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Nonprofit · San Antonio · United States

Southwest Research Institute

In research, Southwest Research Institute stands highest in Physical Sciences (#4,134 of 12,888 worldwide), Astronomy and Astrophysics (#149 of 443 worldwide) and Engineering (#4,077 of 6,636 worldwide), 2022–2025. Relative to its size it is most specialised in Astronomy and Astrophysics, Physics and Astronomy and Chemical Engineering — Astronomy and Astrophysics is 56.6× its share of world research.

swri.orgROR OpenAlex
World rank, 2022–2025
#7,264
of 28,054 · #1,828 all time
Rank in United States
#967
of 4,192
Research works
8.1k
▼ 10% vs 2013–17
Citations
172k
21.3 per fractional work
Top-10% rate
13.7%
record average 16.5%
Open access
22%
world 28%

What is Southwest Research Institute 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
Physical SciencesDomain #4,134 of 12,888 13.6%620 #1249
Astronomy and AstrophysicsSubfield #149 of 443 22.8%200 #124
EngineeringField #4,077 of 6,636 7.4%242 #853
Physics and AstronomyField #1,606 of 1,646 22.0%215 #1978

Each strip is that field’s whole ranked pool, with the notch where Southwest Research Institute 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. Physical Sciences#1,249 #4,134
  2. Astronomy and Astrophysics#124 #149
  3. Engineering#853 #4,077
  4. Physics and Astronomy#1,978 #1,606
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 Southwest Research Institute specialise in?

Where its research is concentrated relative to its size: Astronomy and Astrophysics takes 56.6× the share of its output that it takes of world research.

  1. Astronomy and AstrophysicsSubfield · 200.2 works57×
  2. Physics and AstronomyField · 214.9 works14×
  3. Chemical EngineeringField · 20.5 works8.6×
  4. Automotive EngineeringSubfield · 30.0 works8.2×
← 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: 0.06× its world share, 2 worksAgricultural and Bio…Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology: 0.42× its world share, 15 worksBiochemistry, Geneti…Immunology and Microbiology: 0.01× its world share, 0 worksImmunology and Micro…Neuroscience: 0.11× its world share, 1 worksNeurosciencePharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics: 0.10× its world share, 0 worksPharmacology, Toxico…Chemical Engineering: 8.60× its world share, 20 worksChemical EngineeringChemistry: 0.40× its world share, 4 worksChemistryComputer Science: 0.73× its world share, 39 worksComputer ScienceEarth and Planetary Sciences: 3.53× its world share, 38 worksEarth and Planetary …Energy: 1.21× its world share, 8 worksEnergyEngineering: 2.37× its world share, 242 worksEngineeringEnvironmental Science: 0.80× its world share, 27 worksEnvironmental ScienceMaterials Science: 1.10× its world share, 26 worksMaterials ScienceMathematics: 0.25× its world share, 2 worksMathematicsPhysics and Astronomy: 14.20× its world share, 215 worksPhysics and AstronomyDentistry: 0.10× its world share, 0 worksDentistryHealth Professions: 0.12× its world share, 2 worksHealth ProfessionsMedicine: 0.10× its world share, 14 worksMedicineNursing: 0.24× its world share, 1 worksNursingVeterinary: 0.36× its world share, 0 worksVeterinaryArts and Humanities: 0.06× its world share, 1 worksArts and HumanitiesBusiness, Management and Accounting: 0.05× its world share, 1 worksBusiness, Management…Decision Sciences: 1.21× its world share, 8 worksDecision SciencesEconomics, Econometrics and Finance: 0.14× its world share, 2 worksEconomics, Econometr…Psychology: 0.10× its world share, 2 worksPsychologySocial Sciences: 0.11× its world share, 10 worksSocial Sciences1×world share
more than its size predictsabout as predictedless

Rings at 0.5×, 1× and 2×. Widest outward: Physics and Astronomy, 14.2×. Every wedge is a field page.

Who are the top researchers at Southwest Research Institute?

Ranked on the composite score, Harold F. Levison, H. N. Abramson and Charles E. Anderson lead among researchers whose main affiliation is Southwest Research Institute.

  1. 1 Harold F. Levison United States · #24,408 worldwide 749 citations · 90 works
  2. 2 H. N. Abramson United States · #27,774 worldwide 887 citations · 36 works
  3. 3 Charles E. Anderson United States · #43,172 worldwide 351 citations · 44 works
  4. 4 T. A. Cruse United States · #48,545 worldwide 442 citations · 33 works
  5. 5 L. Dones United States · #53,856 worldwide 464 citations · 57 works
  6. 6 V. E. Hamilton United States · #61,805 worldwide 583 citations · 117 works
  7. 7 David Camann United States · #94,244 worldwide 295 citations · 25 works
  8. 8 B. Magee United States · #97,269 worldwide 215 citations · 29 works
  9. 9 David A. Ferrill United States · #99,054 worldwide 318 citations · 37 works
  10. 10 Christopher R. Glein United States · #108,767 worldwide 223 citations · 38 works
All ranked researchers at Southwest Research Institute

Which keywords describe research at Southwest Research Institute?

By fractional works in 2022–2025, weighted toward what it does more of than the world: Solar Wind, Solar System Abundances, Terrestrial Planets, Mars, Martian Surface, Coronal Mass Ejections, Solar Dynamics Observatory and Electron Acceleration.

▲ 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. Solar Wind63▲ 99×2 topics
  2. Solar System Abundances59▲ 180×1 topic
  3. Terrestrial Planets59▲ 180×1 topic
  4. Mars38▲ 173×1 topic
  5. Martian Surface38▲ 173×1 topic
  6. Coronal Mass Ejections36▲ 146×1 topic
  7. Solar Dynamics Observatory36▲ 146×1 topic
  8. Electron Acceleration26▲ 57×2 topics
  9. Ionosphere26▲ 69×1 topic
  10. Magnetosphere26▲ 69×1 topic
  11. Emissions26▲ 19×4 topics
  12. Chemical Kinetics25▲ 41×2 topics
  13. Renewable Energy24▲ 2.4×19 topics
  14. Machine Learning24◆ 1.06×32 topics
  15. Climate Change21▲ 1.16×28 topics
  16. Nanoparticles19▲ 2.2×10 topics
  17. Combustion19▲ 44×3 topics
  18. Internal Combustion Engines18▲ 58×1 topic
  19. Soot Formation18▲ 58×1 topic
  20. Exoplanets18▲ 65×1 topic
  21. Stellar Astrophysics18▲ 65×1 topic
  22. Heat Transfer16▲ 4.9×15 topics
  23. CO2 Emissions14▲ 11×2 topics
  24. Eco-Driving14▲ 39×1 topic
  25. Energy Storage14▲ 3.0×5 topics
  26. Fuel Consumption14▲ 27×1 topic
  27. Thermodynamic Analysis12▲ 28×3 topics
  28. Geomagnetic Field12▲ 78×1 topic
  29. Magnetosome Formation12▲ 78×1 topic
  30. Electric Vehicles11▲ 5.5×4 topics
  31. Lithium-ion Batteries11▲ 3.8×3 topics
  32. Large-Eddy Simulation10▲ 8.1×5 topics
  33. Ceria10▲ 12×1 topic
  34. Oxidation10▲ 9.0×1 topic
  35. Combustion Instabilities10▲ 24×2 topics
  36. Turbulence10▲ 17×4 topics
  37. Thermodynamic Modeling9▲ 12×2 topics
  38. Magnetic Fields9▲ 20×3 topics
  39. Accretion Disks8▲ 25×2 topics
  40. Holocene8▲ 9.5×3 topics

Which research topics does Southwest Research Institute publish most on?

By volume in 2022–2025: Astro and Planetary Science, Planetary Science and Exploration, Solar and Space Plasma Dynamics and Ionosphere and magnetosphere dynamics.

Astro and Planetary Scie…59Astro and Planetary Science: 59 fractional worksPlanetary Science and Exploration: 38 fractional worksSolar and Space Plasma Dynamics: 36 fractional worksIonosphere and magnetosphere dynamics: 26 fractional worksAdvanced Combustion Engine Technologies: 18 fractional worksStellar, planetary, and …18Stellar, planetary, and galactic studies: 18 fractional worksVehicle emissions and performance: 14 fractional worksGeomagnetism and Paleomagnetism Studies: 12 fractional worksCatalytic Processes in Materials Science: 10 fractional worksAstrophysics and Star Formation Studies: 7 fractional works
Astronomy and AstrophysicsFluid Flow and Transfer ProcessesAutomotive EngineeringMolecular Biology1 others

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

  1. 1 Astro and Planetary Science Astronomy and Astrophysics 59 works
  2. 2 Planetary Science and Exploration Astronomy and Astrophysics 38 works
  3. 3 Solar and Space Plasma Dynamics Astronomy and Astrophysics 36 works
  4. 4 Ionosphere and magnetosphere dynamics Astronomy and Astrophysics 26 works
  5. 5 Advanced Combustion Engine Technologies Fluid Flow and Transfer Processes 18 works
  6. 6 Stellar, planetary, and galactic studies Astronomy and Astrophysics 18 works
  7. 7 Vehicle emissions and performance Automotive Engineering 14 works
  8. 8 Geomagnetism and Paleomagnetism Studies Molecular Biology 12 works
  9. 9 Catalytic Processes in Materials Science Materials Chemistry 10 works
  10. 10 Astrophysics and Star Formation Studies Astronomy and Astrophysics 7 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 available21.9%not open78.1%

World: 28% of research is openly available.

with international co-authors14.5%domestic only85.5%

World: 19% is written across borders.

How has Southwest Research Institute's research output changed?

Output in 2018–2022 was 10% 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 San Antonio

All research institutions in San Antonio

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.