Science Explorer Back to mapMap
Discussion
Research facility · Harpenden · United Kingdom

Rothamsted Research

In research, Rothamsted Research stands highest in Agricultural and Biological Sciences (#354 of 3,157 worldwide), Life Sciences (#768 of 6,403 worldwide) and Plant Science (#327 of 1,317 worldwide), 2022-now. Relative to its size it is most specialised in Soil Science, Plant Science and Agricultural and Biological Sciences (Soil Science is 29.2× its share of world research).

rothamsted.ac.ukROR OpenAlex
World rank, 2022-now
#5,181
of 22,385 · #1,515 all time
Rank in United Kingdom
#206
of 862
Research works
6k
▼ 26% vs 2018-21
Citations
377k
63.0 per fractional work
Top-10% rate
16.2%
all institutions 10.0%
vs its own fields
1.16×
1.00× is exactly expected
Open access
32%
world 40%
International
38%
world 18%
Rothamsted Research

What is Rothamsted Research 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
Agricultural and Biological SciencesField #354 of 3,157 17.0%172 #160
Life SciencesDomain #768 of 6,403 16.5%225 #465
Plant ScienceSubfield #327 of 1,317 17.4%76 #113
Environmental ScienceField #1,159 of 3,334 13.1%97 #550
Physical SciencesDomain #5,063 of 10,670 13.6%130 #1982

Each strip is that field's whole ranked pool, with the notch where Rothamsted Research 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. Agricultural and Biological Sciences#160 #354
  2. Life Sciences#465 #768
  3. Plant Science#113 #327
  4. Environmental Science#550 #1,159
  5. Physical Sciences#1,982 #5,063
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 Rothamsted Research work in?

In 2022-now, 59% of research at Rothamsted Research is in Life Sciences, 33% in Physical Sciences. Its largest fields are Agricultural and Biological Sciences (45%), Environmental Science (25%), Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology (14%). It does 4.3× the world's share of Life Sciences.

Life Sciences: 259 fractional works · 58.9% of its workAgricultural and Biological Sciences: 196 fractional works · 44.7% of its workPlant Science: 89 fractional works · 20.3% of its workSoil Science: 38 fractional works · 8.8% of its workAgronomy and Crop Science: 18 fractional works · 4.2% of its workEcology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics: 15 fractional works · 3.3% of its workInsect Science: 14 fractional works · 3.2% of its workFood Science: 8 fractional works · 1.9% of its workGeneral Agricultural and Biological Sciences: 6 fractional works · 1.3% of its workForestry: 4 fractional works · 0.8% of its workAnimal Science and Zoology: 3 fractional works · 0.6% of its workAquatic Science: 1 fractional works · 0.2% of its workBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology: 59 fractional works · 13.5% of its workMolecular Biology: 30 fractional works · 6.8% of its workGenetics: 15 fractional works · 3.3% of its workCell Biology: 5 fractional works · 1.2% of its workBiochemistry: 5 fractional works · 1.0% of its workBiotechnology: 2 fractional works · 0.5% of its workDevelopmental Biology: 1 fractional works · 0.2% of its workSmaller subfields together: 2 fractional works · 0.5% of its workImmunology and Microbiology: 2 fractional works · 0.4% of its workImmunology: 1 fractional works · 0.2% of its workSmaller subfields together: 1 fractional works · 0.2% of its workNeuroscience: 1 fractional works · 0.3% of its workCellular and Molecular Neuroscience: 1 fractional works · 0.2% of its workSmaller subfields together: 0 fractional works · 0.1% of its workPhysical Sciences: 144 fractional works · 32.9% of its workEnvironmental Science: 109 fractional works · 24.7% of its workEcology: 30 fractional works · 6.8% of its workEnvironmental Chemistry: 19 fractional works · 4.3% of its workGlobal and Planetary Change: 16 fractional works · 3.6% of its workEnvironmental Engineering: 11 fractional works · 2.5% of its workWater Science and Technology: 9 fractional works · 2.0% of its workManagement, Monitoring, Policy and Law: 6 fractional works · 1.4% of its workIndustrial and Manufacturing Engineering: 5 fractional works · 1.1% of its workPollution: 5 fractional works · 1.1% of its workHealth, Toxicology and Mutagenesis: 4 fractional works · 0.9% of its workNature and Landscape Conservation: 3 fractional works · 0.7% of its workEcological Modeling: 2 fractional works · 0.5% of its workEngineering: 14 fractional works · 3.1% of its workCivil and Structural Engineering: 4 fractional works · 0.8% of its workBiomedical Engineering: 3 fractional works · 0.7% of its workMechanical Engineering: 2 fractional works · 0.5% of its workMechanics of Materials: 1 fractional works · 0.3% of its workIndustrial and Manufacturing Engineering: 1 fractional works · 0.2% of its workSmaller subfields together: 3 fractional works · 0.6% of its workEarth and Planetary Sciences: 6 fractional works · 1.5% of its workAtmospheric Science: 3 fractional works · 0.6% of its workGeochemistry and Petrology: 1 fractional works · 0.3% of its workSmaller subfields together: 2 fractional works · 0.6% of its workChemistry: 5 fractional works · 1.1% of its workAnalytical Chemistry: 4 fractional works · 0.8% of its workSmaller subfields together: 1 fractional works · 0.3% of its workComputer Science: 3 fractional works · 0.8% of its workArtificial Intelligence: 2 fractional works · 0.5% of its workSmaller subfields together: 1 fractional works · 0.3% of its workMathematics: 3 fractional works · 0.7% of its workStatistics and Probability: 1 fractional works · 0.2% of its workDiscrete Mathematics and Combinatorics: 1 fractional works · 0.2% of its workSmaller subfields together: 1 fractional works · 0.2% of its workChemical Engineering: 1 fractional works · 0.3% of its workEnergy: 1 fractional works · 0.2% of its workRenewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment: 1 fractional works · 0.2% of its workSmaller subfields together: 0 fractional works · 0.0% of its workMaterials Science: 1 fractional works · 0.2% of its workPhysics and Astronomy: 1 fractional works · 0.2% of its workHealth Sciences: 25 fractional works · 5.7% of its workNursing: 13 fractional works · 3.0% of its workNutrition and Dietetics: 13 fractional works · 3.0% of its workMedicine: 9 fractional works · 2.1% of its workPublic Health, Environmental and Occupational Health: 2 fractional works · 0.5% of its workEpidemiology: 1 fractional works · 0.3% of its workGastroenterology: 1 fractional works · 0.3% of its workSmaller subfields together: 4 fractional works · 1.0% of its workVeterinary: 2 fractional works · 0.4% of its workSmall Animals: 2 fractional works · 0.4% of its workHealth Professions: 1 fractional works · 0.1% of its workSocial Sciences: 11 fractional works · 2.5% of its workEconomics, Econometrics and Finance: 4 fractional works · 1.0% of its workEconomics and Econometrics: 4 fractional works · 1.0% of its workSocial Sciences: 4 fractional works · 1.0% of its workSociology and Political Science: 2 fractional works · 0.4% of its workSmaller subfields together: 2 fractional works · 0.6% of its workDecision Sciences: 1 fractional works · 0.2% of its workPsychology: 1 fractional works · 0.2% of its workArts and Humanities: 0 fractional works · 0.1% of its workALL ITS WORKRothamstedResearch439fractional works, 2022-now
Life Sciences59%Physical Sciences33%Health Sciences6%Social Sciences2%

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 24 fields, with their numbers
    1. Agricultural and Biological Sciences19644.7%
    2. Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology5913.5%
    3. Immunology and Microbiology20.4%
    4. Neuroscience10.3%
    5. Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics00.0%
    1. Environmental Science10924.7%
    2. Engineering143.1%
    3. Earth and Planetary Sciences61.5%
    4. Chemistry51.1%
    5. Computer Science30.8%
    6. Mathematics30.7%
    7. Chemical Engineering10.3%
    8. Energy10.2%
    9. Materials Science10.2%
    10. Physics and Astronomy10.2%
    1. Nursing133.0%
    2. Medicine92.1%
    3. Veterinary20.4%
    4. Health Professions10.1%
    1. Economics, Econometrics and Finance41.0%
    2. Social Sciences41.0%
    3. Decision Sciences10.2%
    4. Psychology10.2%
    5. Arts and Humanities00.1%
All of science, and how each field's share has moved since 1950: the Science domain explorer

What does Rothamsted Research specialise in?

Where its research is concentrated relative to its size: Soil Science takes 29.2× the share of its output that it takes of world research.

  1. Soil ScienceSubfield · 38.5 works29×
  2. Plant ScienceSubfield · 89.3 works12×
  3. Agricultural and Biological SciencesField · 196.4 works9.4×
← 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: 9.41× its world share, 196 worksAgricultural and Bio…Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology: 2.54× its world share, 60 worksBiochemistry, Geneti…Immunology and Microbiology: 0.42× its world share, 2 worksImmunology and Micro…Neuroscience: 0.17× its world share, 1 worksNeurosciencePharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics: 0.04× its world share, 0 worksPharmacology, Toxico…Chemical Engineering: 0.94× its world share, 2 worksChemical EngineeringChemistry: 0.70× its world share, 5 worksChemistryComputer Science: 0.10× its world share, 4 worksComputer ScienceEarth and Planetary Sciences: 0.94× its world share, 6 worksEarth and Planetary …Energy: 0.26× its world share, 1 worksEnergyEngineering: 0.21× its world share, 14 worksEngineeringEnvironmental Science: 4.98× its world share, 109 worksEnvironmental ScienceMaterials Science: 0.06× its world share, 1 worksMaterials ScienceMathematics: 0.58× its world share, 3 worksMathematicsPhysics and Astronomy: 0.09× its world share, 1 worksPhysics and AstronomyHealth Professions: 0.04× its world share, 0 worksHealth ProfessionsMedicine: 0.11× its world share, 9 worksMedicineNursing: 6.17× its world share, 13 worksNursingVeterinary: 2.95× its world share, 2 worksVeterinaryArts and Humanities: 0.04× its world share, 0 worksArts and HumanitiesDecision Sciences: 0.23× its world share, 1 worksDecision SciencesEconomics, Econometrics and Finance: 0.47× its world share, 4 worksEconomics, Econometr…Psychology: 0.06× its world share, 1 worksPsychologySocial Sciences: 0.08× its world share, 4 worksSocial Sciences1×world share
more than its size predictsabout as predictedless

Rings at 0.5×, 1× and 2×. Widest outward: Agricultural and Biological Sciences, 9.4×. Every wedge is a field page.

All 24 fields, with their numbers
  1. Agricultural and Biological Sciences9.41×196 works
  2. Nursing6.17×13 works
  3. Environmental Science4.98×109 works
  4. Veterinary2.95×2 works
  5. Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology2.54×60 works
  6. Chemical Engineering0.94×2 works
  7. Earth and Planetary Sciences0.94×6 works
  8. Chemistry0.70×5 works
  9. Mathematics0.58×3 works
  10. Economics, Econometrics and Finance0.47×4 works
  11. Immunology and Microbiology0.42×2 works
  12. Energy0.26×1 works
  13. Decision Sciences0.23×1 works
  14. Engineering0.21×14 works
  15. Neuroscience0.17×1 works
  16. Medicine0.11×9 works
  17. Computer Science0.10×4 works
  18. Physics and Astronomy0.09×1 works
  19. Social Sciences0.08×4 works
  20. Materials Science0.06×1 works
  21. Psychology0.06×1 works
  22. Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics0.04×0 works
  23. Health Professions0.04×0 works
  24. Arts and Humanities0.04×0 works

Who are the top researchers at Rothamsted Research?

Ranked on the quality score, Mikhail A. Semenov, S. P. McGrath and R. Webster lead among researchers whose main affiliation is Rothamsted Research.

  1. 1 Mikhail A. Semenov United Kingdom · #63,518 worldwide 29k citations · 310 works
  2. 2 S. P. McGrath United Kingdom · #78,477 worldwide 59k citations · 721 works
  3. 3 R. Webster United Kingdom · #78,648 worldwide 22k citations · 264 works
  4. 4 Pierre Stratonovitch United Kingdom · #97,949 worldwide 9.7k citations · 61 works
  5. 5 Martin S. Williamson United Kingdom · #100,903 worldwide 18k citations · 227 works
  6. 6 L. M. Field United Kingdom · #101,320 worldwide 17k citations · 252 works
  7. 7 D. S. Powlson United Kingdom · #102,201 worldwide 31k citations · 362 works
  8. 8 Stephen G. Thomas United Kingdom · #103,951 worldwide 9.5k citations · 67 works
  9. 9 Malcolm John Hawkesford United Kingdom · #103,962 worldwide 21k citations · 439 works
  10. 10 Andrew L. Phillips United Kingdom · #107,683 worldwide 13k citations · 109 works
All ranked researchers at Rothamsted Research

What are the most cited papers from Rothamsted Research?

The most cited paper from Rothamsted Research is "An extraction method for measuring soil microbial biomass C" (Eric D. Vance, Philip Charles Brookes, David Stewart Jenkinson, 1987), with 13,020 citations. Next come "Improved procedures for clearing roots and staining parasitic and vesicular-arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi for rapid assessment of infection" (8,570) and "Chloroform fumigation and the release of soil nitrogen: A rapid direct extraction method to measure microbial biomass nitrogen in soil" (5,901).

Most cited papers
#PaperReleasedCitations
1 An extraction method for measuring soil microbial biomass C Eric D. Vance, Philip Charles Brookes, David Stewart Jenkinson · Soil Biology and Biochemistry 1987 13,020
2 Improved procedures for clearing roots and staining parasitic and vesicular-arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi for rapid assessment of infection Jean M. Phillips, David S. Hayman · Transactions of the British Mycological Society Aug 1970 8,570
3 Chloroform fumigation and the release of soil nitrogen: A rapid direct extraction method to measure microbial biomass nitrogen in soil P. C. Brookes, A. Landman, Gordon Pruden et al. · Soil Biology and Biochemistry 1985 5,901
4 Proposed minimum reporting standards for chemical analysis Lloyd W. Sumner et al. · Metabolomics Open access 11 Sep 2007 5,359
5 The Top 10 fungal pathogens in molecular plant pathology Ralph A. Dean, Jan A. L. van Kan, Z. A. Pretorius et al. · Molecular Plant Pathology Open access 4 Apr 2012 4,822
All 60 most cited papers, with filters and sorting

Which keywords describe research at Rothamsted Research?

By fractional works in 2022-now, weighted toward what it does more of than the world: Climate Change, Soil Carbon Sequestration, Ecosystem Functioning, Soil Fertility, Microbial Communities, Nutrient Limitation, Biochar Application and Nitrogen Cycle.

▲ 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. Climate Change82▲ 6.9×64 topics
  2. Soil Carbon Sequestration28▲ 79×2 topics
  3. Ecosystem Functioning27▲ 30×7 topics
  4. Soil Fertility26▲ 26×6 topics
  5. Microbial Communities25▲ 13×7 topics
  6. Nutrient Limitation24▲ 48×2 topics
  7. Biochar Application24▲ 51×1 topic
  8. Nitrogen Cycle24▲ 80×1 topic
  9. Environmental Impact22▲ 3.0×26 topics
  10. Sustainability21▲ 1.98×26 topics
  11. Land Use Change21▲ 16×8 topics
  12. Water Quality18▲ 10×8 topics
  13. Nutrient Cycling16▲ 49×3 topics
  14. Remote Sensing16▲ 3.0×19 topics
  15. QTL Mapping15▲ 29×6 topics
  16. Eutrophication15▲ 30×3 topics
  17. Hyporheic Zone14▲ 150×1 topic
  18. Phosphorus Management14▲ 150×1 topic
  19. Health Effects14▲ 5.2×15 topics
  20. Biodiversity14▲ 4.1×17 topics
  21. Sustainable Agriculture13▲ 9.8×8 topics
  22. Agricultural Sustainability13▲ 27×3 topics
  23. Genome Sequencing13▲ 18×6 topics
  24. Crop Improvement12▲ 57×2 topics
  25. Genetic Improvement12▲ 32×4 topics
  26. Phylogenetic Analysis12▲ 8.8×9 topics
  27. Greenhouse Gas Emissions12▲ 9.9×5 topics
  28. Sediment Transport12▲ 17×3 topics
  29. Invasive Species12▲ 6.3×18 topics
  30. Soil Degradation11▲ 49×2 topics
  31. Ecosystem Services11▲ 6.2×10 topics
  32. Global Carbon Budget11▲ 33×2 topics
  33. Biological Control10▲ 16×9 topics
  34. Livestock Production10▲ 25×2 topics
  35. Yield Potential10▲ 43×2 topics
  36. Hydrological Modeling10▲ 9.3×4 topics
  37. Genetic Mapping10▲ 28×6 topics
  38. Model Evaluation10▲ 17×2 topics
  39. Phosphorus10▲ 23×2 topics
  40. Sediment Transport Models9▲ 58×1 topic

Which research topics does Rothamsted Research publish most on?

By volume in 2022-now: Soil Carbon and Nitrogen Dynamics, Soil and Water Nutrient Dynamics, Soil erosion and sediment transport and Agriculture Sustainability and Environmental Impact.

Soil Carbon and Nitrogen…24Soil Carbon and Nitrogen Dynamics: 24 fractional worksSoil and Water Nutrient Dynamics: 14 fractional worksSoil erosion and sediment transport: 9 fractional worksAgriculture Sustainability and Environmental Impact: 9 fractional worksWheat and Barley Genetics and Pathology: 8 fractional worksHydrology and Watershed Management Studies: 8 fractional worksInsect-Plant Interaction…7Insect-Plant Interactions and Control: 7 fractional worksPlant nutrient uptake and metabolism: 6 fractional worksRuminant Nutrition and Digestive Physiology: 6 fractional worksFood composition and properties: 6 fractional works
Soil ScienceEnvironmental ChemistryEcologyPlant Science4 others

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

  1. 1 Soil Carbon and Nitrogen Dynamics Soil Science 24 works
  2. 2 Soil and Water Nutrient Dynamics Environmental Chemistry 14 works
  3. 3 Soil erosion and sediment transport Soil Science 9 works
  4. 4 Agriculture Sustainability and Environmental Impact Ecology 9 works
  5. 5 Wheat and Barley Genetics and Pathology Plant Science 8 works
  6. 6 Hydrology and Watershed Management Studies Water Science and Technology 8 works
  7. 7 Insect-Plant Interactions and Control Insect Science 7 works
  8. 8 Plant nutrient uptake and metabolism Plant Science 6 works
  9. 9 Ruminant Nutrition and Digestive Physiology Agronomy and Crop Science 6 works
  10. 10 Food composition and properties Nutrition and Dietetics 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 available32.4%not open67.6%

World: 40% of research is openly available.

with international co-authors37.7%domestic only62.3%

World: 18% is written across borders.

How has Rothamsted Research's research output changed?

Output in 2022-2025 was 26% lower 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 Rothamsted Research as a percentage of every work published that year, 0.0016% in 2024.

still counting0.010%0.020%0.030%Rothamsted Research0.0015% in 202519801990200020102020

Fractional works of Rothamsted Research 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 counting10%20%30%Rothamsted Research17.7% in 2025all institutions10.0% in 2025200020102020

Of each year's output, the share that reached the world's 10% most cited for its field and year. Peak 30.0% in 2015.

Other research institutions in Harpenden

All research institutions in Harpenden

Share Rothamsted Research's ranking

Rothamsted Research on Science Explorer

A card with Rothamsted Research'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 Rothamsted Research. Posts are plain text and can be reported.