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University · Swarthmore · United States

Swarthmore College

In research, Swarthmore College stands highest in Social Sciences (#3,306 of 10,521 worldwide), Social Sciences (#2,954 of 6,365 worldwide) and Physical Sciences (#6,877 of 12,888 worldwide), 2022–2025. Relative to its size it is most specialised in Cognitive Neuroscience — Cognitive Neuroscience is 6.6× its share of world research.

swarthmore.eduROR OpenAlex
World rank, 2022–2025
#8,082
of 28,054 · #2,799 all time
Rank in United States
#1,075
of 4,192
Research works
5.3k
▲ 15% vs 2013–17
Citations
131k
24.8 per fractional work
Top-10% rate
18.7%
record average 16.5%
Open access
33%
world 28%

What is Swarthmore College 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 #3,306 of 10,521 21.3%250 #518
Social SciencesField #2,954 of 6,365 23.1%138 #1207
Physical SciencesDomain #6,877 of 12,888 14.1%130 #3753
Life SciencesDomain #6,621 of 7,800 19.1%67 #5758

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 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#518 #3,306
  2. Social Sciences#1,207 #2,954
  3. Physical Sciences#3,753 #6,877
  4. Life Sciences#5,758 #6,621
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 Swarthmore College specialise in?

Where its research is concentrated relative to its size: Cognitive Neuroscience takes 6.6× the share of its output that it takes of world research.

  1. Cognitive NeuroscienceSubfield · 22.9 works6.6×
← 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: 0.45× its world share, 10 worksAgricultural and Bio…Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology: 1.05× its world share, 27 worksBiochemistry, Geneti…Immunology and Microbiology: 0.33× its world share, 2 worksImmunology and Micro…Neuroscience: 3.56× its world share, 28 worksNeurosciencePharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics: 0.76× its world share, 1 worksPharmacology, Toxico…Chemical Engineering: 0.12× its world share, 0 worksChemical EngineeringChemistry: 1.12× its world share, 8 worksChemistryComputer Science: 0.93× its world share, 34 worksComputer ScienceEarth and Planetary Sciences: 0.53× its world share, 4 worksEarth and Planetary …Energy: 0.02× its world share, 0 worksEnergyEngineering: 0.26× its world share, 19 worksEngineeringEnvironmental Science: 0.68× its world share, 16 worksEnvironmental ScienceMaterials Science: 0.31× its world share, 5 worksMaterials ScienceMathematics: 4.99× its world share, 28 worksMathematicsPhysics and Astronomy: 1.39× its world share, 15 worksPhysics and AstronomyDentistry: 0.03× its world share, 0 worksDentistryHealth Professions: 0.58× its world share, 7 worksHealth ProfessionsMedicine: 0.23× its world share, 22 worksMedicineNursing: 0.06× its world share, 0 worksNursingVeterinary: 0.90× its world share, 1 worksVeterinaryArts and Humanities: 3.74× its world share, 52 worksArts and HumanitiesBusiness, Management and Accounting: 0.33× its world share, 5 worksBusiness, Management…Decision Sciences: 1.34× its world share, 6 worksDecision SciencesEconomics, Econometrics and Finance: 0.73× its world share, 8 worksEconomics, Econometr…Psychology: 2.86× its world share, 42 worksPsychologySocial Sciences: 2.29× its world share, 138 worksSocial Sciences1×world share
more than its size predictsabout as predictedless

Rings at 0.5×, 1× and 2×. Widest outward: Mathematics, 5.0×. Every wedge is a field page.

Who are the top researchers at Swarthmore College?

Ranked on the composite score, Ludwig Wittgenstein, Kenneth J. Gergen and P. F. Scholander lead among researchers whose main affiliation is Swarthmore College.

  1. 1 Ludwig Wittgenstein United States · #12,732 worldwide 534 citations · 47 works
  2. 2 Kenneth J. Gergen United States · #16,878 worldwide 719 citations · 142 works
  3. 3 P. F. Scholander United States · #22,503 worldwide 770 citations · 39 works
  4. 4 Barry Schwartz United States · #25,347 worldwide 356 citations · 72 works
  5. 5 Monroe C. Beardsley United States · #28,854 worldwide 231 citations · 41 works
  6. 6 Martín Ostwald United States · #28,888 worldwide 248 citations · 40 works
  7. 7 Thomas S. Dee United States · #38,726 worldwide 444 citations · 44 works
  8. 8 Laurence Irving United States · #49,094 worldwide 401 citations · 42 works
  9. 9 Frederic L. Pryor United States · #52,177 worldwide 225 citations · 66 works
  10. 10 W. D. Heintz United States · #84,921 worldwide 259 citations · 77 works
All ranked researchers at Swarthmore College

Which keywords describe research at Swarthmore College?

By fractional works in 2022–2025, weighted toward what it does more of than the world: Globalization, Gender, Colonialism, History, 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 2022–2025 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. Globalization30▲ 3.2×54 topics
  2. History18▲ 5.5×25 topics
  3. Identity18▲ 5.3×29 topics
  4. Education18▲ 2.2×37 topics
  5. Gender18▲ 6.9×26 topics
  6. Colonialism17▲ 7.5×24 topics
  7. Nationalism16▲ 7.1×17 topics
  8. Human Rights14▲ 2.8×27 topics
  9. Feminism13▲ 9.6×15 topics
  10. Literature12▲ 4.7×16 topics
  11. Culture12▲ 4.7×16 topics
  12. Ethics11▲ 4.9×14 topics
  13. Neoliberalism11▲ 6.6×13 topics
  14. Race10▲ 18×13 topics
  15. Social Justice9▲ 3.3×18 topics
  16. Politics9▲ 6.9×11 topics
  17. Working Memory9▲ 21×3 topics
  18. Philosophy8▲ 3.9×12 topics
  19. Public Opinion8▲ 13×4 topics
  20. Democracy8▲ 4.6×11 topics
  21. Cold War8▲ 25×3 topics
  22. Perception7▲ 22×4 topics
  23. Cognitive Development7▲ 12×2 topics
  24. Ethnicity7▲ 3.7×10 topics
  25. Postcolonialism7▲ 11×8 topics
  26. International Relations7▲ 5.8×7 topics
  27. Neuroscience6▲ 4.5×7 topics
  28. Activism6▲ 31×4 topics
  29. Anthropocene6▲ 22×3 topics
  30. Emotion6▲ 5.9×9 topics
  31. Empathy6▲ 10×5 topics
  32. Executive Functioning6▲ 9.3×3 topics
  33. Spatial Representation6▲ 29×2 topics
  34. Society6▲ 6.0×6 topics
  35. Brain-Computer Interfaces5▲ 12×1 topic
  36. EEG Analysis5▲ 12×1 topic
  37. Mathematical Achievement5▲ 63×1 topic
  38. Numerical Cognition5▲ 63×1 topic
  39. Transnational5▲ 44×2 topics
  40. Imperialism5▲ 13×4 topics

Which research topics does Swarthmore College publish most on?

By volume in 2022–2025: EEG and Brain-Computer Interfaces, Cognitive and developmental aspects of mathematical skills, Historical Gender and Feminism Studies and American Constitutional Law and Politics.

EEG and Brain-Computer I…5EEG and Brain-Computer Interfaces: 5 fractional worksCognitive and developmen…5Cognitive and developmental aspects of mathematical skills: 5 fractional worksHistorical Gender and Fe…4Historical Gender and Feminism Studies: 4 fractional worksAmerican Constitutional …4American Constitutional Law and Politics: 4 fractional worksNeural dynamics and brain function: 3 fractional worksVisual perception and processing mechanisms: 3 fractional worksDNA and Nucleic Acid Che…3DNA and Nucleic Acid Chemistry: 3 fractional worksGender Studies in Language: 3 fractional worksEpistemology, Ethics, and Metaphysics: 3 fractional worksLinguistic Variation and…3Linguistic Variation and Morphology: 3 fractional works
Cognitive NeuroscienceStatistics and ProbabilitySociology and Political SciencePolitical Science and International Relations4 others

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

  1. 1 EEG and Brain-Computer Interfaces Cognitive Neuroscience 5 works
  2. 2 Cognitive and developmental aspects of mathematical skills Statistics and Probability 5 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 3 works
  6. 6 Visual perception and processing mechanisms Cognitive Neuroscience 3 works
  7. 7 DNA and Nucleic Acid Chemistry Molecular Biology 3 works
  8. 8 Gender Studies in Language Gender Studies 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: 28% of research is openly available.

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

World: 19% is written across borders.

How has Swarthmore College's research output changed?

Output in 2018–2022 was 15% 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 Swarthmore

All research institutions in Swarthmore

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.