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University · Richmond · United States

Virginia Commonwealth University

In research, Virginia Commonwealth University stands highest in Health Sciences (#181 of 11,982 worldwide), Medicine (#160 of 10,443 worldwide) and Social Sciences (#481 of 10,521 worldwide), 2022–2025. Relative to its size it is most specialised in Transplantation, Hepatology and Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience — Transplantation is 8.7× its share of world research.

vcu.eduROR OpenAlex
World rank, 2022–2025
#695
of 28,054 · #462 all time
Rank in United States
#137
of 4,192
Research works
42k
▲ 3% vs 2013–17
Citations
1.1M
26.3 per fractional work
Top-10% rate
17.8%
record average 16.5%
Open access
37%
world 28%

What is Virginia Commonwealth University 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
Health SciencesDomain #181 of 11,982 16.1%2,928 #156
MedicineField #160 of 10,443 15.5%2,538 #170
Social SciencesDomain #481 of 10,521 23.0%1,501 #304
Life SciencesDomain #461 of 7,800 17.3%1,007 #345
PsychologyField #129 of 2,181 20.3%483 #95
Social SciencesField #541 of 6,365 25.9%676 #431
EpidemiologySubfield #88 of 976 17.7%236 #124
SurgerySubfield #224 of 1,816 15.0%325 #212
Clinical PsychologySubfield #96 of 738 20.5%234 #53
Physical SciencesDomain #1,715 of 12,888 15.9%1,171 #798

Each strip is that field’s whole ranked pool, with the notch where Virginia Commonwealth University 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. Health Sciences#156 #181
  2. Medicine#170 #160
  3. Social Sciences#304 #481
  4. Life Sciences#345 #461
  5. Psychology#95 #129
  6. Social Sciences#431 #541
  7. Epidemiology#124 #88
  8. Surgery#212 #224
  9. Clinical Psychology#53 #96
  10. Physical Sciences#798 #1,715
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 Virginia Commonwealth University specialise in?

Where its research is concentrated relative to its size: Transplantation takes 8.7× the share of its output that it takes of world research.

  1. TransplantationSubfield · 25.5 works8.7×
  2. HepatologySubfield · 51.7 works4.1×
  3. Cellular and Molecular NeuroscienceSubfield · 71.3 works3.5×
  4. Clinical PsychologySubfield · 233.7 works3.4×
← 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: 0.15× its world share, 46 worksAgricultural and Bio…Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology: 1.72× its world share, 604 worksBiochemistry, Geneti…Immunology and Microbiology: 1.42× its world share, 94 worksImmunology and Micro…Neuroscience: 2.14× its world share, 229 worksNeurosciencePharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics: 1.45× its world share, 34 worksPharmacology, Toxico…Chemical Engineering: 0.76× its world share, 18 worksChemical EngineeringChemistry: 0.70× its world share, 72 worksChemistryComputer Science: 0.52× its world share, 268 worksComputer ScienceEarth and Planetary Sciences: 0.24× its world share, 25 worksEarth and Planetary …Energy: 0.19× its world share, 12 worksEnergyEngineering: 0.39× its world share, 384 worksEngineeringEnvironmental Science: 0.33× its world share, 108 worksEnvironmental ScienceMaterials Science: 0.58× its world share, 134 worksMaterials ScienceMathematics: 0.81× its world share, 63 worksMathematicsPhysics and Astronomy: 0.60× its world share, 88 worksPhysics and AstronomyDentistry: 1.99× its world share, 64 worksDentistryHealth Professions: 1.62× its world share, 282 worksHealth ProfessionsMedicine: 2.00× its world share, 2,538 worksMedicineNursing: 1.12× its world share, 36 worksNursingVeterinary: 0.87× its world share, 8 worksVeterinaryArts and Humanities: 0.66× its world share, 126 worksArts and HumanitiesBusiness, Management and Accounting: 0.36× its world share, 76 worksBusiness, Management…Decision Sciences: 0.79× its world share, 50 worksDecision SciencesEconomics, Econometrics and Finance: 0.63× its world share, 89 worksEconomics, Econometr…Psychology: 2.40× its world share, 483 worksPsychologySocial Sciences: 0.81× its world share, 676 worksSocial Sciences1×world share
more than its size predictsabout as predictedless

Rings at 0.5×, 1× and 2×. Widest outward: Psychology, 2.4×. Every wedge is a field page.

Who are the top researchers at Virginia Commonwealth University?

Ranked on the composite score, Arun J. Sanyal, Alex H. Krist and Joseph P. Ornato lead among researchers whose main affiliation is Virginia Commonwealth University.

  1. 1 Arun J. Sanyal United States · #2,102 worldwide 1.9k citations · 195 works
  2. 2 Alex H. Krist United States · #7,200 worldwide 936 citations · 59 works
  3. 3 Joseph P. Ornato United States · #9,236 worldwide 991 citations · 54 works
  4. 4 Kenneth S. Kendler United States · #12,487 worldwide 2.6k citations · 237 works
  5. 5 Rao R. Ivatury United States · #12,746 worldwide 462 citations · 55 works
  6. 6 Sarah Spiegel United States · #14,566 worldwide 991 citations · 66 works
  7. 7 Lawrence B. Schwartz United States · #15,049 worldwide 464 citations · 60 works
  8. 8 Ronald C. Merrell United States · #15,951 worldwide 285 citations · 53 works
  9. 9 Sheldon Milstien United States · #16,710 worldwide 777 citations · 55 works
  10. 10 Michael Silverstein United States · #21,485 worldwide 781 citations · 40 works
All ranked researchers at Virginia Commonwealth University

Which keywords describe research at Virginia Commonwealth University?

By fractional works in 2022–2025, weighted toward what it does more of than the world: Epidemiology, Mental Health, Inflammation, Quality of Life, Depression, Risk Factors, Metabolic Syndrome and Psychiatric Disorders.

▲ 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. Epidemiology520▲ 1.99×126 topics
  2. Inflammation267▲ 1.94×81 topics
  3. Mental Health266▲ 2.8×37 topics
  4. Quality of Life211▲ 2.2×51 topics
  5. Oxidative Stress169▲ 1.56×57 topics
  6. Depression167▲ 2.9×23 topics
  7. Public Health164▲ 1.71×51 topics
  8. Risk Factors155▲ 2.1×36 topics
  9. Treatment152▲ 1.89×47 topics
  10. Cancer150▲ 1.69×54 topics
  11. Metabolic Syndrome137▲ 2.5×22 topics
  12. Cardiovascular Disease128▲ 1.75×36 topics
  13. Insulin Resistance98▲ 3.3×10 topics
  14. Adolescents98▲ 4.0×8 topics
  15. Obesity96▲ 1.92×25 topics
  16. Diagnosis96▲ 1.56×39 topics
  17. Clinical Trials95▲ 2.1×19 topics
  18. Meta-Analysis91▲ 2.3×19 topics
  19. Chemotherapy90▲ 1.95×25 topics
  20. Neurological Disorders90▲ 2.4×20 topics
  21. Anxiety89▲ 2.9×12 topics
  22. Health Disparities87▲ 5.0×8 topics
  23. Social Support84▲ 2.3×17 topics
  24. Heart Failure81▲ 2.8×13 topics
  25. Prevalence81▲ 3.0×14 topics
  26. Aging81▲ 2.3×17 topics
  27. Mortality80▲ 2.1×13 topics
  28. Mortality Risk75▲ 4.8×6 topics
  29. Stress75▲ 3.1×11 topics
  30. Psychiatric Disorders75▲ 8.5×4 topics
  31. Neuroprotection67▲ 2.9×17 topics
  32. Emotion Regulation64▲ 3.1×9 topics
  33. Health Consequences64▲ 3.4×4 topics
  34. Cancer Risk60▲ 4.1×10 topics
  35. Hepatocellular Carcinoma60▲ 4.3×3 topics
  36. Genetic Variation59▲ 4.2×9 topics
  37. Substance Use Disorders53▲ 11×2 topics
  38. Hepatic Steatosis53▲ 5.2×2 topics
  39. Graft Survival42▲ 7.9×3 topics
  40. Acculturation42▲ 8.3×2 topics

Which research topics does Virginia Commonwealth University publish most on?

By volume in 2022–2025: Liver Disease Diagnosis and Treatment, Substance Abuse Treatment and Outcomes, Child and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional Development and Smoking Behavior and Cessation.

Liver Disease Diagnosis …46Liver Disease Diagnosis and Treatment: 46 fractional worksSubstance Abuse Treatmen…31Substance Abuse Treatment and Outcomes: 31 fractional worksChild and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional Development: 31 fractional worksSmoking Behavior and Cessation: 27 fractional worksNeurotransmitter Receptor Influence on Behavior: 27 fractional worksSleep and related disorders: 26 fractional worksLiver Disease and Transplantation: 25 fractional worksCOVID-19 and Mental Health23COVID-19 and Mental Health: 23 fractional worksOpioid Use Disorder Treatment: 23 fractional worksRenal Transplantation Outcomes and Treatments: 22 fractional works
EpidemiologyClinical PsychologyPhysiologyCellular and Molecular Neuroscience4 others

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

  1. 1 Liver Disease Diagnosis and Treatment Epidemiology 46 works
  2. 2 Substance Abuse Treatment and Outcomes Epidemiology 31 works
  3. 3 Child and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional Development Clinical Psychology 31 works
  4. 4 Smoking Behavior and Cessation Physiology 27 works
  5. 5 Neurotransmitter Receptor Influence on Behavior Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience 27 works
  6. 6 Sleep and related disorders Experimental and Cognitive Psychology 26 works
  7. 7 Liver Disease and Transplantation Hepatology 25 works
  8. 8 COVID-19 and Mental Health Clinical Psychology 23 works
  9. 9 Opioid Use Disorder Treatment Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health 23 works
  10. 10 Renal Transplantation Outcomes and Treatments Transplantation 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 available37.0%not open63.0%

World: 28% of research is openly available.

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

World: 19% is written across borders.

How has Virginia Commonwealth University's research output changed?

Output in 2018–2022 was 3% 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 Richmond

All research institutions in Richmond

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.