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University · Reading · United Kingdom

University of Reading

In research, University of Reading stands highest in Social Sciences (#234 of 10,521 worldwide), Social Sciences (#262 of 6,365 worldwide) and Physical Sciences (#576 of 12,888 worldwide), 2022–2025. Relative to its size it is most specialised in Atmospheric Science, Paleontology and Global and Planetary Change — Atmospheric Science is 7.9× its share of world research.

reading.ac.ukROR OpenAlex
World rank, 2022–2025
#538
of 28,054 · #310 all time
Rank in United Kingdom
#28
of 1,094
Research works
46k
▲ 4% vs 2013–17
Citations
1.4M
31.3 per fractional work
Top-10% rate
25.4%
record average 16.5%
Open access
28%
world 28%

What is University of Reading 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 #234 of 10,521 27.7%1,727 #154
Social SciencesField #262 of 6,365 27.0%667 #162
Physical SciencesDomain #576 of 12,888 22.3%1,215 #314
Agricultural and Biological SciencesField #239 of 3,409 29.7%318 #55
Environmental ScienceField #266 of 3,551 27.8%387 #116
Earth and Planetary SciencesField #92 of 1,209 24.3%221 #38
Business, Management and AccountingField #225 of 2,578 40.3%218 #109
Sociology and Political ScienceSubfield #307 of 2,578 28.3%224 #208
Arts and HumanitiesField #256 of 1,998 19.5%335 #89
Life SciencesDomain #1,066 of 7,800 26.9%617 #493

Each strip is that field’s whole ranked pool, with the notch where University of Reading 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#154 #234
  2. Social Sciences#162 #262
  3. Physical Sciences#314 #576
  4. Agricultural and Biological Sciences#55 #239
  5. Environmental Science#116 #266
  6. Earth and Planetary Sciences#38 #92
  7. Business, Management and Accounting#109 #225
  8. Sociology and Political Science#208 #307
  9. Arts and Humanities#89 #256
  10. Life Sciences#493 #1,066
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 Reading specialise in?

Where its research is concentrated relative to its size: Atmospheric Science takes 7.9× the share of its output that it takes of world research.

  1. Atmospheric ScienceSubfield · 138.6 works7.9×
  2. PaleontologySubfield · 25.2 works5.3×
  3. Global and Planetary ChangeSubfield · 157.3 works5.2×
  4. AnthropologySubfield · 55.2 works5.0×
  5. History and Philosophy of ScienceSubfield · 29.4 works4.8×
  6. FinanceSubfield · 47.0 works3.9×
← 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: 1.69× its world share, 318 worksAgricultural and Bio…Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology: 0.84× its world share, 177 worksBiochemistry, Geneti…Immunology and Microbiology: 0.36× its world share, 14 worksImmunology and Micro…Neuroscience: 1.46× its world share, 94 worksNeurosciencePharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics: 0.98× its world share, 14 worksPharmacology, Toxico…Chemical Engineering: 0.42× its world share, 6 worksChemical EngineeringChemistry: 0.72× its world share, 45 worksChemistryComputer Science: 0.48× its world share, 148 worksComputer ScienceEarth and Planetary Sciences: 3.55× its world share, 221 worksEarth and Planetary …Energy: 0.54× its world share, 20 worksEnergyEngineering: 0.37× its world share, 221 worksEngineeringEnvironmental Science: 1.97× its world share, 387 worksEnvironmental ScienceMaterials Science: 0.45× its world share, 62 worksMaterials ScienceMathematics: 0.94× its world share, 44 worksMathematicsPhysics and Astronomy: 0.70× its world share, 61 worksPhysics and AstronomyDentistry: 0.04× its world share, 1 worksDentistryHealth Professions: 0.65× its world share, 67 worksHealth ProfessionsMedicine: 0.38× its world share, 288 worksMedicineNursing: 2.01× its world share, 39 worksNursingVeterinary: 1.73× its world share, 9 worksVeterinaryArts and Humanities: 2.92× its world share, 335 worksArts and HumanitiesBusiness, Management and Accounting: 1.70× its world share, 218 worksBusiness, Management…Decision Sciences: 1.27× its world share, 49 worksDecision SciencesEconomics, Econometrics and Finance: 2.38× its world share, 202 worksEconomics, Econometr…Psychology: 2.13× its world share, 257 worksPsychologySocial Sciences: 1.33× its world share, 667 worksSocial Sciences1×world share
more than its size predictsabout as predictedless

Rings at 0.5×, 1× and 2×. Widest outward: Earth and Planetary Sciences, 3.5×. Every wedge is a field page.

Who are the top researchers at University of Reading?

Ranked on the composite score, John H. Dunning, Glenn R. Gibson and Nigel W. Arnell lead among researchers whose main affiliation is University of Reading.

  1. 1 John H. Dunning United Kingdom · #999 worldwide 2.3k citations · 94 works
  2. 2 Glenn R. Gibson United Kingdom · #2,283 worldwide 2.2k citations · 82 works
  3. 3 Nigel W. Arnell United Kingdom · #4,668 worldwide 1.3k citations · 81 works
  4. 4 J. E. Lovelock United Kingdom · #6,108 worldwide 1k citations · 59 works
  5. 5 Jeffrey B. Harborne United Kingdom · #6,462 worldwide 1.8k citations · 196 works
  6. 6 Kou Murayama United Kingdom · #9,234 worldwide 1.1k citations · 54 works
  7. 7 Sandy P. Harrison United Kingdom · #9,244 worldwide 1.4k citations · 109 works
  8. 8 Ed Hawkins United Kingdom · #9,665 worldwide 994 citations · 63 works
  9. 9 Matthew Collins United Kingdom · #10,673 worldwide 1.3k citations · 106 works
  10. 10 I.M. Mills United Kingdom · #12,258 worldwide 662 citations · 62 works
All ranked researchers at University of Reading

Which keywords describe research at University of Reading?

By fractional works in 2022–2025, weighted toward what it does more of than the world: Climate Change, Global Warming, Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Ocean Circulation, Globalization, Hydrological Cycle, Data Assimilation and Extreme Events.

▲ 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 Change362▲ 3.4×99 topics
  2. Globalization154▲ 1.98×91 topics
  3. Global Warming136▲ 8.4×14 topics
  4. Sustainability136▲ 1.41×83 topics
  5. Remote Sensing94▲ 1.91×30 topics
  6. Greenhouse Gas Emissions90▲ 8.3×8 topics
  7. Economic Growth86▲ 2.5×23 topics
  8. Ocean Circulation83▲ 16×3 topics
  9. Hydrological Cycle75▲ 20×2 topics
  10. Gender75▲ 3.5×39 topics
  11. Public Health72▲ 1.25×41 topics
  12. Data Assimilation69▲ 11×4 topics
  13. Extreme Events69▲ 20×2 topics
  14. Human Rights68▲ 1.66×47 topics
  15. Biodiversity66▲ 2.2×28 topics
  16. Identity66▲ 2.3×43 topics
  17. History65▲ 2.3×37 topics
  18. Corporate Governance64▲ 2.2×17 topics
  19. Colonialism62▲ 3.3×32 topics
  20. Climate Modeling62▲ 22×1 topic
  21. Precipitation Extremes62▲ 22×1 topic
  22. Boundary Layer60▲ 12×3 topics
  23. Literature58▲ 2.7×36 topics
  24. Metabolic Syndrome58▲ 1.80×19 topics
  25. Social Capital57▲ 2.7×13 topics
  26. Nationalism57▲ 3.1×29 topics
  27. Probabilistic Forecasting57▲ 7.3×3 topics
  28. Religion56▲ 3.0×30 topics
  29. Ethics55▲ 2.9×34 topics
  30. Ensemble Kalman Filter53▲ 13×2 topics
  31. Health Effects53▲ 2.2×23 topics
  32. Convective Parameterization50▲ 23×1 topic
  33. Mesoscale Modeling50▲ 23×1 topic
  34. Neoliberalism47▲ 3.3×19 topics
  35. Ecosystem Services46▲ 3.0×12 topics
  36. International Law46▲ 3.7×16 topics
  37. Air Quality41▲ 5.7×6 topics
  38. Vulnerability38▲ 4.2×7 topics
  39. Satellite Observations33▲ 8.6×3 topics
  40. Sea Level Rise33▲ 6.6×3 topics

Which research topics does University of Reading publish most on?

By volume in 2022–2025: Climate variability and models, Meteorological Phenomena and Simulations, Nutritional Studies and Diet and Tropical and Extratropical Cyclones Research.

Climate variability and …62Climate variability and models: 62 fractional worksMeteorological Phenomena and Simulations: 50 fractional worksNutritional Studies and Diet: 25 fractional worksTropical and Extratropical Cyclones Research: 21 fractional worksHistorical Economic and Social Studies: 21 fractional worksAtmospheric and Environmental Gas Dynamics: 17 fractional worksArchaeology and ancient environmental studies: 17 fractional worksPlant and animal studies: 16 fractional worksHousing Market and Economics: 15 fractional worksAgriculture Sustainability and Environmental Impact: 14 fractional works
Global and Planetary ChangeAtmospheric SciencePublic Health, Environmental and Occupational HealthEconomics and Econometrics3 others

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

  1. 1 Climate variability and models Global and Planetary Change 62 works
  2. 2 Meteorological Phenomena and Simulations Atmospheric Science 50 works
  3. 3 Nutritional Studies and Diet Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health 25 works
  4. 4 Tropical and Extratropical Cyclones Research Atmospheric Science 21 works
  5. 5 Historical Economic and Social Studies Economics and Econometrics 21 works
  6. 6 Atmospheric and Environmental Gas Dynamics Global and Planetary Change 17 works
  7. 7 Archaeology and ancient environmental studies Paleontology 17 works
  8. 8 Plant and animal studies Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics 16 works
  9. 9 Housing Market and Economics Economics and Econometrics 15 works
  10. 10 Agriculture Sustainability and Environmental Impact Ecology 14 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 available28.3%not open71.7%

World: 28% of research is openly available.

with international co-authors19.0%domestic only81.0%

World: 19% is written across borders.

How has University of Reading's research output changed?

Output in 2018–2022 was 4% 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 Reading

All research institutions in Reading

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.