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Government institution · Washington · United States

United States Department of Agriculture

In research, United States Department of Agriculture stands highest in Agricultural and Biological Sciences (#95 of 3,409 worldwide), Plant Science (#166 of 1,395 worldwide) and Life Sciences (#980 of 7,800 worldwide), 2022–2025. Relative to its size it is most specialised in Environmental Chemistry, Geophysics and Insect Science — Environmental Chemistry is 42.8× its share of world research.

usda.govROR OpenAlex
World rank, 2022–2025
#2,262
of 28,054 · #1,027 all time
Rank in United States
#341
of 4,192
Research works
21k
▼ 9% vs 2013–17
Citations
761k
36.6 per fractional work
Top-10% rate
18.8%
record average 16.5%
Open access
38%
world 28%

What is United States Department of Agriculture 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
Agricultural and Biological SciencesField #95 of 3,409 27.4%642 #38
Plant ScienceSubfield #166 of 1,395 29.6%320 #37
Life SciencesDomain #980 of 7,800 26.1%937 #389
Environmental ScienceField #898 of 3,551 12.9%362 #382
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular BiologyField #986 of 3,579 24.9%234 #367
Physical SciencesDomain #3,840 of 12,888 8.4%808 #2090
Insect ScienceSubfield #35 of 102 26.2%87 #12
Health SciencesDomain #5,799 of 11,982 25.5%163 #2158
MedicineField #5,103 of 10,443 26.9%117 #2180
Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and SystematicsSubfield #125 of 255 28.2%61 #123

Each strip is that field’s whole ranked pool, with the notch where United States Department of Agriculture 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. Agricultural and Biological Sciences#38 #95
  2. Plant Science#37 #166
  3. Life Sciences#389 #980
  4. Environmental Science#382 #898
  5. Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology#367 #986
  6. Physical Sciences#2,090 #3,840
  7. Insect Science#12 #35
  8. Health Sciences#2,158 #5,799
  9. Medicine#2,180 #5,103
  10. Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics#123 #125
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 United States Department of Agriculture specialise in?

Where its research is concentrated relative to its size: Environmental Chemistry takes 42.8× the share of its output that it takes of world research.

  1. Environmental ChemistrySubfield · 181.7 works43×
  2. GeophysicsSubfield · 137.0 works20×
  3. Insect ScienceSubfield · 87.0 works16×
  4. OceanographySubfield · 76.1 works14×
  5. Astronomy and AstrophysicsSubfield · 112.0 works11×
  6. ParasitologySubfield · 20.7 works10×
← 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: 6.95× its world share, 642 worksAgricultural and Bio…Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology: 2.26× its world share, 234 worksBiochemistry, Geneti…Immunology and Microbiology: 2.64× its world share, 52 worksImmunology and Micro…Neuroscience: 0.20× its world share, 6 worksNeurosciencePharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics: 0.44× its world share, 3 worksPharmacology, Toxico…Chemical Engineering: 0.31× its world share, 2 worksChemical EngineeringChemistry: 0.59× its world share, 18 worksChemistryComputer Science: 0.12× its world share, 18 worksComputer ScienceEarth and Planetary Sciences: 7.39× its world share, 225 worksEarth and Planetary …Energy: 0.13× its world share, 2 worksEnergyEngineering: 0.17× its world share, 50 worksEngineeringEnvironmental Science: 3.75× its world share, 362 worksEnvironmental ScienceMaterials Science: 0.20× its world share, 13 worksMaterials ScienceMathematics: 0.11× its world share, 3 worksMathematicsPhysics and Astronomy: 2.60× its world share, 113 worksPhysics and AstronomyDentistry: 0.04× its world share, 0 worksDentistryHealth Professions: 0.20× its world share, 10 worksHealth ProfessionsMedicine: 0.31× its world share, 117 worksMedicineNursing: 2.28× its world share, 22 worksNursingVeterinary: 5.35× its world share, 14 worksVeterinaryArts and Humanities: 0.05× its world share, 3 worksArts and HumanitiesBusiness, Management and Accounting: 0.07× its world share, 4 worksBusiness, Management…Decision Sciences: 0.22× its world share, 4 worksDecision SciencesEconomics, Econometrics and Finance: 0.25× its world share, 10 worksEconomics, Econometr…Psychology: 0.05× its world share, 3 worksPsychologySocial Sciences: 0.05× its world share, 11 worksSocial Sciences1×world share
more than its size predictsabout as predictedless

Rings at 0.5×, 1× and 2×. Widest outward: Earth and Planetary Sciences, 7.4×. Every wedge is a field page.

Who are the top researchers at United States Department of Agriculture?

Ranked on the composite score, John F. Thompson, Ronald Fayer and Philip C. Kearney lead among researchers whose main affiliation is United States Department of Agriculture.

  1. 1 John F. Thompson United States · #27,812 worldwide 595 citations · 71 works
  2. 2 Ronald Fayer United States · #35,067 worldwide 376 citations · 51 works
  3. 3 Philip C. Kearney United States · #54,803 worldwide 255 citations · 41 works
  4. 4 Floyd DeEds United States · #71,894 worldwide 169 citations · 31 works
  5. 5 Francis E. Clark United States · #87,145 worldwide 169 citations · 33 works
  6. 6 John W. Mitchell United States · #93,251 worldwide 188 citations · 37 works
  7. 7 Franklin E. Allison United States · #127,260 worldwide 225 citations · 27 works
  8. 8 D. Breese Jones United States · #130,125 worldwide 172 citations · 48 works
  9. 9 A.K. Balls United States · #144,132 worldwide 188 citations · 27 works
  10. 10 Paula J. Fedorka–Cray United States · #152,720 worldwide 191 citations · 41 works
All ranked researchers at United States Department of Agriculture

Which keywords describe research at United States Department of Agriculture?

By fractional works in 2022–2025, weighted toward what it does more of than the world: Microbial Communities, Climate Change, Methane Oxidation, Anaerobic, Gas Hydrates, Ionosphere, Magnetosphere and Tomography.

▲ 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. Climate Change239▲ 4.6×76 topics
  2. Microbial Communities194▲ 23×9 topics
  3. Methane Oxidation169▲ 107×2 topics
  4. Anaerobic169▲ 125×1 topic
  5. Gas Hydrates169▲ 125×1 topic
  6. Epidemiology117▲ 1.52×65 topics
  7. Ionosphere112▲ 103×1 topic
  8. Magnetosphere112▲ 103×1 topic
  9. Tomography105▲ 30×3 topics
  10. Seismic Noise105▲ 112×1 topic
  11. Surface Wave105▲ 112×1 topic
  12. Hydrological Modeling84▲ 18×5 topics
  13. Sea Level Rise74▲ 30×3 topics
  14. GRACE74▲ 74×1 topic
  15. groundwater depletion74▲ 74×1 topic
  16. Invasive Species73▲ 8.8×21 topics
  17. Biological Control71▲ 25×9 topics
  18. Genetic Diversity65▲ 7.6×19 topics
  19. Gut Microbiota60▲ 8.8×7 topics
  20. Phylogenetic Analysis58▲ 9.8×14 topics
  21. Biodiversity56▲ 3.9×27 topics
  22. Genome Sequencing51▲ 17×10 topics
  23. Genomics47▲ 8.2×12 topics
  24. Host Specificity46▲ 21×5 topics
  25. Fungal Pathogens45▲ 17×5 topics
  26. Pathogenesis45▲ 4.5×18 topics
  27. Plant Immunity38▲ 21×2 topics
  28. Genetic Mapping38▲ 25×6 topics
  29. Global Change37▲ 7.4×6 topics
  30. QTL Mapping35▲ 15×6 topics
  31. Genomic Characterization34▲ 14×2 topics
  32. Drought Tolerance33▲ 12×9 topics
  33. Microbiota32▲ 7.7×6 topics
  34. Ionospheric Anomalies32▲ 43×1 topic
  35. Seismic Electromagnetics32▲ 43×1 topic
  36. Quantitative Trait Loci32▲ 29×3 topics
  37. Pathogenicity31▲ 24×5 topics
  38. Endophytic Fungi30▲ 16×2 topics
  39. Molecular Identification29▲ 22×2 topics
  40. Plant Pathogenesis29▲ 23×1 topic

Which research topics does United States Department of Agriculture publish most on?

By volume in 2022–2025: Methane Hydrates and Related Phenomena, Ionosphere and magnetosphere dynamics, Seismic Waves and Analysis and Geophysics and Gravity Measurements.

Methane Hydrates and Rel…169Methane Hydrates and Related Phenomena: 169 fractional worksIonosphere and magnetosphere dynamics: 112 fractional worksSeismic Waves and Analysis: 105 fractional worksGeophysics and Gravity M…74Geophysics and Gravity Measurements: 74 fractional worksEarthquake Detection and Analysis: 32 fractional worksPlant Pathogens and Fungal Diseases: 29 fractional worksInsect-Plant Interactions and Control: 28 fractional worksInsect and Pesticide Research: 24 fractional worksPlant Virus Research Studies: 20 fractional worksPlant-Microbe Interactions and Immunity: 18 fractional works
Environmental ChemistryAstronomy and AstrophysicsGeophysicsOceanography3 others

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

  1. 1 Methane Hydrates and Related Phenomena Environmental Chemistry 169 works
  2. 2 Ionosphere and magnetosphere dynamics Astronomy and Astrophysics 112 works
  3. 3 Seismic Waves and Analysis Geophysics 105 works
  4. 4 Geophysics and Gravity Measurements Oceanography 74 works
  5. 5 Earthquake Detection and Analysis Geophysics 32 works
  6. 6 Plant Pathogens and Fungal Diseases Cell Biology 29 works
  7. 7 Insect-Plant Interactions and Control Insect Science 28 works
  8. 8 Insect and Pesticide Research Insect Science 24 works
  9. 9 Plant Virus Research Studies Plant Science 20 works
  10. 10 Plant-Microbe Interactions and Immunity Plant Science 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 available37.5%not open62.5%

World: 28% of research is openly available.

with international co-authors16.7%domestic only83.3%

World: 19% is written across borders.

How has United States Department of Agriculture's research output changed?

Output in 2018–2022 was 9% 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 Washington

All research institutions in Washington

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.