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Research facility · Edinburgh · United Kingdom

Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh

In research, Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh stands highest in Agricultural and Biological Sciences (#1,200 of 3,409 worldwide) and Life Sciences (#5,338 of 7,800 worldwide), 2022–2025. Relative to its size it is most specialised in Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics, Agricultural and Biological Sciences and Plant Science — Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics is 64.0× its share of world research.

rbge.org.ukROR OpenAlex
World rank, 2022–2025
#10,435
of 28,054 · #10,500 all time
Rank in United Kingdom
#385
of 1,094
Research works
1.7k
▲ 4% vs 2013–17
Citations
39k
22.8 per fractional work
Top-10% rate
17.6%
record average 16.5%
Open access
56%
world 28%

What is Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh 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
Agricultural and Biological SciencesField #1,200 of 3,409 14.8%105 #1104
Life SciencesDomain #5,338 of 7,800 15.5%143 #5538

Each strip is that field’s whole ranked pool, with the notch where Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh 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).

What does Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh specialise in?

Where its research is concentrated relative to its size: Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics takes 64.0× the share of its output that it takes of world research.

  1. Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and SystematicsSubfield · 59.5 works64×
  2. Agricultural and Biological SciencesField · 105.4 works11×
  3. Plant ScienceSubfield · 38.5 works11×
← 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: 11.21× its world share, 105 worksAgricultural and Bio…Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology: 3.26× its world share, 34 worksBiochemistry, Geneti…Immunology and Microbiology: 0.03× its world share, 0 worksImmunology and Micro…Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics: 3.92× its world share, 3 worksPharmacology, Toxico…Chemistry: 0.26× its world share, 1 worksChemistryComputer Science: 0.16× its world share, 2 worksComputer ScienceEarth and Planetary Sciences: 1.93× its world share, 6 worksEarth and Planetary …Engineering: 0.02× its world share, 1 worksEngineeringEnvironmental Science: 2.96× its world share, 29 worksEnvironmental ScienceMaterials Science: 0.20× its world share, 1 worksMaterials ScienceMathematics: 0.14× its world share, 0 worksMathematicsHealth Professions: 0.02× its world share, 0 worksHealth ProfessionsMedicine: 0.05× its world share, 2 worksMedicineNursing: 0.27× its world share, 0 worksNursingArts and Humanities: 0.44× its world share, 2 worksArts and HumanitiesBusiness, Management and Accounting: 0.14× its world share, 1 worksBusiness, Management…Decision Sciences: 0.49× its world share, 1 worksDecision SciencesEconomics, Econometrics and Finance: 0.22× its world share, 1 worksEconomics, Econometr…Psychology: 0.46× its world share, 3 worksPsychologySocial Sciences: 0.16× 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, 11.2×. Every wedge is a field page.

Who are the top researchers at Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh?

Ranked on the composite score, David G. Mann, Peter M. Hollingsworth and J. A. Ratter lead among researchers whose main affiliation is Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh.

  1. 1 David G. Mann United Kingdom · #73,635 worldwide 431 citations · 58 works
  2. 2 Peter M. Hollingsworth United Kingdom · #166,556 worldwide 220 citations · 29 works
  3. 3 J. A. Ratter United Kingdom · #176,109 worldwide 391 citations · 18 works
  4. 4 R. Toby Pennington United Kingdom · #195,024 worldwide 151 citations · 32 works
  5. 5 Christopher J. Ellis United Kingdom · #257,041 worldwide 226 citations · 54 works
  6. 6 David G. Long United Kingdom · #330,319 worldwide 151 citations · 38 works
  7. 7 Axel Dalberg Poulsen United Kingdom · #394,029 worldwide 135 citations · 25 works
  8. 8 David J. Harris United Kingdom · #517,148 worldwide 120 citations · 28 works
  9. 9 Roy Watling United Kingdom · #526,441 worldwide 169 citations · 75 works
  10. 10 B. J. Coppins United Kingdom · #560,777 worldwide 104 citations · 34 works
All ranked researchers at Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh

Which keywords describe research at Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh?

By fractional works in 2022–2025, weighted toward what it does more of than the world: Biogeography, Climate Change, Biodiversity, Invasive Species, Taxonomy, Habitat Fragmentation, Molecular Phylogeny and Global Change.

▲ 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. Biogeography63▲ 122×13 topics
  2. Climate Change40▲ 7.6×43 topics
  3. Biodiversity37▲ 25×18 topics
  4. Invasive Species31▲ 37×14 topics
  5. Taxonomy26▲ 101×6 topics
  6. Habitat Fragmentation24▲ 55×4 topics
  7. Molecular Phylogeny24▲ 77×4 topics
  8. Global Change22▲ 42×4 topics
  9. Angiosperm Phylogeny21▲ 417×1 topic
  10. Flowering Plants21▲ 417×1 topic
  11. Phylogeny21▲ 71×8 topics
  12. Conservation19▲ 22×12 topics
  13. Phylogenetic Analysis18▲ 30×13 topics
  14. Ecosystem Services18▲ 23×8 topics
  15. molecular systematics16▲ 346×2 topics
  16. Gesneriaceae15▲ 455×1 topic
  17. phylogenetic reconstruction15▲ 455×1 topic
  18. Plant-Animal Interactions14▲ 86×1 topic
  19. Pollinator Decline14▲ 86×1 topic
  20. Antioxidant13▲ 9.4×15 topics
  21. Mosses11▲ 210×2 topics
  22. Medicinal Plants9▲ 11×10 topics
  23. Antioxidant Activity9▲ 7.1×11 topics
  24. Polyploidy9▲ 96×4 topics
  25. Mycorrhizal Fungi8▲ 58×2 topics
  26. Secondary Metabolites8▲ 52×2 topics
  27. Ecology8▲ 25×5 topics
  28. Genetic Diversity8▲ 8.7×8 topics
  29. Flora7▲ 128×2 topics
  30. Vascular Plants7▲ 128×2 topics
  31. Symbiosis7▲ 38×3 topics
  32. Biomonitoring7▲ 44×2 topics
  33. Air Pollution6▲ 26×1 topic
  34. Biodiversity Conservation6▲ 8.9×10 topics
  35. Lichen6▲ 198×1 topic
  36. Conservation Biology6▲ 30×4 topics
  37. Evolution6▲ 13×9 topics
  38. Host Recognition6▲ 45×2 topics
  39. Biological Invasions6▲ 34×3 topics
  40. Vegetation6▲ 29×3 topics

Which research topics does Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh publish most on?

By volume in 2022–2025: Plant Diversity and Evolution, Plant and Fungal Species Descriptions, Plant and animal studies and Lichen and fungal ecology.

Plant Diversity and Evol…21Plant Diversity and Evolution: 21 fractional worksPlant and Fungal Species Descriptions: 15 fractional worksPlant and animal studies: 14 fractional worksLichen and fungal ecology: 6 fractional worksPlant Parasitism and Resistance: 6 fractional worksBotany and Plant Ecology Studies: 6 fractional worksSpecies Distribution and Climate Change: 6 fractional worksBotany, Ecology, and Taxonomy Studies: 6 fractional worksEcology and Vegetation Dynamics Studies: 5 fractional worksFern and Epiphyte Biology: 4 fractional works
Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and SystematicsMolecular BiologyPlant ScienceEcological Modeling1 others

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

  1. 1 Plant Diversity and Evolution Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics 21 works
  2. 2 Plant and Fungal Species Descriptions Molecular Biology 15 works
  3. 3 Plant and animal studies Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics 14 works
  4. 4 Lichen and fungal ecology Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics 6 works
  5. 5 Plant Parasitism and Resistance Plant Science 6 works
  6. 6 Botany and Plant Ecology Studies Plant Science 6 works
  7. 7 Species Distribution and Climate Change Ecological Modeling 6 works
  8. 8 Botany, Ecology, and Taxonomy Studies Plant Science 6 works
  9. 9 Ecology and Vegetation Dynamics Studies Nature and Landscape Conservation 5 works
  10. 10 Fern and Epiphyte Biology Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics 4 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 available55.7%not open44.3%

World: 28% of research is openly available.

with international co-authors33.6%domestic only66.4%

World: 19% is written across borders.

How has Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh's research output changed?

Output in 2018–2022 was 4% higher 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 Edinburgh

All research institutions in Edinburgh

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.