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University · Swarthmore · United States

Swarthmore College

In research, Swarthmore College stands highest in Social Sciences (#2,716 of 9,585 worldwide), Life Sciences (#2,547 of 6,403 worldwide) and Social Sciences (#2,699 of 5,988 worldwide), 2022-now.

swarthmore.eduROR OpenAlex
World rank, 2022-now
#4,721
of 22,385 · #2,163 all time
Rank in United States
#654
of 3,332
Research works
5.3k
▼ 10% vs 2018-21
Citations
131k
24.8 per fractional work
Top-10% rate
9.7%
all institutions 10.0%
vs its own fields
0.90×
1.00× is exactly expected
Open access
33%
world 40%
International
7%
world 18%
Swarthmore College

What is Swarthmore College 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
Social SciencesDomain #2,716 of 9,585 11.0%250 #888
Life SciencesDomain #2,547 of 6,403 3.8%67 #2264
Social SciencesField #2,699 of 5,988 11.6%138 #1135
Physical SciencesDomain #5,991 of 10,670 9.1%130 #2596

Each strip is that field's whole ranked pool, with the notch where Swarthmore College 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. Social Sciences#888 #2,716
  2. Life Sciences#2,264 #2,547
  3. Social Sciences#1,135 #2,699
  4. Physical Sciences#2,596 #5,991
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 Swarthmore College work in?

In 2022-now, 53% of research at Swarthmore College is in Social Sciences, 27% in Physical Sciences. Its largest fields are Social Sciences (29%), Arts and Humanities (11%), Psychology (10%). It does 2.1× the world's share of Social Sciences.

Social Sciences: 281 fractional works · 53.0% of its workSocial Sciences: 152 fractional works · 28.6% of its workSociology and Political Science: 49 fractional works · 9.2% of its workPolitical Science and International Relations: 30 fractional works · 5.7% of its workEducation: 12 fractional works · 2.3% of its workCultural Studies: 12 fractional works · 2.3% of its workGender Studies: 9 fractional works · 1.6% of its workAnthropology: 8 fractional works · 1.5% of its workLinguistics and Language: 6 fractional works · 1.0% of its workSafety Research: 5 fractional works · 1.0% of its workLaw: 5 fractional works · 0.9% of its workDemography: 4 fractional works · 0.8% of its workGeography, Planning and Development: 3 fractional works · 0.5% of its workCommunication: 3 fractional works · 0.5% of its workHealth: 3 fractional works · 0.5% of its workGeneral Social Sciences: 1 fractional works · 0.2% of its workDevelopment: 1 fractional works · 0.2% of its workSmaller subfields together: 2 fractional works · 0.4% of its workArts and Humanities: 58 fractional works · 10.9% of its workLiterature and Literary Theory: 12 fractional works · 2.2% of its workPhilosophy: 11 fractional works · 2.0% of its workHistory and Philosophy of Science: 8 fractional works · 1.5% of its workLanguage and Linguistics: 7 fractional works · 1.4% of its workHistory: 5 fractional works · 1.0% of its workReligious studies: 4 fractional works · 0.8% of its workVisual Arts and Performing Arts: 3 fractional works · 0.6% of its workArcheology: 2 fractional works · 0.4% of its workMuseology: 2 fractional works · 0.3% of its workMusic: 2 fractional works · 0.3% of its workSmaller subfields together: 1 fractional works · 0.2% of its workPsychology: 52 fractional works · 9.7% of its workExperimental and Cognitive Psychology: 16 fractional works · 3.1% of its workSocial Psychology: 16 fractional works · 3.0% of its workDevelopmental and Educational Psychology: 8 fractional works · 1.5% of its workClinical Psychology: 7 fractional works · 1.4% of its workGeneral Psychology: 2 fractional works · 0.4% of its workApplied Psychology: 2 fractional works · 0.3% of its workEconomics, Econometrics and Finance: 8 fractional works · 1.4% of its workEconomics and Econometrics: 7 fractional works · 1.3% of its workSmaller subfields together: 1 fractional works · 0.2% of its workDecision Sciences: 7 fractional works · 1.3% of its workManagement Science and Operations Research: 3 fractional works · 0.6% of its workInformation Systems and Management: 3 fractional works · 0.5% of its workSmaller subfields together: 2 fractional works · 0.3% of its workBusiness, Management and Accounting: 5 fractional works · 1.0% of its workMarketing: 1 fractional works · 0.3% of its workSmaller subfields together: 4 fractional works · 0.7% of its workPhysical Sciences: 142 fractional works · 26.9% of its workComputer Science: 38 fractional works · 7.2% of its workArtificial Intelligence: 8 fractional works · 1.5% of its workComputational Theory and Mathematics: 8 fractional works · 1.5% of its workComputer Vision and Pattern Recognition: 4 fractional works · 0.8% of its workComputer Networks and Communications: 4 fractional works · 0.7% of its workInformation Systems: 4 fractional works · 0.7% of its workSignal Processing: 3 fractional works · 0.7% of its workHuman-Computer Interaction: 3 fractional works · 0.5% of its workComputer Science Applications: 2 fractional works · 0.5% of its workSmaller subfields together: 2 fractional works · 0.4% of its workMathematics: 30 fractional works · 5.6% of its workStatistics and Probability: 9 fractional works · 1.6% of its workMathematical Physics: 7 fractional works · 1.3% of its workGeometry and Topology: 6 fractional works · 1.1% of its workApplied Mathematics: 3 fractional works · 0.6% of its workDiscrete Mathematics and Combinatorics: 2 fractional works · 0.4% of its workTheoretical Computer Science: 1 fractional works · 0.3% of its workSmaller subfields together: 1 fractional works · 0.3% of its workEngineering: 20 fractional works · 3.8% of its workBiomedical Engineering: 7 fractional works · 1.3% of its workElectrical and Electronic Engineering: 4 fractional works · 0.8% of its workMedia Technology: 2 fractional works · 0.5% of its workAutomotive Engineering: 1 fractional works · 0.3% of its workSmaller subfields together: 5 fractional works · 1.0% of its workEnvironmental Science: 18 fractional works · 3.4% of its workGlobal and Planetary Change: 6 fractional works · 1.1% of its workEcology: 4 fractional works · 0.8% of its workManagement, Monitoring, Policy and Law: 3 fractional works · 0.6% of its workIndustrial and Manufacturing Engineering: 1 fractional works · 0.2% of its workHealth, Toxicology and Mutagenesis: 1 fractional works · 0.2% of its workSmaller subfields together: 3 fractional works · 0.5% of its workPhysics and Astronomy: 17 fractional works · 3.1% of its workAstronomy and Astrophysics: 6 fractional works · 1.2% of its workAtomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics: 3 fractional works · 0.6% of its workStatistical and Nonlinear Physics: 3 fractional works · 0.5% of its workNuclear and High Energy Physics: 2 fractional works · 0.4% of its workCondensed Matter Physics: 1 fractional works · 0.2% of its workSmaller subfields together: 1 fractional works · 0.3% of its workChemistry: 9 fractional works · 1.8% of its workOrganic Chemistry: 5 fractional works · 1.0% of its workPhysical and Theoretical Chemistry: 3 fractional works · 0.5% of its workSmaller subfields together: 1 fractional works · 0.3% of its workMaterials Science: 6 fractional works · 1.1% of its workMaterials Chemistry: 4 fractional works · 0.7% of its workElectronic, Optical and Magnetic Materials: 1 fractional works · 0.2% of its workSmaller subfields together: 1 fractional works · 0.2% of its workEarth and Planetary Sciences: 4 fractional works · 0.7% of its workOceanography: 2 fractional works · 0.3% of its workAtmospheric Science: 1 fractional works · 0.2% of its workSmaller subfields together: 1 fractional works · 0.2% of its workChemical Engineering: 0 fractional works · 0.0% of its workLife Sciences: 75 fractional works · 14.2% of its workBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology: 30 fractional works · 5.7% of its workMolecular Biology: 24 fractional works · 4.5% of its workGenetics: 3 fractional works · 0.5% of its workCell Biology: 1 fractional works · 0.3% of its workSmaller subfields together: 2 fractional works · 0.4% of its workNeuroscience: 30 fractional works · 5.7% of its workCognitive Neuroscience: 25 fractional works · 4.8% of its workCellular and Molecular Neuroscience: 3 fractional works · 0.6% of its workSmaller subfields together: 2 fractional works · 0.4% of its workAgricultural and Biological Sciences: 11 fractional works · 2.1% of its workEcology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics: 6 fractional works · 1.1% of its workPlant Science: 4 fractional works · 0.7% of its workSmaller subfields together: 2 fractional works · 0.3% of its workImmunology and Microbiology: 2 fractional works · 0.4% of its workVirology: 1 fractional works · 0.3% of its workSmaller subfields together: 1 fractional works · 0.2% of its workPharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics: 1 fractional works · 0.2% of its workHealth Sciences: 31 fractional works · 5.9% of its workMedicine: 23 fractional works · 4.4% of its workPublic Health, Environmental and Occupational Health: 4 fractional works · 0.7% of its workRadiology, Nuclear Medicine and Imaging: 3 fractional works · 0.5% of its workSurgery: 3 fractional works · 0.5% of its workEpidemiology: 2 fractional works · 0.4% of its workPhysiology: 2 fractional works · 0.4% of its workPharmacology: 1 fractional works · 0.2% of its workSmaller subfields together: 9 fractional works · 1.6% of its workHealth Professions: 7 fractional works · 1.4% of its workGeneral Health Professions: 5 fractional works · 0.9% of its workSmaller subfields together: 2 fractional works · 0.5% of its workVeterinary: 1 fractional works · 0.1% of its workNursing: 0 fractional works · 0.0% of its workALL ITS WORKSwarthmoreCollege530fractional works, 2022-now
Life Sciences14%Physical Sciences27%Health Sciences6%Social Sciences53%

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 26 fields, with their numbers
    1. Social Sciences15228.6%
    2. Arts and Humanities5810.9%
    3. Psychology529.7%
    4. Economics, Econometrics and Finance81.4%
    5. Decision Sciences71.3%
    6. Business, Management and Accounting51.0%
    1. Computer Science387.2%
    2. Mathematics305.6%
    3. Engineering203.8%
    4. Environmental Science183.4%
    5. Physics and Astronomy173.1%
    6. Chemistry91.8%
    7. Materials Science61.1%
    8. Earth and Planetary Sciences40.7%
    9. Chemical Engineering00.0%
    10. Energy00.0%
    1. Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology305.7%
    2. Neuroscience305.7%
    3. Agricultural and Biological Sciences112.1%
    4. Immunology and Microbiology20.4%
    5. Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics10.2%
    1. Medicine234.4%
    2. Health Professions71.4%
    3. Veterinary10.1%
    4. Nursing00.0%
    5. Dentistry00.0%
All of science, and how each field's share has moved since 1950: the Science domain explorer

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: 0.45× its world share, 11 worksAgricultural and Bio…Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology: 1.07× its world share, 30 worksBiochemistry, Geneti…Immunology and Microbiology: 0.44× its world share, 2 worksImmunology and Micro…Neuroscience: 3.51× its world share, 30 worksNeurosciencePharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics: 0.68× its world share, 1 worksPharmacology, Toxico…Chemical Engineering: 0.11× its world share, 0 worksChemical EngineeringChemistry: 1.13× its world share, 9 worksChemistryComputer Science: 0.93× its world share, 38 worksComputer ScienceEarth and Planetary Sciences: 0.47× its world share, 4 worksEarth and Planetary …Energy: 0.02× its world share, 0 worksEnergyEngineering: 0.26× its world share, 20 worksEngineeringEnvironmental Science: 0.69× its world share, 18 worksEnvironmental ScienceMaterials Science: 0.31× its world share, 6 worksMaterials ScienceMathematics: 4.78× its world share, 30 worksMathematicsPhysics and Astronomy: 1.41× its world share, 17 worksPhysics and AstronomyDentistry: 0.03× its world share, 0 worksDentistryHealth Professions: 0.52× its world share, 7 worksHealth ProfessionsMedicine: 0.23× its world share, 23 worksMedicineNursing: 0.06× its world share, 0 worksNursingVeterinary: 0.90× its world share, 1 worksVeterinaryArts and Humanities: 3.77× its world share, 58 worksArts and HumanitiesBusiness, Management and Accounting: 0.31× its world share, 5 worksBusiness, Management…Decision Sciences: 1.37× its world share, 7 worksDecision SciencesEconomics, Econometrics and Finance: 0.67× its world share, 8 worksEconomics, Econometr…Psychology: 3.20× its world share, 52 worksPsychologySocial Sciences: 2.26× its world share, 152 worksSocial Sciences1×world share
more than its size predictsabout as predictedless

Rings at 0.5×, 1× and 2×. Widest outward: Mathematics, 4.8×. Every wedge is a field page.

All 26 fields, with their numbers
  1. Mathematics4.78×30 works
  2. Arts and Humanities3.77×58 works
  3. Neuroscience3.51×30 works
  4. Psychology3.20×52 works
  5. Social Sciences2.26×152 works
  6. Physics and Astronomy1.41×17 works
  7. Decision Sciences1.37×7 works
  8. Chemistry1.13×9 works
  9. Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology1.07×30 works
  10. Computer Science0.93×38 works
  11. Veterinary0.90×1 works
  12. Environmental Science0.69×18 works
  13. Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics0.68×1 works
  14. Economics, Econometrics and Finance0.67×8 works
  15. Health Professions0.52×7 works
  16. Earth and Planetary Sciences0.47×4 works
  17. Agricultural and Biological Sciences0.45×11 works
  18. Immunology and Microbiology0.44×2 works
  19. Materials Science0.31×6 works
  20. Business, Management and Accounting0.31×5 works
  21. Engineering0.26×20 works
  22. Medicine0.23×23 works
  23. Chemical Engineering0.11×0 works
  24. Nursing0.06×0 works
  25. Dentistry0.03×0 works
  26. Energy0.02×0 works

Who are the top researchers at Swarthmore College?

Ranked on the quality score, David Huffman, Tristan L. Smith and K. Ann Renninger lead among researchers whose main affiliation is Swarthmore College.

  1. 1 David Huffman United States · #43,069 worldwide 15k citations · 140 works
  2. 2 Tristan L. Smith United States · #60,319 worldwide 9.3k citations · 143 works
  3. 3 K. Ann Renninger United States · #176,666 worldwide 15k citations · 163 works
  4. 4 Kenneth J. Gergen United States · #228,723 worldwide 39k citations · 609 works
  5. 5 Paul R. Rablen United States · #249,493 worldwide 5.1k citations · 113 works
  6. 6 Barry N. Schwartz United States · #284,488 worldwide 21k citations · 323 works
  7. 7 Daniela Fera United States · #293,016 worldwide 2.1k citations · 637 works
  8. 8 Robert F. Pasternack United States · #300,150 worldwide 9.6k citations · 170 works
  9. 9 M. H. Abrams United States · #356,371 worldwide 4.4k citations · 62 works
  10. 10 Daniel Laurison United States · #364,721 worldwide 1.7k citations · 59 works
All ranked researchers at Swarthmore College

What are the most cited papers from Swarthmore College?

The most cited paper from Swarthmore College is "The Four-Phase Model of Interest Development" (Suzanne E. Hidi, K. Ann Renninger, 2006), with 4,657 citations. Next come "Studies of independence and conformity: I. A minority of one against a unanimous majority." (4,289) and "INDIVIDUAL RISK ATTITUDES: MEASUREMENT, DETERMINANTS, AND BEHAVIORAL CONSEQUENCES" (4,020).

Most cited papers
#PaperReleasedCitations
1 The Four-Phase Model of Interest Development Suzanne E. Hidi, K. Ann Renninger · Educational Psychologist May 2006 4,657
2 Studies of independence and conformity: I. A minority of one against a unanimous majority. Solomon E. Asch · The Psychological Monographs 1956 4,289
3 INDIVIDUAL RISK ATTITUDES: MEASUREMENT, DETERMINANTS, AND BEHAVIORAL CONSEQUENCES Thomas Dohmen, Armin Falk, David Huffman et al. · Journal of the European Economic Association Open access 31 Mar 2011 4,020
4 The Paradox of Choice: Why More Is Less Barry N. Schwartz · Works - Scholarship, Research, & Creative Expression (Swarthmore College) 2004 2,492
5 Opinions and Social Pressure Solomon E. Asch · Scientific American Nov 1955 2,311
All 59 most cited papers, with filters and sorting

Which keywords describe research at Swarthmore College?

By fractional works in 2022-now, weighted toward what it does more of than the world: Globalization, History, Gender, Colonialism, Identity, Nationalism, Feminism and Neoliberalism.

▲ 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. Globalization35▲ 3.4×60 topics
  2. History22▲ 6.0×28 topics
  3. Identity21▲ 5.4×32 topics
  4. Gender20▲ 7.0×29 topics
  5. Education20▲ 2.2×40 topics
  6. Colonialism19▲ 7.5×25 topics
  7. Nationalism17▲ 7.3×19 topics
  8. Feminism15▲ 9.8×17 topics
  9. Human Rights15▲ 2.7×28 topics
  10. Neoliberalism14▲ 7.5×15 topics
  11. Literature14▲ 4.8×16 topics
  12. Ethics14▲ 5.1×15 topics
  13. Culture13▲ 4.7×18 topics
  14. Race12▲ 19×14 topics
  15. Working Memory10▲ 21×3 topics
  16. Social Justice10▲ 3.1×21 topics
  17. Politics10▲ 6.9×12 topics
  18. Democracy9▲ 5.0×13 topics
  19. Philosophy9▲ 3.9×14 topics
  20. Public Opinion9▲ 14×4 topics
  21. Perception8▲ 22×4 topics
  22. Postcolonialism8▲ 11×8 topics
  23. Cold War8▲ 24×4 topics
  24. Neuroscience8▲ 4.8×9 topics
  25. Ethnicity8▲ 3.9×12 topics
  26. Cognitive Development8▲ 11×2 topics
  27. International Relations8▲ 5.8×9 topics
  28. Language7▲ 5.0×8 topics
  29. Society6▲ 6.4×8 topics
  30. Emotion6▲ 5.8×9 topics
  31. Activism6▲ 26×4 topics
  32. Anthropocene6▲ 19×3 topics
  33. Executive Functioning6▲ 9.1×3 topics
  34. Spatial Representation6▲ 28×2 topics
  35. Mathematical Achievement6▲ 61×1 topic
  36. Numerical Cognition6▲ 61×1 topic
  37. Empathy6▲ 9.4×5 topics
  38. Brain-Computer Interfaces6▲ 11×1 topic
  39. EEG Analysis6▲ 11×1 topic
  40. Transnational6▲ 41×2 topics

Which research topics does Swarthmore College publish most on?

By volume in 2022-now: Cognitive and developmental aspects of mathematical skills, EEG and Brain-Computer Interfaces, Historical Gender and Feminism Studies and American Constitutional Law and Politics.

Cognitive and developmen…6Cognitive and developmental aspects of mathematical skills: 6 fractional worksEEG and Brain-Computer I…6EEG and Brain-Computer Interfaces: 6 fractional worksHistorical Gender and Feminism Studies: 4 fractional worksAmerican Constitutional Law and Politics: 4 fractional worksNeural dynamics and brain function: 4 fractional worksVisual perception and processing mechanisms: 4 fractional worksPhilosophy and History of Science: 3 fractional worksDNA and Nucleic Acid Che…3DNA and Nucleic Acid Chemistry: 3 fractional worksEpistemology, Ethics, and Metaphysics: 3 fractional worksLinguistic Variation and Morphology: 3 fractional works
Statistics and ProbabilityCognitive NeuroscienceSociology and Political SciencePolitical Science and International Relations4 others

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

  1. 1 Cognitive and developmental aspects of mathematical skills Statistics and Probability 6 works
  2. 2 EEG and Brain-Computer Interfaces Cognitive Neuroscience 6 works
  3. 3 Historical Gender and Feminism Studies Sociology and Political Science 4 works
  4. 4 American Constitutional Law and Politics Political Science and International Relations 4 works
  5. 5 Neural dynamics and brain function Cognitive Neuroscience 4 works
  6. 6 Visual perception and processing mechanisms Cognitive Neuroscience 4 works
  7. 7 Philosophy and History of Science History and Philosophy of Science 3 works
  8. 8 DNA and Nucleic Acid Chemistry Molecular Biology 3 works
  9. 9 Epistemology, Ethics, and Metaphysics Philosophy 3 works
  10. 10 Linguistic Variation and Morphology Linguistics and Language 3 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 available32.7%not open67.3%

World: 40% of research is openly available.

with international co-authors7.4%domestic only92.6%

World: 18% is written across borders.

How has Swarthmore College's research output changed?

Output in 2022-2025 was 10% 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 Swarthmore College as a percentage of every work published that year, 0.0020% in 2024.

still counting0.020%0.040%Swarthmore College0.0018% in 202519801990200020102020

Fractional works of Swarthmore College 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%all institutions10.0% in 2025Swarthmore College8.6% in 2025200020102020

Of each year's output, the share that reached the world's 10% most cited for its field and year. Peak 20.1% in 2009.

Other research institutions in Swarthmore

All research institutions in Swarthmore

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Swarthmore College on Science Explorer

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