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University · Portland · United States

Portland State University

In research, Portland State University stands highest in Social Sciences (#715 of 10,521 worldwide), Social Sciences (#533 of 6,365 worldwide) and Sociology and Political Science (#425 of 2,578 worldwide), 2022–2025. Relative to its size it is most specialised in Safety Research, Gender Studies and Oceanography — Safety Research is 3.9× its share of world research.

pdx.eduROR OpenAlex
World rank, 2022–2025
#2,206
of 28,054 · #1,161 all time
Rank in United States
#332
of 4,192
Research works
18k
▼ 11% vs 2013–17
Citations
431k
24.1 per fractional work
Top-10% rate
18.8%
record average 16.5%
Open access
33%
world 28%

What is Portland State 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 #715 of 10,521 24.0%945 #331
Social SciencesField #533 of 6,365 24.6%526 #271
Sociology and Political ScienceSubfield #425 of 2,578 23.4%181 #359
Physical SciencesDomain #2,704 of 12,888 12.8%903 #1261
Health SciencesDomain #2,625 of 11,982 23.2%263 #2092
EducationSubfield #609 of 1,892 30.4%103 #247
PsychologyField #725 of 2,181 20.4%140 #237
MedicineField #3,712 of 10,443 21.4%156 #2917
Environmental ScienceField #1,298 of 3,551 16.8%170 #490
EngineeringField #2,505 of 6,636 10.4%307 #1241

Each strip is that field’s whole ranked pool, with the notch where Portland State 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#331 #715
  2. Social Sciences#271 #533
  3. Sociology and Political Science#359 #425
  4. Physical Sciences#1,261 #2,704
  5. Health Sciences#2,092 #2,625
  6. Education#247 #609
  7. Psychology#237 #725
  8. Medicine#2,917 #3,712
  9. Environmental Science#490 #1,298
  10. Engineering#1,241 #2,505
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 Portland State University specialise in?

Where its research is concentrated relative to its size: Safety Research takes 3.9× the share of its output that it takes of world research.

  1. Safety ResearchSubfield · 23.9 works3.9×
  2. Gender StudiesSubfield · 29.7 works3.7×
  3. OceanographySubfield · 23.1 works3.7×
← 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: 0.40× its world share, 42 worksAgricultural and Bio…Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology: 0.41× its world share, 49 worksBiochemistry, Geneti…Immunology and Microbiology: 0.30× its world share, 7 worksImmunology and Micro…Neuroscience: 0.74× its world share, 27 worksNeurosciencePharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics: 0.42× its world share, 3 worksPharmacology, Toxico…Chemical Engineering: 0.19× its world share, 2 worksChemical EngineeringChemistry: 0.68× its world share, 24 worksChemistryComputer Science: 1.27× its world share, 221 worksComputer ScienceEarth and Planetary Sciences: 1.89× its world share, 66 worksEarth and Planetary …Energy: 0.41× its world share, 8 worksEnergyEngineering: 0.91× its world share, 307 worksEngineeringEnvironmental Science: 1.53× its world share, 170 worksEnvironmental ScienceMaterials Science: 0.46× its world share, 36 worksMaterials ScienceMathematics: 1.38× its world share, 36 worksMathematicsPhysics and Astronomy: 0.65× its world share, 32 worksPhysics and AstronomyDentistry: 0.24× its world share, 3 worksDentistryHealth Professions: 1.69× its world share, 100 worksHealth ProfessionsMedicine: 0.36× its world share, 156 worksMedicineNursing: 0.35× its world share, 4 worksNursingVeterinary: 0.38× its world share, 1 worksVeterinaryArts and Humanities: 1.65× its world share, 107 worksArts and HumanitiesBusiness, Management and Accounting: 1.08× its world share, 78 worksBusiness, Management…Decision Sciences: 1.76× its world share, 38 worksDecision SciencesEconomics, Econometrics and Finance: 1.18× its world share, 56 worksEconomics, Econometr…Psychology: 2.06× its world share, 140 worksPsychologySocial Sciences: 1.85× its world share, 526 worksSocial Sciences1×world share
more than its size predictsabout as predictedless

Rings at 0.5×, 1× and 2×. Widest outward: Psychology, 2.1×. Every wedge is a field page.

Who are the top researchers at Portland State University?

Ranked on the composite score, Harold A. Linstone, James F. Pankow and Ellen A. Skinner lead among researchers whose main affiliation is Portland State University.

  1. 1 Harold A. Linstone United States · #6,173 worldwide 660 citations · 62 works
  2. 2 James F. Pankow United States · #10,577 worldwide 755 citations · 66 works
  3. 3 Ellen A. Skinner United States · #11,759 worldwide 1.9k citations · 46 works
  4. 4 Jonathan Walpole United States · #23,037 worldwide 672 citations · 41 works
  5. 5 David Maier United States · #28,983 worldwide 803 citations · 101 works
  6. 6 Suresh Singh United States · #31,615 worldwide 783 citations · 41 works
  7. 7 Carlos J. Crespo United States · #47,950 worldwide 260 citations · 37 works
  8. 8 Hiro Ito United States · #49,316 worldwide 387 citations · 36 works
  9. 9 Wu‐chi Feng United States · #62,074 worldwide 288 citations · 43 works
  10. 10 David L. Morgan United States · #71,333 worldwide 493 citations · 26 works
All ranked researchers at Portland State University

Which keywords describe research at Portland State University?

By fractional works in 2022–2025, weighted toward what it does more of than the world: Climate Change, Mental Health, Globalization, Public Health, Intersectionality, Machine Learning, Gender and Sustainability.

▲ 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. Climate Change115▲ 1.91×76 topics
  2. Machine Learning77◆ 1.05×67 topics
  3. Mental Health74▲ 2.2×34 topics
  4. Globalization70▲ 1.60×68 topics
  5. Deep Learning67◆ 0.88×66 topics
  6. Sustainability64▲ 1.18×55 topics
  7. Public Health62▲ 1.90×43 topics
  8. Education55▲ 1.43×50 topics
  9. Neural Networks44▲ 1.27×28 topics
  10. Remote Sensing43▲ 1.56×26 topics
  11. Identity39▲ 2.4×40 topics
  12. Gender37▲ 3.0×35 topics
  13. Social Support36▲ 2.9×14 topics
  14. Innovation35▲ 1.50×31 topics
  15. History33▲ 2.1×28 topics
  16. Social Justice33▲ 2.5×24 topics
  17. Nationalism29▲ 2.8×19 topics
  18. Intersectionality29▲ 7.1×10 topics
  19. Religion28▲ 2.7×19 topics
  20. Resilience28▲ 2.6×13 topics
  21. Health Disparities25▲ 4.3×9 topics
  22. Ethics25▲ 2.3×19 topics
  23. Colonialism24▲ 2.3×25 topics
  24. Reflective Practice22▲ 5.4×7 topics
  25. Neoliberalism22▲ 2.8×16 topics
  26. Feminism22▲ 3.5×16 topics
  27. Self-Regulation19▲ 4.8×6 topics
  28. Neighborhood Effects19▲ 7.8×3 topics
  29. Academic Achievement18▲ 4.8×8 topics
  30. Discrimination18▲ 4.1×9 topics
  31. Cultural Competence18▲ 6.2×7 topics
  32. Evidence-Based Practice17▲ 6.0×7 topics
  33. Health Care Utilization16▲ 6.3×3 topics
  34. Long-Term Care14▲ 8.2×2 topics
  35. Quality of Care14▲ 7.4×3 topics
  36. Substance Abuse14▲ 8.7×2 topics
  37. Marine Sediments14▲ 9.9×2 topics
  38. Acoustic Techniques13▲ 18×1 topic
  39. Mental Illness13▲ 8.0×3 topics
  40. Seafloor Mapping13▲ 18×1 topic

Which research topics does Portland State University publish most on?

By volume in 2022–2025: Underwater Acoustics Research, Geriatric Care and Nursing Homes, Homelessness and Social Issues and Urban Transport and Accessibility.

Underwater Acoustics Res…13Underwater Acoustics Research: 13 fractional worksGeriatric Care and Nursi…12Geriatric Care and Nursing Homes: 12 fractional worksHomelessness and Social Issues: 12 fractional worksUrban Transport and Accessibility: 11 fractional worksEarly Childhood Education and Development: 9 fractional worksHealth disparities and outcomes: 9 fractional worksCritical Race Theory in Education: 9 fractional worksFlood Risk Assessment an…9Flood Risk Assessment and Management: 9 fractional worksFire effects on ecosystems: 9 fractional worksChinese history and philosophy: 8 fractional works
OceanographyGeneral Health ProfessionsTransportationEducation3 others

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

  1. 1 Underwater Acoustics Research Oceanography 13 works
  2. 2 Geriatric Care and Nursing Homes General Health Professions 12 works
  3. 3 Homelessness and Social Issues General Health Professions 12 works
  4. 4 Urban Transport and Accessibility Transportation 11 works
  5. 5 Early Childhood Education and Development Education 9 works
  6. 6 Health disparities and outcomes Health 9 works
  7. 7 Critical Race Theory in Education Sociology and Political Science 9 works
  8. 8 Flood Risk Assessment and Management Global and Planetary Change 9 works
  9. 9 Fire effects on ecosystems Global and Planetary Change 9 works
  10. 10 Chinese history and philosophy Sociology and Political Science 8 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 available33.3%not open66.7%

World: 28% of research is openly available.

with international co-authors11.4%domestic only88.6%

World: 19% is written across borders.

How has Portland State University's research output changed?

Output in 2018–2022 was 11% 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 Portland

All research institutions in Portland

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.