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University · San Diego · United States

University of San Diego

In research, University of San Diego stands highest in Social Sciences (#1,697 of 10,521 worldwide), Medicine (#2,062 of 10,443 worldwide) and Health Sciences (#2,565 of 11,982 worldwide), 2022–2025.

sandiego.eduROR OpenAlex
World rank, 2022–2025
#3,548
of 28,054 · #2,126 all time
Rank in United States
#499
of 4,192
Research works
8.8k
▲ 15% vs 2013–17
Citations
184k
21.0 per fractional work
Top-10% rate
16.2%
record average 16.5%
Open access
39%
world 28%

What is University of San Diego 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 #1,697 of 10,521 19.3%626 #914
MedicineField #2,062 of 10,443 15.5%306 #1199
Health SciencesDomain #2,565 of 11,982 15.2%360 #870
Social SciencesField #1,593 of 6,365 18.8%332 #730
Life SciencesDomain #2,659 of 7,800 16.6%166 #1683
Sociology and Political ScienceSubfield #1,047 of 2,578 19.4%111 #829
Physical SciencesDomain #5,321 of 12,888 11.0%319 #3634
Arts and HumanitiesField #1,022 of 1,998 20.8%74 #791
PsychologyField #1,382 of 2,181 21.7%99 #1082
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular BiologyField #2,514 of 3,579 12.6%100 #2179

Each strip is that field’s whole ranked pool, with the notch where University of San Diego 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#914 #1,697
  2. Medicine#1,199 #2,062
  3. Health Sciences#870 #2,565
  4. Social Sciences#730 #1,593
  5. Life Sciences#1,683 #2,659
  6. Sociology and Political Science#829 #1,047
  7. Physical Sciences#3,634 #5,321
  8. Arts and Humanities#791 #1,022
  9. Psychology#1,082 #1,382
  10. Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology#2,179 #2,514
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.

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: 0.24× its world share, 17 worksAgricultural and Bio…Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology: 1.27× its world share, 100 worksBiochemistry, Geneti…Immunology and Microbiology: 0.52× its world share, 8 worksImmunology and Micro…Neuroscience: 1.59× its world share, 38 worksNeurosciencePharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics: 0.72× its world share, 4 worksPharmacology, Toxico…Chemical Engineering: 0.95× its world share, 5 worksChemical EngineeringChemistry: 0.46× its world share, 11 worksChemistryComputer Science: 0.72× its world share, 82 worksComputer ScienceEarth and Planetary Sciences: 0.49× its world share, 11 worksEarth and Planetary …Energy: 0.49× its world share, 7 worksEnergyEngineering: 0.49× its world share, 109 worksEngineeringEnvironmental Science: 0.47× its world share, 34 worksEnvironmental ScienceMaterials Science: 0.32× its world share, 16 worksMaterials ScienceMathematics: 0.72× its world share, 12 worksMathematicsPhysics and Astronomy: 0.98× its world share, 32 worksPhysics and AstronomyDentistry: 0.14× its world share, 1 worksDentistryHealth Professions: 1.21× its world share, 47 worksHealth ProfessionsMedicine: 1.08× its world share, 306 worksMedicineNursing: 0.71× its world share, 5 worksNursingVeterinary: 0.39× its world share, 1 worksVeterinaryArts and Humanities: 1.75× its world share, 74 worksArts and HumanitiesBusiness, Management and Accounting: 1.19× its world share, 57 worksBusiness, Management…Decision Sciences: 1.29× its world share, 18 worksDecision SciencesEconomics, Econometrics and Finance: 1.48× its world share, 46 worksEconomics, Econometr…Psychology: 2.20× its world share, 99 worksPsychologySocial Sciences: 1.78× its world share, 332 worksSocial Sciences1×world share
more than its size predictsabout as predictedless

Rings at 0.5×, 1× and 2×. Widest outward: Psychology, 2.2×. Every wedge is a field page.

Who are the top researchers at University of San Diego?

Ranked on the composite score, Larry Alexander, Steven D. Smith and Diana Chen lead among researchers whose main affiliation is University of San Diego.

  1. 1 Larry Alexander United States · #11,449 worldwide 325 citations · 71 works
  2. 2 Steven D. Smith United States · #91,525 worldwide 283 citations · 118 works
  3. 3 Diana Chen United States · #181,542 worldwide 108 citations · 39 works
  4. 4 Karen Teel United States · #205,061 worldwide 22 citations · 30 works
  5. 5 Orly Lobel United States · #219,199 worldwide 79 citations · 31 works
  6. 6 Ralph H. Folsom United States · #280,508 worldwide 45 citations · 20 works
  7. 7 Susan Lord United States · #296,835 worldwide 201 citations · 103 works
  8. 8 Fred C. Zacharias United States · #386,488 worldwide 12 citations · 26 works
  9. 9 David McGowan United States · #476,186 worldwide 35 citations · 34 works
  10. 10 Ted M. Sichelman United States · #482,256 worldwide 62 citations · 15 works
All ranked researchers at University of San Diego

Which keywords describe research at University of San Diego?

By fractional works in 2022–2025, weighted toward what it does more of than the world: Public Opinion, Mental Health, Human Rights, Ethics, Epidemiology, Religion, Globalization and Education.

▲ 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. Epidemiology60◆ 1.03×106 topics
  2. Globalization44▲ 1.54×60 topics
  3. Machine Learning43◆ 0.90×57 topics
  4. Mental Health43▲ 1.99×34 topics
  5. Education42▲ 1.64×45 topics
  6. Human Rights37▲ 2.5×29 topics
  7. Quality of Life29▲ 1.35×43 topics
  8. Ethics27▲ 3.8×27 topics
  9. Healthcare27▲ 1.60×21 topics
  10. Religion26▲ 3.8×19 topics
  11. Social Justice26▲ 3.1×31 topics
  12. Nationalism25▲ 3.7×16 topics
  13. Public Opinion24▲ 13×5 topics
  14. Big Data24▲ 1.79×17 topics
  15. Gender24▲ 3.0×25 topics
  16. Innovation22▲ 1.45×28 topics
  17. Social Support21▲ 2.6×14 topics
  18. Student Engagement18▲ 3.1×11 topics
  19. Federalism18▲ 19×2 topics
  20. Political Philosophy18▲ 21×2 topics
  21. Engineering Education18▲ 13×4 topics
  22. American founding17▲ 38×1 topic
  23. Constitutional government17▲ 38×1 topic
  24. Democracy17▲ 3.3×13 topics
  25. Neoliberalism17▲ 3.2×18 topics
  26. Stress16▲ 3.0×11 topics
  27. Intersectionality16▲ 6.0×9 topics
  28. Discrimination15▲ 5.4×6 topics
  29. Surveillance15▲ 3.8×6 topics
  30. Neuroscience15▲ 3.4×14 topics
  31. Feminism14▲ 3.3×11 topics
  32. Intellectual Property12▲ 7.1×4 topics
  33. NGOs12▲ 8.0×4 topics
  34. Diversity12▲ 4.5×7 topics
  35. Property Rights11▲ 12×5 topics
  36. Assessment Methods11▲ 7.0×3 topics
  37. Career Development11▲ 6.7×5 topics
  38. Equality11▲ 12×3 topics
  39. Accountability10▲ 6.4×3 topics
  40. Academic Performance10▲ 7.8×3 topics

Which research topics does University of San Diego publish most on?

By volume in 2022–2025: American Constitutional Law and Politics, Legal Systems and Judicial Processes, Engineering Education and Curriculum Development and Ethics and Social Impacts of AI.

American Constitutional …17American Constitutional Law and Politics: 17 fractional worksLegal Systems and Judicial Processes: 7 fractional worksEngineering Education and Curriculum Development: 7 fractional worksEthics and Social Impacts of AI: 6 fractional worksCritical Race Theory in Education: 6 fractional worksReligion, Society, and Development: 6 fractional worksReproductive Health and …6Reproductive Health and Technologies: 6 fractional worksHigher Education Research Studies: 6 fractional worksRace, History, and American Society: 6 fractional worksPolitical Philosophy and…6Political Philosophy and Ethics: 6 fractional works
Political Science and International RelationsMedia TechnologySafety ResearchSociology and Political Science2 others

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

  1. 1 American Constitutional Law and Politics Political Science and International Relations 17 works
  2. 2 Legal Systems and Judicial Processes Political Science and International Relations 7 works
  3. 3 Engineering Education and Curriculum Development Media Technology 7 works
  4. 4 Ethics and Social Impacts of AI Safety Research 6 works
  5. 5 Critical Race Theory in Education Sociology and Political Science 6 works
  6. 6 Religion, Society, and Development Sociology and Political Science 6 works
  7. 7 Reproductive Health and Technologies Reproductive Medicine 6 works
  8. 8 Higher Education Research Studies Education 6 works
  9. 9 Race, History, and American Society Sociology and Political Science 6 works
  10. 10 Political Philosophy and Ethics Political Science and International Relations 6 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 available39.0%not open61.0%

World: 28% of research is openly available.

with international co-authors11.2%domestic only88.8%

World: 19% is written across borders.

How has University of San Diego's research output changed?

Output in 2018–2022 was 15% 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 San Diego

All research institutions in San Diego

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.