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University · San José · Costa Rica

Universidad de Costa Rica

In research, Universidad de Costa Rica stands highest in Social Sciences (#1,755 of 10,521 worldwide), Agricultural and Biological Sciences (#614 of 3,409 worldwide) and Life Sciences (#1,539 of 7,800 worldwide), 2022–2025. Relative to its size it is most specialised in General Social Sciences, Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics and Development — General Social Sciences is 13.6× its share of world research.

ucr.ac.crROR OpenAlex
World rank, 2022–2025
#3,174
of 28,054 · #3,250 all time
Rank in Costa Rica
#1
of 26
Research works
27k
▼ 17% vs 2013–17
Citations
163k
6.1 per fractional work
Top-10% rate
8.6%
record average 16.5%
Open access
72%
world 28%

What is Universidad de Costa Rica 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 #1,755 of 10,521 7.7%1,656 #1961
Agricultural and Biological SciencesField #614 of 3,409 9.9%489 #541
Life SciencesDomain #1,539 of 7,800 10.9%749 #1532
Social SciencesField #1,815 of 6,365 7.7%1,048 #1830
Physical SciencesDomain #3,766 of 12,888 10.0%908 #4081
Arts and HumanitiesField #781 of 1,998 7.0%263 #784
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular BiologyField #1,503 of 3,579 12.3%186 #2001
Health SciencesDomain #5,093 of 11,982 6.0%532 #4444
PsychologyField #945 of 2,181 7.8%131 #972
Environmental ScienceField #1,560 of 3,551 10.4%303 #1541

Each strip is that field’s whole ranked pool, with the notch where Universidad de Costa Rica 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#1,961 #1,755
  2. Agricultural and Biological Sciences#541 #614
  3. Life Sciences#1,532 #1,539
  4. Social Sciences#1,830 #1,815
  5. Physical Sciences#4,081 #3,766
  6. Arts and Humanities#784 #781
  7. Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology#2,001 #1,503
  8. Health Sciences#4,444 #5,093
  9. Psychology#972 #945
  10. Environmental Science#1,541 #1,560
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 Universidad de Costa Rica specialise in?

Where its research is concentrated relative to its size: General Social Sciences takes 13.6× the share of its output that it takes of world research.

  1. General Social SciencesSubfield · 57.4 works14×
  2. Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and SystematicsSubfield · 117.7 works6.5×
  3. DevelopmentSubfield · 25.0 works6.5×
← 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: 2.67× its world share, 489 worksAgricultural and Bio…Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology: 0.91× its world share, 186 worksBiochemistry, Geneti…Immunology and Microbiology: 0.92× its world share, 35 worksImmunology and Micro…Neuroscience: 0.42× its world share, 26 worksNeurosciencePharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics: 0.92× its world share, 12 worksPharmacology, Toxico…Chemical Engineering: 0.24× its world share, 3 worksChemical EngineeringChemistry: 0.44× its world share, 27 worksChemistryComputer Science: 0.68× its world share, 202 worksComputer ScienceEarth and Planetary Sciences: 1.33× its world share, 80 worksEarth and Planetary …Energy: 0.65× its world share, 23 worksEnergyEngineering: 0.31× its world share, 179 worksEngineeringEnvironmental Science: 1.59× its world share, 303 worksEnvironmental ScienceMaterials Science: 0.19× its world share, 25 worksMaterials ScienceMathematics: 0.76× its world share, 34 worksMathematicsPhysics and Astronomy: 0.38× its world share, 32 worksPhysics and AstronomyDentistry: 2.04× its world share, 38 worksDentistryHealth Professions: 1.09× its world share, 110 worksHealth ProfessionsMedicine: 0.49× its world share, 364 worksMedicineNursing: 0.63× its world share, 12 worksNursingVeterinary: 1.42× its world share, 7 worksVeterinaryArts and Humanities: 2.37× its world share, 264 worksArts and HumanitiesBusiness, Management and Accounting: 0.79× its world share, 98 worksBusiness, Management…Decision Sciences: 0.33× its world share, 12 worksDecision SciencesEconomics, Econometrics and Finance: 1.26× its world share, 103 worksEconomics, Econometr…Psychology: 1.12× its world share, 131 worksPsychologySocial Sciences: 2.15× its world share, 1,048 worksSocial Sciences1×world share
more than its size predictsabout as predictedless

Rings at 0.5×, 1× and 2×. Widest outward: Agricultural and Biological Sciences, 2.7×. Every wedge is a field page.

Who are the top researchers at Universidad de Costa Rica?

Ranked on the composite score, Robert L. Dressler, Leonardo Mata and Víctor M. Jiménez lead among researchers whose main affiliation is Universidad de Costa Rica.

  1. 1 Robert L. Dressler Costa Rica · #75,999 worldwide 322 citations · 39 works
  2. 2 Leonardo Mata Costa Rica · #80,214 worldwide 298 citations · 43 works
  3. 3 Víctor M. Jiménez Costa Rica · #95,819 worldwide 196 citations · 28 works
  4. 4 Eduardo Chacón‐Madrigal Costa Rica · #155,190 worldwide 263 citations · 29 works
  5. 5 Ramiro Barrantes Costa Rica · #183,269 worldwide 103 citations · 22 works
  6. 6 Alexander F. Skutch Costa Rica · #192,800 worldwide 160 citations · 47 works
  7. 7 Gustavo López Costa Rica · #207,566 worldwide 100 citations · 35 works
  8. 8 Walter Salazar Costa Rica · #209,860 worldwide 113 citations · 23 works
  9. 9 Juliana Martínez Franzoni Costa Rica · #228,120 worldwide 59 citations · 31 works
  10. 10 Jorge Chen Sham Costa Rica · #293,372 worldwide 2 citations · 65 works
All ranked researchers at Universidad de Costa Rica

Which keywords describe research at Universidad de Costa Rica?

By fractional works in 2022–2025, weighted toward what it does more of than the world: Globalization, Latin America, Education, Climate Change, Biodiversity, Social Movements, Sustainability and Innovation.

▲ 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. Globalization272▲ 3.6×79 topics
  2. Climate Change263▲ 2.5×92 topics
  3. Education247▲ 3.7×67 topics
  4. Sustainability191▲ 2.0×82 topics
  5. Latin America184▲ 25×20 topics
  6. Biodiversity158▲ 5.5×30 topics
  7. Innovation137▲ 3.4×36 topics
  8. Public Health129▲ 2.3×57 topics
  9. Sustainable Development119▲ 1.95×35 topics
  10. Identity110▲ 3.9×38 topics
  11. Educational Technology108▲ 2.4×26 topics
  12. Gender107▲ 5.2×32 topics
  13. Social Movements104▲ 9.0×20 topics
  14. Human Rights100▲ 2.5×37 topics
  15. Knowledge Management87▲ 4.1×17 topics
  16. History87▲ 3.2×36 topics
  17. Conservation86▲ 5.2×21 topics
  18. Nutrition83▲ 4.8×13 topics
  19. Population Dynamics81▲ 8.4×13 topics
  20. Pedagogy80▲ 4.2×15 topics
  21. Literature79▲ 3.8×31 topics
  22. Culture79▲ 3.9×24 topics
  23. Evolution78▲ 8.2×15 topics
  24. Technology77▲ 3.8×18 topics
  25. Neoliberalism76▲ 5.5×16 topics
  26. Ethics74▲ 4.0×32 topics
  27. Health Promotion73▲ 6.0×16 topics
  28. Communication73▲ 6.2×14 topics
  29. Sustainable Agriculture72▲ 5.9×12 topics
  30. Public Policy72▲ 3.8×17 topics
  31. Rural Development72▲ 5.3×12 topics
  32. Invasive Species70▲ 4.3×21 topics
  33. Digital Marketing68▲ 4.2×3 topics
  34. Inequality67▲ 7.6×9 topics
  35. Educational Leadership55▲ 11×2 topics
  36. Teacher Development55▲ 23×2 topics
  37. Student Performance55▲ 13×2 topics
  38. Quality Education54▲ 37×1 topic
  39. School Culture54▲ 37×1 topic
  40. Informal Learning52▲ 10×5 topics

Which research topics does Universidad de Costa Rica publish most on?

By volume in 2022–2025: Education and Teacher Training, Educational Innovations and Technology, Botany and Geology in Latin America and Caribbean and Business, Innovation, and Economy.

Education and Teacher Tr…54Education and Teacher Training: 54 fractional worksEducational Innovations …41Educational Innovations and Technology: 41 fractional worksBotany and Geology in Latin America and Caribbean: 38 fractional worksBusiness, Innovation, and Economy: 34 fractional worksSocial Sciences and Policies: 34 fractional worksE-Learning and Knowledge Management: 33 fractional worksHealth and Lifestyle Studies: 31 fractional worksPlant and animal studies31Plant and animal studies: 31 fractional worksHigher Education and Sustainability: 30 fractional worksLatin American socio-political dynamics: 28 fractional works
EducationInformation SystemsEcology, Evolution, Behavior and SystematicsEconomics and Econometrics4 others

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

  1. 1 Education and Teacher Training Education 54 works
  2. 2 Educational Innovations and Technology Information Systems 41 works
  3. 3 Botany and Geology in Latin America and Caribbean Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics 38 works
  4. 4 Business, Innovation, and Economy Economics and Econometrics 34 works
  5. 5 Social Sciences and Policies General Social Sciences 34 works
  6. 6 E-Learning and Knowledge Management Computer Science Applications 33 works
  7. 7 Health and Lifestyle Studies General Health Professions 31 works
  8. 8 Plant and animal studies Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics 31 works
  9. 9 Higher Education and Sustainability Education 30 works
  10. 10 Latin American socio-political dynamics Sociology and Political Science 28 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 available72.4%not open27.6%

World: 28% of research is openly available.

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

World: 19% is written across borders.

How has Universidad de Costa Rica's research output changed?

Output in 2018–2022 was 17% 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 José

All research institutions in San José

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.