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University · Burnaby · Canada

Simon Fraser University

In research, Simon Fraser University stands highest in Computer Science (#82 of 4,667 worldwide), Social Sciences (#243 of 10,521 worldwide) and Social Sciences (#210 of 6,365 worldwide), 2022–2025. Relative to its size it is most specialised in Human-Computer Interaction and Health — Human-Computer Interaction is 6.0× its share of world research.

sfu.caROR OpenAlex
World rank, 2022–2025
#643
of 28,054 · #348 all time
Rank in Canada
#15
of 403
Research works
45k
▼ 2% vs 2013–17
Citations
1.3M
29.0 per fractional work
Top-10% rate
22.0%
record average 16.5%
Open access
29%
world 28%

What is Simon Fraser 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
Computer ScienceField #82 of 4,667 22.6%736 #93
Social SciencesDomain #243 of 10,521 24.8%2,230 #107
Social SciencesField #210 of 6,365 25.8%1,182 #88
PsychologyField #93 of 2,181 24.5%385 #71
Physical SciencesDomain #565 of 12,888 19.7%2,297 #345
Sociology and Political ScienceSubfield #252 of 2,578 25.9%423 #98
EngineeringField #679 of 6,636 17.7%615 #451
Environmental ScienceField #476 of 3,551 22.3%342 #221
Health SciencesDomain #1,707 of 11,982 23.7%675 #1167
Computer Vision and Pattern RecognitionSubfield #156 of 941 23.9%166 #101

Each strip is that field’s whole ranked pool, with the notch where Simon Fraser 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. Computer Science#93 #82
  2. Social Sciences#107 #243
  3. Social Sciences#88 #210
  4. Psychology#71 #93
  5. Physical Sciences#345 #565
  6. Sociology and Political Science#98 #252
  7. Engineering#451 #679
  8. Environmental Science#221 #476
  9. Health Sciences#1,167 #1,707
  10. Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition#101 #156
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 Simon Fraser University specialise in?

Where its research is concentrated relative to its size: Human-Computer Interaction takes 6.0× the share of its output that it takes of world research.

  1. Human-Computer InteractionSubfield · 70.6 works6.0×
  2. HealthSubfield · 70.1 works4.1×
← 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: 0.48× its world share, 130 worksAgricultural and Bio…Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology: 0.70× its world share, 212 worksBiochemistry, Geneti…Immunology and Microbiology: 0.41× its world share, 23 worksImmunology and Micro…Neuroscience: 1.42× its world share, 131 worksNeurosciencePharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics: 0.43× its world share, 9 worksPharmacology, Toxico…Chemical Engineering: 0.70× its world share, 14 worksChemical EngineeringChemistry: 0.65× its world share, 58 worksChemistryComputer Science: 1.66× its world share, 736 worksComputer ScienceEarth and Planetary Sciences: 1.26× its world share, 113 worksEarth and Planetary …Energy: 0.93× its world share, 49 worksEnergyEngineering: 0.72× its world share, 616 worksEngineeringEnvironmental Science: 1.21× its world share, 342 worksEnvironmental ScienceMaterials Science: 0.48× its world share, 96 worksMaterials ScienceMathematics: 1.77× its world share, 119 worksMathematicsPhysics and Astronomy: 1.22× its world share, 155 worksPhysics and AstronomyDentistry: 0.22× its world share, 6 worksDentistryHealth Professions: 1.11× its world share, 167 worksHealth ProfessionsMedicine: 0.45× its world share, 494 worksMedicineNursing: 0.20× its world share, 6 worksNursingVeterinary: 0.30× its world share, 2 worksVeterinaryArts and Humanities: 1.55× its world share, 255 worksArts and HumanitiesBusiness, Management and Accounting: 0.91× its world share, 167 worksBusiness, Management…Decision Sciences: 1.19× its world share, 66 worksDecision SciencesEconomics, Econometrics and Finance: 1.44× its world share, 176 worksEconomics, Econometr…Psychology: 2.21× its world share, 385 worksPsychologySocial Sciences: 1.64× its world share, 1,182 worksSocial Sciences1×world share
more than its size predictsabout as predictedless

Rings at 0.5×, 1× and 2×. Widest outward: Psychology, 2.2×. Every wedge is a field page.

Who are the top researchers at Simon Fraser University?

Ranked on the composite score, Bruce P. Lanphear, Martin Ester and Jian Pei lead among researchers whose main affiliation is Simon Fraser University.

  1. 1 Bruce P. Lanphear Canada · #2,689 worldwide 1.3k citations · 103 works
  2. 2 Martin Ester Canada · #2,746 worldwide 4.6k citations · 68 works
  3. 3 Jian Pei Canada · #6,265 worldwide 2.4k citations · 190 works
  4. 4 Stephen D. Hart Canada · #11,390 worldwide 987 citations · 53 works
  5. 5 Richard G. Lipsey Canada · #11,421 worldwide 701 citations · 75 works
  6. 6 Michael Howlett Canada · #18,438 worldwide 808 citations · 134 works
  7. 7 Thomas B. Lawrence Canada · #19,475 worldwide 601 citations · 41 works
  8. 8 Philip H. Winne Canada · #20,477 worldwide 670 citations · 55 works
  9. 9 Peter Borwein Canada · #23,123 worldwide 521 citations · 110 works
  10. 10 S. Roy Morrison Canada · #26,948 worldwide 531 citations · 52 works
All ranked researchers at Simon Fraser University

Which keywords describe research at Simon Fraser University?

By fractional works in 2022–2025, weighted toward what it does more of than the world: Globalization, Climate Change, Deep Learning, Mental Health, Public Health, Machine Learning, Social Support and Neighborhood Effects.

▲ 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. Deep Learning244▲ 1.25×72 topics
  2. Climate Change232▲ 1.51×93 topics
  3. Globalization220▲ 1.96×99 topics
  4. Machine Learning178◆ 0.95×77 topics
  5. Mental Health161▲ 1.92×39 topics
  6. Epidemiology142▼ 0.63×100 topics
  7. Public Health136▲ 1.64×49 topics
  8. Sustainability122◆ 0.88×78 topics
  9. Social Media111▲ 1.36×31 topics
  10. Neural Networks104▲ 1.18×37 topics
  11. Identity88▲ 2.1×47 topics
  12. Social Support84▲ 2.7×18 topics
  13. Nationalism75▲ 2.9×25 topics
  14. History75▲ 1.87×35 topics
  15. Social Justice70▲ 2.1×30 topics
  16. Neoliberalism68▲ 3.3×21 topics
  17. Gender65▲ 2.1×41 topics
  18. Ethics63▲ 2.3×35 topics
  19. Colonialism58▲ 2.1×30 topics
  20. Health Equity52▲ 3.4×6 topics
  21. Health Disparities52▲ 3.5×9 topics
  22. Feminism50▲ 3.1×18 topics
  23. Neighborhood Effects49▲ 7.9×3 topics
  24. Neuroscience48▲ 2.9×14 topics
  25. Discrimination44▲ 4.0×8 topics
  26. Mortality Risk44▲ 3.2×6 topics
  27. Emotion43▲ 3.6×12 topics
  28. Immigration40▲ 6.2×6 topics
  29. Substance Abuse39▲ 9.5×2 topics
  30. Convolutional Networks37▲ 4.7×3 topics
  31. Criminal Behavior37▲ 15×2 topics
  32. User Experience35▲ 7.5×3 topics
  33. Developmental Trajectories35▲ 5.0×3 topics
  34. Participatory Design34▲ 12×2 topics
  35. Youth Violence33▲ 13×3 topics
  36. Health Behavior Change32▲ 11×2 topics
  37. Aesthetics32▲ 7.4×8 topics
  38. Approximation Algorithms31▲ 7.8×5 topics
  39. Design Research27▲ 18×1 topic
  40. Interaction Design27▲ 18×1 topic

Which research topics does Simon Fraser University publish most on?

By volume in 2022–2025: Innovative Human-Technology Interaction, Fuel Cells and Related Materials, Crime Patterns and Interventions and Health disparities and outcomes.

Innovative Human-Technol…27Innovative Human-Technology Interaction: 27 fractional worksFuel Cells and Related M…27Fuel Cells and Related Materials: 27 fractional worksCrime Patterns and Interventions: 24 fractional worksHealth disparities and outcomes: 21 fractional worksCanadian Identity and History: 20 fractional worksHIV, Drug Use, Sexual Risk: 20 fractional worksElectrocatalysts for Energy Conversion: 19 fractional worksCriminal Justice and Cor…19Criminal Justice and Corrections Analysis: 19 fractional worksHomelessness and Social Issues: 18 fractional worksAdvanced Vision and Imaging: 18 fractional works
Human-Computer InteractionElectrical and Electronic EngineeringSociology and Political ScienceHealth4 others

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

  1. 1 Innovative Human-Technology Interaction Human-Computer Interaction 27 works
  2. 2 Fuel Cells and Related Materials Electrical and Electronic Engineering 27 works
  3. 3 Crime Patterns and Interventions Sociology and Political Science 24 works
  4. 4 Health disparities and outcomes Health 21 works
  5. 5 Canadian Identity and History Sociology and Political Science 20 works
  6. 6 HIV, Drug Use, Sexual Risk Epidemiology 20 works
  7. 7 Electrocatalysts for Energy Conversion Renewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment 19 works
  8. 8 Criminal Justice and Corrections Analysis Sociology and Political Science 19 works
  9. 9 Homelessness and Social Issues General Health Professions 18 works
  10. 10 Advanced Vision and Imaging Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition 18 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 available29.3%not open70.7%

World: 28% of research is openly available.

with international co-authors22.5%domestic only77.5%

World: 19% is written across borders.

How has Simon Fraser University's research output changed?

Output in 2018–2022 was 2% 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 Burnaby

All research institutions in Burnaby

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.