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University · Pullman · United States

Washington State University

In research, Washington State University stands highest in Physical Sciences (#775 of 12,888 worldwide), Social Sciences (#753 of 10,521 worldwide) and Agricultural and Biological Sciences (#247 of 3,409 worldwide), 2022–2025. Relative to its size it is most specialised in Oceanography, Environmental Chemistry and Astronomy and Astrophysics — Oceanography is 10.7× its share of world research.

wsu.eduROR OpenAlex
World rank, 2022–2025
#837
of 28,054 · #326 all time
Rank in United States
#153
of 4,192
Research works
53k
▲ 28% vs 2013–17
Citations
2M
36.7 per fractional work
Top-10% rate
18.5%
record average 16.5%
Open access
33%
world 28%

What is Washington State 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
Physical SciencesDomain #775 of 12,888 13.8%2,399 #407
Social SciencesDomain #753 of 10,521 24.1%1,077 #204
Agricultural and Biological SciencesField #247 of 3,409 27.5%664 #61
Plant ScienceSubfield #134 of 1,395 28.6%340 #36
Life SciencesDomain #772 of 7,800 23.5%1,290 #243
Social SciencesField #716 of 6,365 27.3%510 #161
EngineeringField #768 of 6,636 17.0%718 #446
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular BiologyField #441 of 3,579 21.6%449 #175
Environmental ScienceField #496 of 3,551 17.4%402 #195
Business, Management and AccountingField #408 of 2,578 27.8%117 #92

Each strip is that field’s whole ranked pool, with the notch where Washington State 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. Physical Sciences#407 #775
  2. Social Sciences#204 #753
  3. Agricultural and Biological Sciences#61 #247
  4. Plant Science#36 #134
  5. Life Sciences#243 #772
  6. Social Sciences#161 #716
  7. Engineering#446 #768
  8. Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology#175 #441
  9. Environmental Science#195 #496
  10. Business, Management and Accounting#92 #408
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 Washington State University specialise in?

Where its research is concentrated relative to its size: Oceanography takes 10.7× the share of its output that it takes of world research.

  1. OceanographySubfield · 163.1 works11×
  2. Environmental ChemistrySubfield · 99.8 works8.4×
  3. Astronomy and AstrophysicsSubfield · 226.5 works8.0×
  4. VeterinaryField · 40.2 works5.4×
  5. Small AnimalsSubfield · 31.7 works4.7×
  6. BiotechnologySubfield · 37.8 works4.4×
  7. ParasitologySubfield · 23.6 works4.1×
← 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: 2.56× its world share, 664 worksAgricultural and Bio…Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology: 1.54× its world share, 449 worksBiochemistry, Geneti…Immunology and Microbiology: 1.49× its world share, 82 worksImmunology and Micro…Neuroscience: 0.90× its world share, 80 worksNeurosciencePharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics: 0.80× its world share, 16 worksPharmacology, Toxico…Chemical Engineering: 1.73× its world share, 33 worksChemical EngineeringChemistry: 1.15× its world share, 98 worksChemistryComputer Science: 0.60× its world share, 255 worksComputer ScienceEarth and Planetary Sciences: 3.25× its world share, 278 worksEarth and Planetary …Energy: 0.77× its world share, 39 worksEnergyEngineering: 0.88× its world share, 718 worksEngineeringEnvironmental Science: 1.48× its world share, 402 worksEnvironmental ScienceMaterials Science: 1.05× its world share, 200 worksMaterials ScienceMathematics: 0.68× its world share, 43 worksMathematicsPhysics and Astronomy: 2.73× its world share, 331 worksPhysics and AstronomyDentistry: 0.16× its world share, 4 worksDentistryHealth Professions: 0.71× its world share, 101 worksHealth ProfessionsMedicine: 0.49× its world share, 513 worksMedicineNursing: 1.29× its world share, 34 worksNursingVeterinary: 5.42× its world share, 40 worksVeterinaryArts and Humanities: 0.68× its world share, 108 worksArts and HumanitiesBusiness, Management and Accounting: 0.66× its world share, 117 worksBusiness, Management…Decision Sciences: 0.89× its world share, 47 worksDecision SciencesEconomics, Econometrics and Finance: 0.65× its world share, 76 worksEconomics, Econometr…Psychology: 1.32× its world share, 219 worksPsychologySocial Sciences: 0.74× its world share, 510 worksSocial Sciences1×world share
more than its size predictsabout as predictedless

Rings at 0.5×, 1× and 2×. Widest outward: Veterinary, 5.4×. Every wedge is a field page.

Who are the top researchers at Washington State University?

Ranked on the composite score, Doğan Gürsoy, John N. Thompson and Riley E. Dunlap lead among researchers whose main affiliation is Washington State University.

  1. 1 Doğan Gürsoy United States · #4,895 worldwide 1.2k citations · 68 works
  2. 2 John N. Thompson United States · #13,579 worldwide 1k citations · 45 works
  3. 3 Riley E. Dunlap United States · #14,854 worldwide 1.4k citations · 43 works
  4. 4 Yuehe Lin United States · #17,901 worldwide 1.6k citations · 103 works
  5. 5 Jeffrey L. Smith United States · #18,223 worldwide 907 citations · 54 works
  6. 6 James F. Short United States · #22,033 worldwide 524 citations · 49 works
  7. 7 William R. Catton United States · #23,239 worldwide 547 citations · 39 works
  8. 8 Zhiwu Zhang United States · #23,592 worldwide 1.1k citations · 37 works
  9. 9 Anjan Bose United States · #24,606 worldwide 547 citations · 65 works
  10. 10 Kirk A. Peterson United States · #26,119 worldwide 614 citations · 49 works
All ranked researchers at Washington State University

Which keywords describe research at Washington State University?

By fractional works in 2022–2025, weighted toward what it does more of than the world: Climate Change, Solar Wind, Hydrological Modeling, Geodetic Measurements, Sea Level Rise, GRACE, groundwater depletion and Ionosphere.

▲ 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 Change408▲ 2.8×92 topics
  2. Solar Wind213▲ 42×2 topics
  3. Epidemiology196◆ 0.91×115 topics
  4. Hydrological Modeling168▲ 13×5 topics
  5. Geodetic Measurements162▲ 27×2 topics
  6. Sea Level Rise158▲ 23×3 topics
  7. GRACE156▲ 55×1 topic
  8. groundwater depletion156▲ 55×1 topic
  9. Ionosphere149▲ 49×1 topic
  10. Magnetosphere149▲ 49×1 topic
  11. Machine Learning135▼ 0.76×70 topics
  12. Sustainability131◆ 0.98×76 topics
  13. Microbial Communities117▲ 5.0×10 topics
  14. Public Health95▲ 1.20×42 topics
  15. Mental Health86◆ 1.07×34 topics
  16. Methane Oxidation85▲ 19×2 topics
  17. Anaerobic84▲ 22×1 topic
  18. Gas Hydrates84▲ 22×1 topic
  19. Biodiversity73▲ 1.78×31 topics
  20. Genetics72▲ 1.87×21 topics
  21. Coronal Mass Ejections64▲ 32×1 topic
  22. Solar Dynamics Observatory64▲ 32×1 topic
  23. Genetic Diversity63▲ 2.6×20 topics
  24. Catalysis62▲ 1.71×24 topics
  25. Invasive Species56▲ 2.4×21 topics
  26. Genome Sequencing41▲ 4.9×8 topics
  27. Tomography39▲ 3.9×5 topics
  28. Host-Pathogen Interactions38▲ 8.5×5 topics
  29. Biological Control36▲ 4.4×9 topics
  30. QTL Mapping35▲ 5.5×6 topics
  31. Transcriptome Analysis35▲ 10×3 topics
  32. Pathogen Transmission31▲ 8.4×3 topics
  33. Anthocyanins30▲ 8.0×2 topics
  34. Genetic Mapping30▲ 6.9×6 topics
  35. Breeding29▲ 7.0×5 topics
  36. Microbial Inactivation29▲ 16×2 topics
  37. Grapevine29▲ 13×2 topics
  38. High-Energy Astrophysics28▲ 19×1 topic
  39. Particle Acceleration28▲ 19×1 topic
  40. Crop Improvement28▲ 11×2 topics

Which research topics does Washington State University publish most on?

By volume in 2022–2025: Geophysics and Gravity Measurements, Ionosphere and magnetosphere dynamics, Methane Hydrates and Related Phenomena and Solar and Space Plasma Dynamics.

Geophysics and Gravity M…156Geophysics and Gravity Measurements: 156 fractional worksIonosphere and magnetosp…149Ionosphere and magnetosphere dynamics: 149 fractional worksMethane Hydrates and Rel…84Methane Hydrates and Related Phenomena: 84 fractional worksSolar and Space Plasma D…64Solar and Space Plasma Dynamics: 64 fractional worksAstrophysics and Cosmic Phenomena: 28 fractional worksHorticultural and Viticultural Research: 24 fractional worksSeismic Waves and Analysis: 24 fractional worksSmart Agriculture and AI: 22 fractional worksPlant Physiology and Cultivation Studies: 20 fractional worksPlant and animal studies: 19 fractional works
OceanographyAstronomy and AstrophysicsEnvironmental ChemistryNuclear and High Energy Physics3 others

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

  1. 1 Geophysics and Gravity Measurements Oceanography 156 works
  2. 2 Ionosphere and magnetosphere dynamics Astronomy and Astrophysics 149 works
  3. 3 Methane Hydrates and Related Phenomena Environmental Chemistry 84 works
  4. 4 Solar and Space Plasma Dynamics Astronomy and Astrophysics 64 works
  5. 5 Astrophysics and Cosmic Phenomena Nuclear and High Energy Physics 28 works
  6. 6 Horticultural and Viticultural Research Plant Science 24 works
  7. 7 Seismic Waves and Analysis Geophysics 24 works
  8. 8 Smart Agriculture and AI Plant Science 22 works
  9. 9 Plant Physiology and Cultivation Studies Plant Science 20 works
  10. 10 Plant and animal studies Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics 19 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 available32.6%not open67.4%

World: 28% of research is openly available.

with international co-authors12.5%domestic only87.5%

World: 19% is written across borders.

How has Washington State University's research output changed?

Output in 2018–2022 was 28% 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 Pullman

All research institutions in Pullman

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.