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University · Sheffield · United Kingdom

University of Sheffield

In research, University of Sheffield stands highest in Social Sciences (#22 of 6,365 worldwide), Social Sciences (#59 of 10,521 worldwide) and Sociology and Political Science (#54 of 2,578 worldwide), 2022–2025. Relative to its size it is most specialised in Music, Software and Statistics, Probability and Uncertainty — Music is 3.7× its share of world research.

sheffield.ac.ukROR OpenAlex
World rank, 2022–2025
#259
of 28,054 · #116 all time
Rank in United Kingdom
#16
of 1,094
Research works
93k
◆ 1% vs 2013–17
Citations
2.9M
31.4 per fractional work
Top-10% rate
23.3%
record average 16.5%
Open access
33%
world 28%

What is University of Sheffield 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 SciencesField #22 of 6,365 30.1%1,634 #22
Social SciencesDomain #59 of 10,521 28.6%3,249 #40
Sociology and Political ScienceSubfield #54 of 2,578 30.0%580 #46
Health SciencesDomain #253 of 11,982 23.7%1,932 #106
MedicineField #285 of 10,443 22.3%1,439 #160
Physical SciencesDomain #374 of 12,888 18.6%4,190 #148
Political Science and International RelationsSubfield #42 of 1,201 30.8%247 #20
General Health ProfessionsSubfield #45 of 916 30.5%283 #21
EngineeringField #327 of 6,636 16.4%1,886 #127
Life SciencesDomain #434 of 7,800 25.2%928 #161

Each strip is that field’s whole ranked pool, with the notch where University of Sheffield 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#22 #22
  2. Social Sciences#40 #59
  3. Sociology and Political Science#46 #54
  4. Health Sciences#106 #253
  5. Medicine#160 #285
  6. Physical Sciences#148 #374
  7. Political Science and International Relations#20 #42
  8. General Health Professions#21 #45
  9. Engineering#127 #327
  10. Life Sciences#161 #434
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 Sheffield specialise in?

Where its research is concentrated relative to its size: Music takes 3.7× the share of its output that it takes of world research.

  1. MusicSubfield · 31.4 works3.7×
  2. SoftwareSubfield · 21.9 works3.3×
  3. Statistics, Probability and UncertaintySubfield · 54.7 works3.1×
← 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: 0.42× its world share, 207 worksAgricultural and Bio…Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology: 0.81× its world share, 445 worksBiochemistry, Geneti…Immunology and Microbiology: 0.54× its world share, 56 worksImmunology and Micro…Neuroscience: 1.23× its world share, 206 worksNeurosciencePharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics: 0.40× its world share, 15 worksPharmacology, Toxico…Chemical Engineering: 1.02× its world share, 37 worksChemical EngineeringChemistry: 0.68× its world share, 110 worksChemistryComputer Science: 0.92× its world share, 733 worksComputer ScienceEarth and Planetary Sciences: 0.73× its world share, 118 worksEarth and Planetary …Energy: 0.75× its world share, 71 worksEnergyEngineering: 1.22× its world share, 1,886 worksEngineeringEnvironmental Science: 0.85× its world share, 436 worksEnvironmental ScienceMaterials Science: 0.93× its world share, 335 worksMaterials ScienceMathematics: 1.04× its world share, 126 worksMathematicsPhysics and Astronomy: 1.48× its world share, 339 worksPhysics and AstronomyDentistry: 1.31× its world share, 65 worksDentistryHealth Professions: 1.44× its world share, 392 worksHealth ProfessionsMedicine: 0.73× its world share, 1,439 worksMedicineNursing: 0.60× its world share, 30 worksNursingVeterinary: 0.44× its world share, 6 worksVeterinaryArts and Humanities: 1.46× its world share, 433 worksArts and HumanitiesBusiness, Management and Accounting: 0.82× its world share, 272 worksBusiness, Management…Decision Sciences: 1.38× its world share, 137 worksDecision SciencesEconomics, Econometrics and Finance: 1.46× its world share, 321 worksEconomics, Econometr…Psychology: 1.44× its world share, 452 worksPsychologySocial Sciences: 1.25× its world share, 1,634 worksSocial Sciences1×world share
more than its size predictsabout as predictedless

Rings at 0.5×, 1× and 2×. Widest outward: Physics and Astronomy, 1.5×. Every wedge is a field page.

Who are the top researchers at University of Sheffield?

Ranked on the composite score, John А. Kanis, Robert F. Storey and James W.F. Catto lead among researchers whose main affiliation is University of Sheffield.

  1. 1 John А. Kanis United Kingdom · #770 worldwide 2.3k citations · 104 works
  2. 2 Robert F. Storey United Kingdom · #1,379 worldwide 2.5k citations · 110 works
  3. 3 James W.F. Catto United Kingdom · #1,643 worldwide 1.5k citations · 96 works
  4. 4 John L. Provis United Kingdom · #3,378 worldwide 2.8k citations · 93 works
  5. 5 Kevin J. Gaston United Kingdom · #3,910 worldwide 2.5k citations · 154 works
  6. 6 P.J. Fleming United Kingdom · #4,154 worldwide 1.4k citations · 123 works
  7. 7 D. Howe United Kingdom · #4,798 worldwide 1.6k citations · 122 works
  8. 8 Yichuan Wang United Kingdom · #9,662 worldwide 816 citations · 55 works
  9. 9 D. Blackburn United Kingdom · #9,818 worldwide 1.3k citations · 98 works
  10. 10 Gill Valentine United Kingdom · #9,984 worldwide 579 citations · 61 works
All ranked researchers at University of Sheffield

Which keywords describe research at University of Sheffield?

By fractional works in 2022–2025, weighted toward what it does more of than the world: Globalization, Machine Learning, Deep Learning, Public Health, Neoliberalism, Quality of Life, Sustainability and Climate Change.

▲ 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 Learning327◆ 0.93×82 topics
  2. Machine Learning325◆ 0.97×86 topics
  3. Globalization300▲ 1.49×115 topics
  4. Epidemiology285▼ 0.70×129 topics
  5. Sustainability253◆ 1.01×98 topics
  6. Climate Change242◆ 0.87×96 topics
  7. Public Health228▲ 1.52×60 topics
  8. Quality of Life206▲ 1.39×52 topics
  9. Mental Health180▲ 1.20×40 topics
  10. Neural Networks175◆ 1.10×38 topics
  11. Social Media164◆ 1.11×34 topics
  12. Mechanical Properties158▲ 1.58×37 topics
  13. Human Rights136▲ 1.29×61 topics
  14. Neoliberalism135▲ 3.7×25 topics
  15. Identity132▲ 1.76×58 topics
  16. Renewable Energy128▼ 0.86×48 topics
  17. Gender124▲ 2.2×47 topics
  18. Healthcare120◆ 1.03×33 topics
  19. Risk Factors117◆ 1.03×36 topics
  20. Microstructure115▲ 2.2×19 topics
  21. Ethics106▲ 2.1×37 topics
  22. Economic Growth105▲ 1.20×25 topics
  23. Colonialism102▲ 2.1×45 topics
  24. History100▲ 1.39×44 topics
  25. Nationalism99▲ 2.1×31 topics
  26. Social Support96▲ 1.68×19 topics
  27. Genetics96▲ 1.34×24 topics
  28. Primary Care95▲ 2.5×15 topics
  29. Prevalence86▲ 2.1×14 topics
  30. Power Electronics78▲ 2.3×8 topics
  31. Thermal Analysis73▲ 5.5×8 topics
  32. Economic Evaluation68▲ 5.4×4 topics
  33. Income Inequality61▲ 4.2×6 topics
  34. Cost-effectiveness Analysis61▲ 7.0×1 topic
  35. Health Utility Measures61▲ 7.0×1 topic
  36. Electric Motor Drives53▲ 13×1 topic
  37. Permanent Magnet Machines53▲ 13×1 topic
  38. Health Care Utilization52▲ 4.4×3 topics
  39. Evidence-Based Practice51▲ 3.8×7 topics
  40. Beamforming48▲ 4.4×4 topics

Which research topics does University of Sheffield publish most on?

By volume in 2022–2025: Health Systems, Economic Evaluations, Quality of Life, Electric Motor Design and Analysis, Housing, Finance, and Neoliberalism and Structural Health Monitoring Techniques.

Health Systems, Economic Evaluations, Quality of Life: 61 fractional worksElectric Motor Design and Analysis: 53 fractional worksHousing, Finance, and Neoliberalism: 35 fractional worksStructural Health Monitoring Techniques: 31 fractional worksTopic Modeling31Topic Modeling: 31 fractional worksMagnetic Properties and Applications: 28 fractional worksHomelessness and Social …26Homelessness and Social Issues: 26 fractional worksAntenna Design and Analysis: 26 fractional worksMagnetic Bearings and Levitation Dynamics: 25 fractional worksNatural Language Process…25Natural Language Processing Techniques: 25 fractional works
Economics and EconometricsElectrical and Electronic EngineeringFinanceCivil and Structural Engineering5 others

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

  1. 1 Health Systems, Economic Evaluations, Quality of Life Economics and Econometrics 61 works
  2. 2 Electric Motor Design and Analysis Electrical and Electronic Engineering 53 works
  3. 3 Housing, Finance, and Neoliberalism Finance 35 works
  4. 4 Structural Health Monitoring Techniques Civil and Structural Engineering 31 works
  5. 5 Topic Modeling Artificial Intelligence 31 works
  6. 6 Magnetic Properties and Applications Electronic, Optical and Magnetic Materials 28 works
  7. 7 Homelessness and Social Issues General Health Professions 26 works
  8. 8 Antenna Design and Analysis Aerospace Engineering 26 works
  9. 9 Magnetic Bearings and Levitation Dynamics Control and Systems Engineering 25 works
  10. 10 Natural Language Processing Techniques Artificial Intelligence 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 available33.0%not open67.0%

World: 28% of research is openly available.

with international co-authors19.1%domestic only80.9%

World: 19% is written across borders.

How has University of Sheffield's research output changed?

Output in 2018–2022 was 1% 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 Sheffield

All research institutions in Sheffield

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.