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Government institution · Washington · United States

United States Department of Defense

In research, United States Department of Defense stands highest in Physical Sciences (#10,593 of 12,888 worldwide) and Social Sciences (#9,307 of 10,521 worldwide), 2022–2025.

defense.govROR OpenAlex
World rank, 2022–2025
#16,161
of 28,054 · #8,225 all time
Rank in United States
#2,290
of 4,192
Research works
1.9k
▲ 36% vs 2013–17
Citations
26k
14.3 per fractional work
Top-10% rate
10.1%
record average 16.5%
Open access
24%
world 28%

What is United States Department of Defense 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 #10,593 of 12,888 8.4%88 #6380
Social SciencesDomain #9,307 of 10,521 12.9%71 #6985

Each strip is that field’s whole ranked pool, with the notch where United States Department of Defense 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).

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: 0.44× its world share, 4 worksAgricultural and Bio…Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology: 0.42× its world share, 5 worksBiochemistry, Geneti…Immunology and Microbiology: 0.75× its world share, 2 worksImmunology and Micro…Neuroscience: 1.30× its world share, 4 worksNeurosciencePharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics: 0.59× its world share, 0 worksPharmacology, Toxico…Chemical Engineering: 0.11× its world share, 0 worksChemical EngineeringChemistry: 0.27× its world share, 1 worksChemistryComputer Science: 1.36× its world share, 23 worksComputer ScienceEarth and Planetary Sciences: 1.13× its world share, 4 worksEarth and Planetary …Energy: 0.38× its world share, 1 worksEnergyEngineering: 1.16× its world share, 37 worksEngineeringEnvironmental Science: 0.78× its world share, 8 worksEnvironmental ScienceMaterials Science: 0.51× its world share, 4 worksMaterials ScienceMathematics: 1.77× its world share, 4 worksMathematicsPhysics and Astronomy: 1.29× its world share, 6 worksPhysics and AstronomyHealth Professions: 1.08× its world share, 6 worksHealth ProfessionsMedicine: 0.77× its world share, 32 worksMedicineNursing: 0.57× its world share, 1 worksNursingVeterinary: 2.58× its world share, 1 worksVeterinaryArts and Humanities: 1.36× its world share, 8 worksArts and HumanitiesBusiness, Management and Accounting: 0.40× its world share, 3 worksBusiness, Management…Decision Sciences: 1.89× its world share, 4 worksDecision SciencesEconomics, Econometrics and Finance: 1.82× its world share, 8 worksEconomics, Econometr…Psychology: 0.98× its world share, 6 worksPsychologySocial Sciences: 1.51× its world share, 41 worksSocial Sciences1×world share
more than its size predictsabout as predictedless

Rings at 0.5×, 1× and 2×. Widest outward: Veterinary, 2.6×. Every wedge is a field page.

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

Ranked on the composite score, Richard M. Schlenker, Bill Dudley and Raymond A. Paul lead among researchers whose main affiliation is United States Department of Defense.

  1. 1 Richard M. Schlenker United States · #632,273 worldwide 2 citations · 25 works
  2. 2 Bill Dudley United States · #688,209 worldwide 0 citations · 31 works
  3. 3 Raymond A. Paul United States · #699,540 worldwide 39 citations · 21 works
  4. 4 Richard A. Dean United States · #796,855 worldwide 19 citations · 18 works
  5. 5 D.J. Nelson United States · #1,194,529 worldwide 60 citations · 24 works
  6. 6 Douglas J. Nelson United States · #1,226,623 worldwide 42 citations · 41 works
  7. 7 David C. Smith United States · #1,570,426 worldwide 10 citations · 22 works
All ranked researchers at United States Department of Defense

Which keywords describe research at United States Department of Defense?

By fractional works in 2022–2025, weighted toward what it does more of than the world: International Law, International Relations, Doppler Radar, Deep Learning, Signal Processing, Micro-Doppler Effect, Synthetic Aperture Radar and Security.

▲ 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 Learning11▲ 1.49×25 topics
  2. Epidemiology10◆ 1.13×54 topics
  3. Machine Learning8◆ 1.11×22 topics
  4. Globalization7▲ 1.59×14 topics
  5. Public Health6▲ 1.95×22 topics
  6. Security6▲ 4.0×10 topics
  7. International Law5▲ 8.2×7 topics
  8. Convolutional Neural Networks5▲ 3.2×4 topics
  9. International Relations5▲ 9.5×5 topics
  10. Doppler Radar5▲ 29×2 topics
  11. Economic Growth5▲ 2.6×9 topics
  12. Human Rights5▲ 2.2×17 topics
  13. Risk Assessment5▲ 3.3×10 topics
  14. Signal Processing4▲ 15×2 topics
  15. Ethics4▲ 4.1×6 topics
  16. Micro-Doppler Effect4▲ 70×1 topic
  17. Synthetic Aperture Radar4▲ 70×1 topic
  18. Conflict4▲ 12×5 topics
  19. Information Warfare4▲ 59×2 topics
  20. Risk Management4▲ 3.6×6 topics
  21. Cybersecurity3▲ 6.6×3 topics
  22. National Security3▲ 28×2 topics
  23. Public Policy3▲ 3.1×2 topics
  24. Defense Spending3▲ 170×1 topic
  25. Global Governance3▲ 6.3×5 topics
  26. Military Expenditure3▲ 170×1 topic
  27. Geopolitics3▲ 8.9×4 topics
  28. British Army3▲ 178×1 topic
  29. Counterinsurgency3▲ 127×1 topic
  30. Decision Making3▲ 4.3×4 topics
  31. Information Security2▲ 12×1 topic
  32. Policy Compliance2▲ 29×1 topic
  33. Russia2▲ 24×2 topics
  34. Ukraine2▲ 31×2 topics
  35. Crisis Management2▲ 23×2 topics
  36. Cyber Security2▲ 20×1 topic
  37. Internet Governance2▲ 65×1 topic
  38. Music Education2▲ 30×2 topics
  39. Neurotoxicity2▲ 8.1×3 topics
  40. Terrorism2▲ 20×3 topics

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

By volume in 2022–2025: Advanced SAR Imaging Techniques, Defense, Military, and Policy Studies, Military History and Strategy and Information and Cyber Security.

Advanced SAR Imaging Techniques: 4 fractional worksDefense, Military, and Policy Studies: 3 fractional worksMilitary History and Str…3Military History and Strategy: 3 fractional worksInformation and Cyber Se…2Information and Cyber Security: 2 fractional worksCybersecurity and Cyber Warfare Studies: 2 fractional worksEuropean and Russian Geopolitical Military Strategies: 2 fractional worksUnderwater Acoustics Res…2Underwater Acoustics Research: 2 fractional worksReligious Studies and Spiritual Practices: 2 fractional worksDiverse Music Education Insights: 2 fractional worksMilitary Strategy and Te…2Military Strategy and Technology: 2 fractional works
Aerospace EngineeringEconomics and EconometricsPolitical Science and International RelationsInformation Systems4 others

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

  1. 1 Advanced SAR Imaging Techniques Aerospace Engineering 4 works
  2. 2 Defense, Military, and Policy Studies Economics and Econometrics 3 works
  3. 3 Military History and Strategy Political Science and International Relations 3 works
  4. 4 Information and Cyber Security Information Systems 2 works
  5. 5 Cybersecurity and Cyber Warfare Studies Political Science and International Relations 2 works
  6. 6 European and Russian Geopolitical Military Strategies Political Science and International Relations 2 works
  7. 7 Underwater Acoustics Research Oceanography 2 works
  8. 8 Religious Studies and Spiritual Practices Philosophy 2 works
  9. 9 Diverse Music Education Insights Music 2 works
  10. 10 Military Strategy and Technology Control and Systems Engineering 2 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 available23.7%not open76.3%

World: 28% of research is openly available.

with international co-authors11.0%domestic only89.0%

World: 19% is written across borders.

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

Output in 2018–2022 was 36% 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 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.