 works
  11. Neuroscience0.51×8 works
  12. Mathematics0.48×5 works
  13. Computer Science0.44×31 works
  14. Physics and Astronomy0.42×8 works
  15. Veterinary0.41×0 works
  16. Agricultural and Biological Sciences0.34×15 works
  17. Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology0.30×15 works
  18. Medicine0.30×51 works
  19. Chemistry0.28×4 works
  20. Energy0.28×2 works
  21. Earth and Planetary Sciences0.22×3 works
  22. Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics0.14×0 works
  23. Engineering0.13×18 works
  24. Dentistry0.11×0 works
  25. Chemical Engineering0.05×0 works
  26. Materials Science0.02×0 works

Who are the top researchers at Pepperdine University?

Ranked on the quality score, Cristina B. Gibson, David W. Foy and Maretno A. Harjoto lead among researchers whose main affiliation is Pepperdine University.

  1. 1 Cristina B. Gibson United States · #13,357 worldwide 18k citations · 185 works
  2. 2 David W. Foy United States · #182,306 worldwide 13k citations · 172 works
  3. 3 Maretno A. Harjoto United States · #253,989 worldwide 8.3k citations · 126 works
  4. 4 Thema S. Bryant-Davis United States · #304,831 worldwide 3.2k citations · 121 works
  5. 5 Kevin Martens Wong United States · #310,839 worldwide 1.3k citations · 73 works
  6. 6 Leah T. Stiemsma United States · #361,086 worldwide 4.8k citations · 48 works
  7. 7 Jennifer Ann Harriger United States · #365,274 worldwide 2.4k citations · 65 works
  8. 8 Inken Von Borzyskowski United States · #533,945 worldwide 740 citations · 96 works
  9. 9 Lee B. Kats United States · #533,956 worldwide 7.7k citations · 98 works
  10. 10 Felicity Vabulas United States · #557,358 worldwide 1.1k citations · 51 works
All ranked researchers at Pepperdine University

What are the most cited papers from Pepperdine University?

The most cited paper from Pepperdine University is "Corporate Governance and Firm Value: The Impact of Corporate Social Responsibility" (Hoje Jo, Maretno A. Harjoto, 2011), with 1,633 citations. Next come "Trends in wood density and structure are linked to prevention of xylem implosion by negative pressure" (1,611) and "A multidimensional conceptualization of racism-related stress: Implications for the well-being of people of color." (1,594).

Most cited papers
#PaperReleasedCitations
1 Corporate Governance and Firm Value: The Impact of Corporate Social Responsibility Hoje Jo, Maretno A. Harjoto · Journal of Business Ethics 30 Apr 2011 1,633
2 Trends in wood density and structure are linked to prevention of xylem implosion by negative pressure Uwe G. Hacke, John S. Sperry, William T. Pockman et al. · Oecologia Feb 2001 1,611
3 A multidimensional conceptualization of racism-related stress: Implications for the well-being of people of color. Shelly P. Harrell · American Journal of Orthopsychiatry 2000 1,594
4 Impacts of the Cretaceous Terrestrial Revolution and KPg Extinction on Mammal Diversification Robert W. Meredith et al. · Science 22 Sep 2011 1,523
5 The scent of death: Chemosensory assessment of predation risk by prey animals Lee B. Kats, Lawrence M. Dill · Ecoscience 1998 1,451
All 61 most cited papers, with filters and sorting

Which keywords describe research at Pepperdine University?

By fractional works in 2022-now, weighted toward what it does more of than the world: Leadership, Mental Health, Corporate Governance, Religion, Globalization, Democracy, Human Rights and Gender.

▲ 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-now 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 Health53▲ 4.1×29 topics
  2. Globalization48▲ 2.7×53 topics
  3. Leadership40▲ 9.2×22 topics
  4. Corporate Governance36▲ 5.5×17 topics
  5. Human Rights32▲ 3.4×32 topics
  6. Education31▲ 1.99×40 topics
  7. Religion30▲ 7.2×19 topics
  8. Social Media27▲ 2.2×19 topics
  9. Gender24▲ 5.0×25 topics
  10. Identity24▲ 3.7×24 topics
  11. Social Capital24▲ 5.1×14 topics
  12. Democracy23▲ 7.2×14 topics
  13. Social Justice22▲ 4.2×24 topics
  14. Innovation20▲ 2.2×22 topics
  15. Economic Growth20▲ 2.7×18 topics
  16. Health20▲ 5.4×12 topics
  17. Nationalism19▲ 4.8×11 topics
  18. Higher Education19▲ 3.9×13 topics
  19. Organizational Performance18▲ 7.7×7 topics
  20. Social Support18▲ 3.6×12 topics
  21. Well-being17▲ 4.9×12 topics
  22. Job Satisfaction17▲ 4.3×7 topics
  23. Diversity17▲ 11×7 topics
  24. Neoliberalism16▲ 4.9×16 topics
  25. Student Engagement16▲ 4.5×12 topics
  26. Human Resource Management16▲ 11×5 topics
  27. International Law16▲ 5.6×13 topics
  28. Stress16▲ 4.8×7 topics
  29. Secularism15▲ 17×5 topics
  30. Feminism14▲ 5.3×13 topics
  31. Politics14▲ 5.9×8 topics
  32. Psychological Capital13▲ 11×2 topics
  33. Inclusion13▲ 10×3 topics
  34. Career Development13▲ 12×5 topics
  35. Work Engagement12▲ 15×3 topics
  36. Job Demands-Resources Model12▲ 21×1 topic
  37. Organizational Behavior12▲ 8.5×1 topic
  38. Psychological Adjustment11▲ 8.7×4 topics
  39. Employee Engagement11▲ 6.9×5 topics
  40. NGOs10▲ 12×4 topics

Which research topics does Pepperdine University publish most on?

By volume in 2022-now: Job Satisfaction and Organizational Behavior, Gender Diversity and Inequality, Resilience and Mental Health and Corporate Finance and Governance.

  1. 1 Job Satisfaction and Organizational Behavior Organizational Behavior and Human Resource Management 12 works
  2. 2 Gender Diversity and Inequality Gender Studies 8 works
  3. 3 Resilience and Mental Health Clinical Psychology 7 works
  4. 4 Corporate Finance and Governance Accounting 7 works
  5. 5 Religion and Society Interactions Sociology and Political Science 7 works
  6. 6 International Student and Expatriate Challenges Communication 7 works
  7. 7 Emotional Intelligence and Performance Social Psychology 6 works
  8. 8 Workplace Spirituality and Leadership Demography 6 works
  9. 9 Innovative Teaching and Learning Methods Developmental and Educational Psychology 6 works
  10. 10 Religion, Spirituality, and Psychology Health 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 available55.4%not open44.6%

World: 40% of research is openly available.

with international co-authors4.9%domestic only95.1%

World: 18% is written across borders.

How has Pepperdine University's research output changed?

Output in 2022-2025 was 10% higher than in 2018-2021.

still counting1990200020102020
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 Pepperdine University as a percentage of every work published that year, 0.0037% in 2024.

still counting0.0050%0.010%0.015%Pepperdine University0.0033% in 202519801990200020102020

Fractional works of Pepperdine University over all fractional works that year. How the balance of science has shifted.

How much of it reaches the world top 10%

Year by year, against all institutions in the same year.

still counting5%10%15%all institutions10.0% in 2025Pepperdine University8.1% in 2025200020102020

Of each year's output, the share that reached the world's 10% most cited for its field and year. Peak 13.9% in 2020.

Other research institutions in Malibu

All research institutions in Malibu

Share Pepperdine University's ranking

Pepperdine University on Science Explorer

A card with Pepperdine University's standing and the fields it leads in, for a post or a slide. A link to this page previews as the same card.

Download the card

1200 × 630 PNG, sized for social posts, drawn from the latest snapshot.

Badges for a website1Each links back here and updates with every snapshot

Research measures only: rankings here say nothing about teaching, admissions or student experience. Comparable institutions and collaboration partners have tabs of their own, above.

Discussion

Ask a question or share a note about Pepperdine University. Keep it to the research: no personal attacks, advertising or links. Any reader can report a post, which collapses it for everyone until it is opened.