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University · San Francisco · United States

San Francisco State University

In research, San Francisco State University stands highest in Social Sciences (#1,717 of 10,521 worldwide), Social Sciences (#1,535 of 6,365 worldwide) and Physical Sciences (#3,892 of 12,888 worldwide), 2022–2025.

sfsu.eduROR OpenAlex
World rank, 2022–2025
#4,577
of 28,054 · #1,667 all time
Rank in United States
#639
of 4,192
Research works
11k
◆ 1% vs 2013–17
Citations
267k
23.7 per fractional work
Top-10% rate
17.2%
record average 16.5%
Open access
26%
world 28%

What is San Francisco 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 #1,717 of 10,521 19.8%632 #515
Social SciencesField #1,535 of 6,365 20.9%307 #564
Physical SciencesDomain #3,892 of 12,888 12.7%337 #1767
PsychologyField #939 of 2,181 21.6%126 #322
Computer ScienceField #2,194 of 4,667 15.1%92 #1949
Sociology and Political ScienceSubfield #1,229 of 2,578 21.5%97 #522
Health SciencesDomain #7,755 of 11,982 17.6%133 #2229
Life SciencesDomain #5,801 of 7,800 15.4%124 #2801
Arts and HumanitiesField #1,599 of 1,998 15.3%90 #442
MedicineField #8,437 of 10,443 14.5%87 #4740

Each strip is that field’s whole ranked pool, with the notch where San Francisco 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#515 #1,717
  2. Social Sciences#564 #1,535
  3. Physical Sciences#1,767 #3,892
  4. Psychology#322 #939
  5. Computer Science#1,949 #2,194
  6. Sociology and Political Science#522 #1,229
  7. Health Sciences#2,229 #7,755
  8. Life Sciences#2,801 #5,801
  9. Arts and Humanities#442 #1,599
  10. Medicine#4,740 #8,437
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.

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: 0.67× its world share, 39 worksAgricultural and Bio…Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology: 0.61× its world share, 40 worksBiochemistry, Geneti…Immunology and Microbiology: 0.53× its world share, 6 worksImmunology and Micro…Neuroscience: 1.91× its world share, 38 worksNeurosciencePharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics: 0.04× its world share, 0 worksPharmacology, Toxico…Chemical Engineering: 0.13× its world share, 1 worksChemical EngineeringChemistry: 0.30× its world share, 6 worksChemistryComputer Science: 0.97× its world share, 92 worksComputer ScienceEarth and Planetary Sciences: 0.75× its world share, 14 worksEarth and Planetary …Energy: 0.19× its world share, 2 worksEnergyEngineering: 0.49× its world share, 90 worksEngineeringEnvironmental Science: 0.76× its world share, 46 worksEnvironmental ScienceMaterials Science: 0.14× its world share, 6 worksMaterials ScienceMathematics: 2.28× its world share, 33 worksMathematicsPhysics and Astronomy: 1.69× its world share, 46 worksPhysics and AstronomyHealth Professions: 1.28× its world share, 42 worksHealth ProfessionsMedicine: 0.37× its world share, 87 worksMedicineNursing: 0.45× its world share, 3 worksNursingVeterinary: 0.80× its world share, 1 worksVeterinaryArts and Humanities: 2.53× its world share, 90 worksArts and HumanitiesBusiness, Management and Accounting: 1.33× its world share, 53 worksBusiness, Management…Decision Sciences: 1.80× its world share, 21 worksDecision SciencesEconomics, Econometrics and Finance: 1.35× its world share, 36 worksEconomics, Econometr…Psychology: 3.38× its world share, 126 worksPsychologySocial Sciences: 1.98× its world share, 307 worksSocial Sciences1×world share
more than its size predictsabout as predictedless

Rings at 0.5×, 1× and 2×. Widest outward: Psychology, 3.4×. Every wedge is a field page.

Who are the top researchers at San Francisco State University?

Ranked on the composite score, Kent Bach, Edward J. Carpenter and Sue V. Rosser lead among researchers whose main affiliation is San Francisco State University.

  1. 1 Kent Bach United States · #30,528 worldwide 571 citations · 36 works
  2. 2 Edward J. Carpenter United States · #47,825 worldwide 463 citations · 48 works
  3. 3 Sue V. Rosser United States · #54,681 worldwide 230 citations · 40 works
  4. 4 H Thiers United States · #71,453 worldwide 206 citations · 39 works
  5. 5 Andreï P. Tsygankov United States · #74,545 worldwide 111 citations · 41 works
  6. 6 Bill Nichols United States · #86,303 worldwide 107 citations · 43 works
  7. 7 David Matsumoto United States · #86,588 worldwide 457 citations · 61 works
  8. 8 Philippe Bourgois United States · #88,361 worldwide 192 citations · 29 works
  9. 9 Gilbert Herdt United States · #99,069 worldwide 165 citations · 37 works
  10. 10 C. McCarthy United States · #122,837 worldwide 338 citations · 30 works
All ranked researchers at San Francisco State University

Which keywords describe research at San Francisco State University?

By fractional works in 2022–2025, weighted toward what it does more of than the world: Globalization, Gender, Mental Health, Colonialism, Identity, Feminism, Intersectionality and History.

▲ 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. Globalization70▲ 2.9×71 topics
  2. Mental Health46▲ 2.5×33 topics
  3. Education35▲ 1.65×45 topics
  4. Climate Change34◆ 1.05×59 topics
  5. Gender34▲ 5.1×31 topics
  6. Identity30▲ 3.4×34 topics
  7. Colonialism26▲ 4.5×25 topics
  8. History25▲ 2.9×24 topics
  9. Nationalism22▲ 3.8×18 topics
  10. Innovation21▲ 1.67×23 topics
  11. Social Justice21▲ 3.0×25 topics
  12. Feminism21▲ 6.1×16 topics
  13. Culture21▲ 3.2×17 topics
  14. Human Rights20▲ 1.62×32 topics
  15. Social Interaction19▲ 3.9×10 topics
  16. Religion19▲ 3.2×22 topics
  17. Intersectionality18▲ 8.0×12 topics
  18. Emotion17▲ 6.6×11 topics
  19. Literature16▲ 2.5×18 topics
  20. Student Engagement16▲ 3.2×13 topics
  21. Ethics16▲ 2.6×17 topics
  22. Neoliberalism16▲ 3.5×20 topics
  23. Well-being15▲ 3.2×12 topics
  24. Health Disparities15▲ 4.6×8 topics
  25. Discrimination15▲ 6.2×6 topics
  26. Neuroscience15▲ 4.0×11 topics
  27. Gender Differences14▲ 3.1×11 topics
  28. Politics14▲ 4.2×13 topics
  29. Emotion Regulation13▲ 3.5×9 topics
  30. Diversity12▲ 5.5×8 topics
  31. Public Opinion12▲ 7.5×4 topics
  32. Race11▲ 8.4×11 topics
  33. Society11▲ 4.7×8 topics
  34. Self-Regulation11▲ 5.0×4 topics
  35. Stigma10▲ 6.0×4 topics
  36. Career Development10▲ 7.1×5 topics
  37. Teacher Education10▲ 6.5×4 topics
  38. Engineering Education10▲ 8.8×4 topics
  39. Gender Identity10▲ 7.2×4 topics
  40. Social Cognitive Theory9▲ 17×2 topics

Which research topics does San Francisco State University publish most on?

By volume in 2022–2025: LGBTQ Health, Identity, and Policy, Career Development and Diversity, Engineering Education and Curriculum Development and Quantum Chromodynamics and Particle Interactions.

LGBTQ Health, Identity, …6LGBTQ Health, Identity, and Policy: 6 fractional worksCareer Development and D…6Career Development and Diversity: 6 fractional worksEngineering Education and Curriculum Development: 6 fractional worksQuantum Chromodynamics a…6Quantum Chromodynamics and Particle Interactions: 6 fractional worksDisability Education and…6Disability Education and Employment: 6 fractional worksRace, History, and American Society: 5 fractional worksFood Security and Health in Diverse Populations: 5 fractional worksJudicial and Constitutio…5Judicial and Constitutional Studies: 5 fractional worksCritical Race Theory in Education: 5 fractional worksAuditing, Earnings Management, Governance: 5 fractional works
Social PsychologySafety ResearchMedia TechnologyNuclear and High Energy Physics4 others

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

  1. 1 LGBTQ Health, Identity, and Policy Social Psychology 6 works
  2. 2 Career Development and Diversity Safety Research 6 works
  3. 3 Engineering Education and Curriculum Development Media Technology 6 works
  4. 4 Quantum Chromodynamics and Particle Interactions Nuclear and High Energy Physics 6 works
  5. 5 Disability Education and Employment Safety Research 6 works
  6. 6 Race, History, and American Society Sociology and Political Science 5 works
  7. 7 Food Security and Health in Diverse Populations General Health Professions 5 works
  8. 8 Judicial and Constitutional Studies Law 5 works
  9. 9 Critical Race Theory in Education Sociology and Political Science 5 works
  10. 10 Auditing, Earnings Management, Governance Accounting 5 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 available25.9%not open74.1%

World: 28% of research is openly available.

with international co-authors11.5%domestic only88.5%

World: 19% is written across borders.

How has San Francisco State University's research output changed?

Output in 2018–2022 was 1% 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 San Francisco

All research institutions in San Francisco

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.