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University · Exeter · United Kingdom

University of Exeter

In research, University of Exeter stands highest in Social Sciences (#62 of 10,521 worldwide), Social Sciences (#61 of 6,365 worldwide) and Environmental Science (#40 of 3,551 worldwide), 2022–2025. Relative to its size it is most specialised in Classics, History and Philosophy of Science and Anthropology — Classics is 8.6× its share of world research.

exeter.ac.ukROR OpenAlex
World rank, 2022–2025
#177
of 28,054 · #259 all time
Rank in United Kingdom
#11
of 1,094
Research works
47k
▲ 30% vs 2013–17
Citations
1.3M
28.2 per fractional work
Top-10% rate
27.6%
record average 16.5%
Open access
45%
world 28%

What is University of Exeter 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 #62 of 10,521 27.5%3,156 #89
Social SciencesField #61 of 6,365 30.1%1,493 #101
Environmental ScienceField #40 of 3,551 32.5%856 #52
Physical SciencesDomain #247 of 12,888 27.0%2,962 #286
PsychologyField #43 of 2,181 31.5%435 #96
Sociology and Political ScienceSubfield #57 of 2,578 31.7%557 #63
Life SciencesDomain #222 of 7,800 31.9%1,007 #306
Health SciencesDomain #342 of 11,982 25.7%1,348 #346
Arts and HumanitiesField #60 of 1,998 18.8%672 #34
EcologySubfield #20 of 578 35.2%201 #47

Each strip is that field’s whole ranked pool, with the notch where University of Exeter 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#89 #62
  2. Social Sciences#101 #61
  3. Environmental Science#52 #40
  4. Physical Sciences#286 #247
  5. Psychology#96 #43
  6. Sociology and Political Science#63 #57
  7. Life Sciences#306 #222
  8. Health Sciences#346 #342
  9. Arts and Humanities#34 #60
  10. Ecology#47 #20
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 University of Exeter specialise in?

Where its research is concentrated relative to its size: Classics takes 8.6× the share of its output that it takes of world research.

  1. ClassicsSubfield · 43.2 works8.6×
  2. History and Philosophy of ScienceSubfield · 69.6 works5.3×
  3. AnthropologySubfield · 124.3 works5.2×
  4. HistorySubfield · 132.1 works4.8×
← 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: 0.78× its world share, 316 worksAgricultural and Bio…Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology: 1.01× its world share, 455 worksBiochemistry, Geneti…Immunology and Microbiology: 0.51× its world share, 44 worksImmunology and Micro…Neuroscience: 1.32× its world share, 182 worksNeurosciencePharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics: 0.35× its world share, 10 worksPharmacology, Toxico…Chemical Engineering: 0.28× its world share, 8 worksChemical EngineeringChemistry: 0.32× its world share, 42 worksChemistryComputer Science: 0.64× its world share, 424 worksComputer ScienceEarth and Planetary Sciences: 1.95× its world share, 260 worksEarth and Planetary …Energy: 0.84× its world share, 65 worksEnergyEngineering: 0.67× its world share, 852 worksEngineeringEnvironmental Science: 2.03× its world share, 856 worksEnvironmental ScienceMaterials Science: 0.55× its world share, 161 worksMaterials ScienceMathematics: 0.71× its world share, 71 worksMathematicsPhysics and Astronomy: 1.18× its world share, 223 worksPhysics and AstronomyDentistry: 0.13× its world share, 6 worksDentistryHealth Professions: 1.12× its world share, 250 worksHealth ProfessionsMedicine: 0.65× its world share, 1,056 worksMedicineNursing: 0.43× its world share, 18 worksNursingVeterinary: 1.61× its world share, 18 worksVeterinaryArts and Humanities: 2.74× its world share, 672 worksArts and HumanitiesBusiness, Management and Accounting: 0.88× its world share, 242 worksBusiness, Management…Decision Sciences: 1.14× its world share, 94 worksDecision SciencesEconomics, Econometrics and Finance: 1.22× its world share, 221 worksEconomics, Econometr…Psychology: 1.69× its world share, 436 worksPsychologySocial Sciences: 1.39× its world share, 1,493 worksSocial Sciences1×world share
more than its size predictsabout as predictedless

Rings at 0.5×, 1× and 2×. Widest outward: Arts and Humanities, 2.7×. Every wedge is a field page.

Who are the top researchers at University of Exeter?

Ranked on the composite score, David Harvey, Pierre Friedlingstein and Timothy M. Frayling lead among researchers whose main affiliation is University of Exeter.

  1. 1 David Harvey United Kingdom · #340 worldwide 2k citations · 112 works
  2. 2 Pierre Friedlingstein United Kingdom · #2,490 worldwide 2.3k citations · 88 works
  3. 3 Timothy M. Frayling United Kingdom · #2,979 worldwide 1.7k citations · 81 works
  4. 4 Andrew T. Hattersley United Kingdom · #3,509 worldwide 2k citations · 163 works
  5. 5 John Dupré United Kingdom · #6,600 worldwide 920 citations · 91 works
  6. 6 John Bessant United Kingdom · #7,022 worldwide 937 citations · 117 works
  7. 7 Angela C. Shore United Kingdom · #7,177 worldwide 723 citations · 59 works
  8. 8 Christopher Gill United Kingdom · #8,140 worldwide 517 citations · 90 works
  9. 9 William L. Barnes United Kingdom · #9,544 worldwide 1.4k citations · 146 works
  10. 10 Stephen Sitch United Kingdom · #10,070 worldwide 1.6k citations · 91 works
All ranked researchers at University of Exeter

Which keywords describe research at University of Exeter?

By fractional works in 2022–2025, weighted toward what it does more of than the world: Climate Change, Globalization, Global Warming, Colonialism, Gender, History, Nationalism and Conservation.

▲ 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 Change594▲ 2.6×98 topics
  2. Globalization304▲ 1.83×109 topics
  3. Epidemiology286▼ 0.85×130 topics
  4. Sustainability230◆ 1.11×93 topics
  5. Machine Learning201▼ 0.73×81 topics
  6. Public Health183▲ 1.49×60 topics
  7. Mental Health176▲ 1.42×43 topics
  8. Environmental Impact160◆ 1.11×56 topics
  9. History151▲ 2.5×49 topics
  10. Global Warming150▲ 4.3×14 topics
  11. Renewable Energy150▲ 1.23×44 topics
  12. Gender141▲ 3.1×49 topics
  13. Biodiversity139▲ 2.2×34 topics
  14. Identity138▲ 2.2×62 topics
  15. Colonialism136▲ 3.4×45 topics
  16. Human Rights134▲ 1.54×57 topics
  17. Remote Sensing133▲ 1.27×37 topics
  18. Nationalism130▲ 3.3×32 topics
  19. Conservation121▲ 3.3×23 topics
  20. Religion118▲ 2.9×35 topics
  21. Literature114▲ 2.5×47 topics
  22. Ethics109▲ 2.7×43 topics
  23. Population Dynamics98▲ 4.6×13 topics
  24. Invasive Species98▲ 2.7×20 topics
  25. Culture95▲ 2.1×29 topics
  26. Neoliberalism89▲ 2.9×25 topics
  27. Ecosystem Services87▲ 2.6×13 topics
  28. Feminism85▲ 3.6×22 topics
  29. Evolution82▲ 3.9×19 topics
  30. Neuroscience80▲ 3.2×16 topics
  31. Greenhouse Gas Emissions78▲ 3.4×8 topics
  32. Democracy76▲ 2.5×21 topics
  33. Society69▲ 4.2×17 topics
  34. Habitat Fragmentation69▲ 3.7×5 topics
  35. Global Change68▲ 3.1×7 topics
  36. Emotion67▲ 3.8×12 topics
  37. Ocean Circulation63▲ 5.8×3 topics
  38. Natural Selection54▲ 12×3 topics
  39. Late Antiquity46▲ 10×3 topics
  40. Adaptive Evolution45▲ 9.7×2 topics

Which research topics does University of Exeter publish most on?

By volume in 2022–2025: Climate variability and models, Classical Antiquity Studies, Animal Behavior and Reproduction and Plant and animal studies.

Climate variability and …42Climate variability and models: 42 fractional worksClassical Antiquity Stud…39Classical Antiquity Studies: 39 fractional worksAnimal Behavior and Reproduction: 36 fractional worksPlant and animal studies34Plant and animal studies: 34 fractional worksHistorical Economic and …32Historical Economic and Social Studies: 32 fractional worksDementia and Cognitive Impairment Research: 32 fractional worksClimate Change and Health Impacts: 27 fractional worksWildlife Ecology and Con…26Wildlife Ecology and Conservation: 26 fractional worksMeteorological Phenomena and Simulations: 26 fractional worksGeographies of human-animal interactions: 25 fractional works
Global and Planetary ChangeAnthropologyEcology, Evolution, Behavior and SystematicsEconomics and Econometrics5 others

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

  1. 1 Climate variability and models Global and Planetary Change 42 works
  2. 2 Classical Antiquity Studies Anthropology 39 works
  3. 3 Animal Behavior and Reproduction Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics 36 works
  4. 4 Plant and animal studies Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics 34 works
  5. 5 Historical Economic and Social Studies Economics and Econometrics 32 works
  6. 6 Dementia and Cognitive Impairment Research Psychiatry and Mental health 32 works
  7. 7 Climate Change and Health Impacts Health, Toxicology and Mutagenesis 27 works
  8. 8 Wildlife Ecology and Conservation Ecology 26 works
  9. 9 Meteorological Phenomena and Simulations Atmospheric Science 26 works
  10. 10 Geographies of human-animal interactions Geography, Planning and Development 25 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 available44.8%not open55.2%

World: 28% of research is openly available.

with international co-authors25.1%domestic only74.9%

World: 19% is written across borders.

How has University of Exeter's research output changed?

Output in 2018–2022 was 30% 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 Exeter

All research institutions in Exeter

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.