Science Explorer Interactive view Map
University · St Andrews · United Kingdom

University of St Andrews

In research, University of St Andrews stands highest in Social Sciences (#200 of 10,521 worldwide), Arts and Humanities (#38 of 1,998 worldwide) and Physical Sciences (#549 of 12,888 worldwide), 2022–2025. Relative to its size it is most specialised in Developmental Biology, Classics and History — Developmental Biology is 23.8× its share of world research.

st-andrews.ac.ukROR OpenAlex
World rank, 2022–2025
#436
of 28,054 · #257 all time
Rank in United Kingdom
#22
of 1,094
Research works
37k
▼ 7% vs 2013–17
Citations
1M
28.1 per fractional work
Top-10% rate
21.3%
record average 16.5%
Open access
35%
world 28%

What is University of St Andrews 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 #200 of 10,521 21.4%2,128 #176
Arts and HumanitiesField #38 of 1,998 15.7%754 #22
Physical SciencesDomain #549 of 12,888 19.5%1,538 #273
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular BiologyField #171 of 3,579 26.4%206 #178
PsychologyField #108 of 2,181 27.4%184 #202
PhilosophySubfield #18 of 290 23.3%147 #13
Social SciencesField #421 of 6,365 23.7%964 #247
Life SciencesDomain #553 of 7,800 25.7%406 #307
Sociology and Political ScienceSubfield #232 of 2,578 23.6%391 #138
HistorySubfield #33 of 204 11.5%164 #13

Each strip is that field’s whole ranked pool, with the notch where University of St Andrews 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#176 #200
  2. Arts and Humanities#22 #38
  3. Physical Sciences#273 #549
  4. Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology#178 #171
  5. Psychology#202 #108
  6. Philosophy#13 #18
  7. Social Sciences#247 #421
  8. Life Sciences#307 #553
  9. Sociology and Political Science#138 #232
  10. History#13 #33
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 St Andrews specialise in?

Where its research is concentrated relative to its size: Developmental Biology takes 23.8× the share of its output that it takes of world research.

  1. Developmental BiologySubfield · 23.7 works24×
  2. ClassicsSubfield · 58.0 works22×
  3. HistorySubfield · 163.7 works12×
  4. History and Philosophy of ScienceSubfield · 69.5 works10×
  5. PhilosophySubfield · 147.4 works7.7×
  6. AnthropologySubfield · 84.7 works6.8×
  7. Religious studiesSubfield · 49.3 works6.7×
← 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: 0.41× its world share, 87 worksAgricultural and Bio…Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology: 0.87× its world share, 206 worksBiochemistry, Geneti…Immunology and Microbiology: 0.39× its world share, 18 worksImmunology and Micro…Neuroscience: 1.14× its world share, 82 worksNeurosciencePharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics: 0.86× its world share, 13 worksPharmacology, Toxico…Chemical Engineering: 0.97× its world share, 15 worksChemical EngineeringChemistry: 2.76× its world share, 192 worksChemistryComputer Science: 0.65× its world share, 223 worksComputer ScienceEarth and Planetary Sciences: 2.31× its world share, 161 worksEarth and Planetary …Energy: 0.48× its world share, 19 worksEnergyEngineering: 0.40× its world share, 267 worksEngineeringEnvironmental Science: 1.19× its world share, 262 worksEnvironmental ScienceMaterials Science: 0.84× its world share, 130 worksMaterials ScienceMathematics: 1.49× its world share, 78 worksMathematicsPhysics and Astronomy: 1.93× its world share, 190 worksPhysics and AstronomyDentistry: 0.14× its world share, 3 worksDentistryHealth Professions: 0.66× its world share, 78 worksHealth ProfessionsMedicine: 0.32× its world share, 272 worksMedicineNursing: 0.21× its world share, 5 worksNursingVeterinary: 0.79× its world share, 5 worksVeterinaryArts and Humanities: 5.89× its world share, 754 worksArts and HumanitiesBusiness, Management and Accounting: 0.50× its world share, 72 worksBusiness, Management…Decision Sciences: 0.60× its world share, 26 worksDecision SciencesEconomics, Econometrics and Finance: 1.36× its world share, 129 worksEconomics, Econometr…Psychology: 1.36× its world share, 184 worksPsychologySocial Sciences: 1.72× its world share, 964 worksSocial Sciences1×world share
more than its size predictsabout as predictedless

Rings at 0.5×, 1× and 2×. Widest outward: Arts and Humanities, 5.9×. Every wedge is a field page.

Who are the top researchers at University of St Andrews?

Ranked on the composite score, S. T. Buckland, Hugh Kennedy and Mary Orr lead among researchers whose main affiliation is University of St Andrews.

  1. 1 S. T. Buckland United Kingdom · #7,892 worldwide 1.4k citations · 60 works
  2. 2 Hugh Kennedy United Kingdom · #15,439 worldwide 176 citations · 74 works
  3. 3 Mary Orr United Kingdom · #15,488 worldwide 242 citations · 53 works
  4. 4 Stephen Halliwell United Kingdom · #16,418 worldwide 241 citations · 52 works
  5. 5 Paul Wheatley United Kingdom · #18,909 worldwide 384 citations · 56 works
  6. 6 Stephen Reicher United Kingdom · #21,837 worldwide 554 citations · 75 works
  7. 7 A. C. S. Peacock United Kingdom · #23,302 worldwide 535 citations · 38 works
  8. 8 Huw Davies United Kingdom · #23,802 worldwide 326 citations · 61 works
  9. 9 Rob Gray United Kingdom · #24,132 worldwide 538 citations · 77 works
  10. 10 Eli Zysman‐Colman United Kingdom · #28,885 worldwide 706 citations · 83 works
All ranked researchers at University of St Andrews

Which keywords describe research at University of St Andrews?

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

▲ 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. Globalization251▲ 2.9×106 topics
  2. Climate Change242▲ 2.0×88 topics
  3. History182▲ 5.8×49 topics
  4. Colonialism171▲ 8.1×45 topics
  5. Literature158▲ 6.6×47 topics
  6. Nationalism150▲ 7.3×31 topics
  7. Religion148▲ 7.0×37 topics
  8. Identity144▲ 4.5×60 topics
  9. Gender132▲ 5.5×51 topics
  10. Culture109▲ 4.7×27 topics
  11. Ethics109▲ 5.1×48 topics
  12. Philosophy106▲ 5.4×34 topics
  13. Human Rights100▲ 2.2×51 topics
  14. Society94▲ 11×19 topics
  15. Cultural Identity77▲ 3.4×27 topics
  16. Population Dynamics75▲ 6.7×12 topics
  17. Conservation70▲ 3.7×20 topics
  18. Acoustic Communication65▲ 29×3 topics
  19. Feminism64▲ 5.1×25 topics
  20. Neoliberalism63▲ 4.0×25 topics
  21. Theology58▲ 14×6 topics
  22. International Law56▲ 4.2×16 topics
  23. International Relations54▲ 5.0×23 topics
  24. Politics53▲ 4.4×20 topics
  25. Evolution53▲ 4.8×14 topics
  26. Empire51▲ 14×6 topics
  27. National Identity51▲ 10×10 topics
  28. Predator-Prey Interactions46▲ 13×3 topics
  29. Social History46▲ 12×8 topics
  30. Cultural Exchange45▲ 7.8×11 topics
  31. Cooperation44▲ 15×4 topics
  32. Transition Metal Complexes43▲ 11×4 topics
  33. Medieval42▲ 26×2 topics
  34. Altruism42▲ 11×4 topics
  35. Church History41▲ 21×3 topics
  36. Anthropogenic Noise41▲ 32×1 topic
  37. Marine Mammals41▲ 32×1 topic
  38. Medicine40▲ 11×9 topics
  39. Race39▲ 8.0×17 topics
  40. Religious Identity39▲ 14×5 topics

Which research topics does University of St Andrews publish most on?

By volume in 2022–2025: Marine animal studies overview, Medieval Literature and History, Scottish History and National Identity and Reformation and Early Modern Christianity.

Marine animal studies ov…41Marine animal studies overview: 41 fractional worksMedieval Literature and …35Medieval Literature and History: 35 fractional worksScottish History and National Identity: 26 fractional worksReformation and Early Modern Christianity: 25 fractional worksAmerican Constitutional …24American Constitutional Law and Politics: 24 fractional worksOrganic Light-Emitting Diodes Research: 24 fractional worksHistorical Studies and Socio-cultural Analysis: 24 fractional worksAnimal Vocal Communicati…24Animal Vocal Communication and Behavior: 24 fractional worksHistorical Economic and Social Studies: 23 fractional worksTheology and Philosophy of Evil: 22 fractional works
EcologyClassicsHistoryPolitical Science and International Relations5 others

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

  1. 1 Marine animal studies overview Ecology 41 works
  2. 2 Medieval Literature and History Classics 35 works
  3. 3 Scottish History and National Identity History 26 works
  4. 4 Reformation and Early Modern Christianity History 25 works
  5. 5 American Constitutional Law and Politics Political Science and International Relations 24 works
  6. 6 Organic Light-Emitting Diodes Research Electrical and Electronic Engineering 24 works
  7. 7 Historical Studies and Socio-cultural Analysis History and Philosophy of Science 24 works
  8. 8 Animal Vocal Communication and Behavior Developmental Biology 24 works
  9. 9 Historical Economic and Social Studies Economics and Econometrics 23 works
  10. 10 Theology and Philosophy of Evil Philosophy 22 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 available34.8%not open65.2%

World: 28% of research is openly available.

with international co-authors24.8%domestic only75.2%

World: 19% is written across borders.

How has University of St Andrews's research output changed?

Output in 2018–2022 was 7% 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 St Andrews

All research institutions in St Andrews

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.