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Nonprofit · Washington · United States

World Resources Institute

In research, World Resources Institute stands highest in Physical Sciences (#8,283 of 10,670 worldwide), 2022-now. Relative to its size it is most specialised in Global and Planetary Change and Environmental Science (Global and Planetary Change is 20.5× its share of world research).

wri.orgROR OpenAlex
World rank, 2022-now
#13,008
of 22,385 · #9,569 all time
Rank in United States
#1,825
of 3,332
Research works
516
▲ 31% vs 2018-21
Citations
18k
34.8 per fractional work
Top-10% rate
13.0%
all institutions 10.0%
vs its own fields
1.11×
1.00× is exactly expected
Open access
42%
world 40%
International
28%
world 18%
World Resources Institute

What is World Resources Institute known for in research?

The fields where it stands highest, 2022-now, ranked among every institution above the floor in each field.

FieldWorld rankWhere that sitsTop-10% rateWorksAll time
Physical SciencesDomain #8,283 of 10,670 16.9%64 #6491

Each strip is that field's whole ranked pool, with the notch where World Resources Institute 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 average mark, because the average differs by field (from about 6% in Dentistry to 21% in Economics).

Which fields of science does World Resources Institute work in?

In 2022-now, 55% of research at World Resources Institute is in Physical Sciences, 35% in Social Sciences. Its largest fields are Environmental Science (34%), Social Sciences (18%), Economics, Econometrics and Finance (10%). It does 1.4× the world's share of Physical Sciences.

Physical Sciences: 75 fractional works · 55.3% of its workEnvironmental Science: 46 fractional works · 33.7% of its workGlobal and Planetary Change: 21 fractional works · 15.6% of its workEcology: 7 fractional works · 5.0% of its workEnvironmental Engineering: 5 fractional works · 3.5% of its workManagement, Monitoring, Policy and Law: 4 fractional works · 3.1% of its workPollution: 2 fractional works · 1.4% of its workNature and Landscape Conservation: 2 fractional works · 1.3% of its workHealth, Toxicology and Mutagenesis: 2 fractional works · 1.1% of its workWater Science and Technology: 1 fractional works · 1.0% of its workIndustrial and Manufacturing Engineering: 1 fractional works · 0.8% of its workEcological Modeling: 1 fractional works · 0.6% of its workEnvironmental Chemistry: 0 fractional works · 0.3% of its workEnergy: 13 fractional works · 9.9% of its workRenewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment: 11 fractional works · 8.1% of its workGeneral Energy: 2 fractional works · 1.2% of its workEnergy Engineering and Power Technology: 1 fractional works · 0.6% of its workEngineering: 10 fractional works · 7.6% of its workBuilding and Construction: 3 fractional works · 2.0% of its workElectrical and Electronic Engineering: 2 fractional works · 1.7% of its workSafety, Risk, Reliability and Quality: 2 fractional works · 1.1% of its workCivil and Structural Engineering: 1 fractional works · 0.8% of its workAerospace Engineering: 1 fractional works · 0.4% of its workAutomotive Engineering: 1 fractional works · 0.4% of its workOcean Engineering: 0 fractional works · 0.3% of its workBiomedical Engineering: 0 fractional works · 0.2% of its workControl and Systems Engineering: 0 fractional works · 0.2% of its workMedia Technology: 0 fractional works · 0.2% of its workSmaller subfields together: 0 fractional works · 0.1% of its workEarth and Planetary Sciences: 3 fractional works · 1.9% of its workAtmospheric Science: 1 fractional works · 1.0% of its workOceanography: 1 fractional works · 0.8% of its workSmaller subfields together: 0 fractional works · 0.2% of its workPhysics and Astronomy: 2 fractional works · 1.3% of its workAstronomy and Astrophysics: 2 fractional works · 1.3% of its workComputer Science: 1 fractional works · 0.7% of its workArtificial Intelligence: 0 fractional works · 0.3% of its workInformation Systems: 0 fractional works · 0.2% of its workSmaller subfields together: 0 fractional works · 0.1% of its workChemistry: 0 fractional works · 0.3% of its workMathematics: 0 fractional works · 0.0% of its workChemical Engineering: 0 fractional works · 0.0% of its workSocial Sciences: 47 fractional works · 34.5% of its workSocial Sciences: 24 fractional works · 17.5% of its workSociology and Political Science: 11 fractional works · 7.7% of its workPolitical Science and International Relations: 4 fractional works · 3.1% of its workTransportation: 3 fractional works · 1.9% of its workUrban Studies: 2 fractional works · 1.2% of its workGeography, Planning and Development: 1 fractional works · 1.0% of its workCommunication: 1 fractional works · 0.7% of its workEducation: 1 fractional works · 0.5% of its workAnthropology: 0 fractional works · 0.4% of its workLibrary and Information Sciences: 0 fractional works · 0.2% of its workPublic Administration: 0 fractional works · 0.2% of its workDevelopment: 0 fractional works · 0.2% of its workSmaller subfields together: 0 fractional works · 0.3% of its workEconomics, Econometrics and Finance: 14 fractional works · 10.2% of its workEconomics and Econometrics: 13 fractional works · 9.4% of its workGeneral Economics, Econometrics and Finance: 1 fractional works · 0.4% of its workFinance: 0 fractional works · 0.3% of its workDecision Sciences: 3 fractional works · 2.4% of its workManagement Science and Operations Research: 2 fractional works · 1.5% of its workStatistics, Probability and Uncertainty: 1 fractional works · 0.8% of its workSmaller subfields together: 0 fractional works · 0.1% of its workArts and Humanities: 3 fractional works · 2.2% of its workHistory: 1 fractional works · 1.0% of its workConservation: 1 fractional works · 0.4% of its workHistory and Philosophy of Science: 0 fractional works · 0.4% of its workMusic: 0 fractional works · 0.2% of its workSmaller subfields together: 0 fractional works · 0.2% of its workBusiness, Management and Accounting: 3 fractional works · 1.9% of its workStrategy and Management: 1 fractional works · 0.8% of its workOrganizational Behavior and Human Resource Management: 0 fractional works · 0.4% of its workAccounting: 0 fractional works · 0.3% of its workMarketing: 0 fractional works · 0.2% of its workSmaller subfields together: 0 fractional works · 0.2% of its workPsychology: 0 fractional works · 0.3% of its workLife Sciences: 8 fractional works · 6.1% of its workAgricultural and Biological Sciences: 8 fractional works · 5.8% of its workGeneral Agricultural and Biological Sciences: 2 fractional works · 1.6% of its workSoil Science: 1 fractional works · 1.1% of its workPlant Science: 1 fractional works · 0.8% of its workEcology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics: 1 fractional works · 0.6% of its workFood Science: 1 fractional works · 0.6% of its workForestry: 1 fractional works · 0.5% of its workInsect Science: 0 fractional works · 0.3% of its workSmaller subfields together: 0 fractional works · 0.3% of its workBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology: 0 fractional works · 0.2% of its workPharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics: 0 fractional works · 0.0% of its workHealth Sciences: 6 fractional works · 4.1% of its workMedicine: 4 fractional works · 3.0% of its workPublic Health, Environmental and Occupational Health: 1 fractional works · 1.0% of its workReproductive Medicine: 1 fractional works · 0.9% of its workPediatrics, Perinatology and Child Health: 1 fractional works · 0.4% of its workPhysiology: 0 fractional works · 0.4% of its workSmaller subfields together: 0 fractional works · 0.3% of its workHealth Professions: 1 fractional works · 0.7% of its workEmergency Medical Services: 0 fractional works · 0.4% of its workGeneral Health Professions: 0 fractional works · 0.3% of its workSmaller subfields together: 0 fractional works · 0.1% of its workNursing: 0 fractional works · 0.4% of its workNutrition and Dietetics: 0 fractional works · 0.4% of its workALL ITS WORKWorld ResourcesInstitute136fractional works, 2022-now
Life Sciences6%Physical Sciences55%Health Sciences4%Social Sciences35%

Each ring splits the one inside it: the four domains of science, their fields, their subfields. Size is fractional works in 2022-now. Every slice is a page; the interactive view zooms down to single topics and colours each by how much more of it this institution does than the world.

Its 4 domains and 21 fields, with their numbers
    1. Environmental Science4633.7%
    2. Energy139.9%
    3. Engineering107.6%
    4. Earth and Planetary Sciences31.9%
    5. Physics and Astronomy21.3%
    6. Computer Science10.7%
    7. Chemistry00.3%
    8. Mathematics00.0%
    9. Chemical Engineering00.0%
    1. Social Sciences2417.5%
    2. Economics, Econometrics and Finance1410.2%
    3. Decision Sciences32.4%
    4. Arts and Humanities32.2%
    5. Business, Management and Accounting31.9%
    6. Psychology00.3%
    1. Agricultural and Biological Sciences85.8%
    2. Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology00.2%
    3. Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics00.0%
    1. Medicine43.0%
    2. Health Professions10.7%
    3. Nursing00.4%
All of science, and how each field's share has moved since 1950: the Science domain explorer

What does World Resources Institute specialise in?

Where its research is concentrated relative to its size: Global and Planetary Change takes 20.5× the share of its output that it takes of world research.

  1. Global and Planetary ChangeSubfield · 21.2 works21×
  2. Environmental ScienceField · 45.7 works6.8×
← 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: 1.22× its world share, 8 worksAgricultural and Bio…Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology: 0.04× its world share, 0 worksBiochemistry, Geneti…Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics: 0.12× its world share, 0 worksPharmacology, Toxico…Chemical Engineering: 0.09× its world share, 0 worksChemical EngineeringChemistry: 0.18× its world share, 0 worksChemistryComputer Science: 0.08× its world share, 1 worksComputer ScienceEarth and Planetary Sciences: 1.20× its world share, 3 worksEarth and Planetary …Energy: 10.78× its world share, 13 worksEnergyEngineering: 0.51× its world share, 10 worksEngineeringEnvironmental Science: 6.78× its world share, 46 worksEnvironmental ScienceMathematics: 0.03× its world share, 0 worksMathematicsPhysics and Astronomy: 0.58× its world share, 2 worksPhysics and AstronomyHealth Professions: 0.28× its world share, 1 worksHealth ProfessionsMedicine: 0.15× its world share, 4 worksMedicineNursing: 0.75× its world share, 0 worksNursingArts and Humanities: 0.74× its world share, 3 worksArts and HumanitiesBusiness, Management and Accounting: 0.59× its world share, 3 worksBusiness, Management…Decision Sciences: 2.50× its world share, 3 worksDecision SciencesEconomics, Econometrics and Finance: 4.77× its world share, 14 worksEconomics, Econometr…Psychology: 0.10× its world share, 0 worksPsychologySocial Sciences: 1.39× its world share, 24 worksSocial Sciences1×world share
more than its size predictsabout as predictedless

Rings at 0.5×, 1× and 2×. Widest outward: Energy, 10.8×. Every wedge is a field page.

All 21 fields, with their numbers
  1. Energy10.78×13 works
  2. Environmental Science6.78×46 works
  3. Economics, Econometrics and Finance4.77×14 works
  4. Decision Sciences2.50×3 works
  5. Social Sciences1.39×24 works
  6. Agricultural and Biological Sciences1.22×8 works
  7. Earth and Planetary Sciences1.20×3 works
  8. Nursing0.75×0 works
  9. Arts and Humanities0.74×3 works
  10. Business, Management and Accounting0.59×3 works
  11. Physics and Astronomy0.58×2 works
  12. Engineering0.51×10 works
  13. Health Professions0.28×1 works
  14. Chemistry0.18×0 works
  15. Medicine0.15×4 works
  16. Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics0.12×0 works
  17. Psychology0.10×0 works
  18. Chemical Engineering0.09×0 works
  19. Computer Science0.08×1 works
  20. Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology0.04×0 works
  21. Mathematics0.03×0 works

Who are the top researchers at World Resources Institute?

Ranked on the quality score, Jesse Ribot, Lindsey Sloat and Walter V. Reid lead among researchers whose main affiliation is World Resources Institute.

  1. 1 Jesse Ribot United States · #85,225 worldwide 12k citations · 135 works
  2. 2 Lindsey Sloat United States · #129,320 worldwide 3.4k citations · 62 works
  3. 3 Walter V. Reid United States · #300,524 worldwide 10k citations · 86 works
  4. 4 Fred Stolle United States · #520,608 worldwide 4.2k citations · 96 works
  5. 5 Lauretta Burke United States · #530,679 worldwide 4.2k citations · 58 works
  6. 6 Elizabeth Dow Goldman United States · #580,669 worldwide 2k citations · 44 works
  7. 7 Carlos Leandro Cordeiro United States · #699,279 worldwide 1.6k citations · 24 works
  8. 8 David A. Gibbs United States · #779,274 worldwide 2.5k citations · 54 works
  9. 9 Darío Hidalgo United States · #807,593 worldwide 2k citations · 106 works
  10. 10 Mikaela Weisse United States · #847,630 worldwide 2.4k citations · 40 works
All ranked researchers at World Resources Institute

What are the most cited papers from World Resources Institute?

The most cited paper from World Resources Institute is "Natural climate solutions" (Bronson W. Griscom et al., 2017), with 3,490 citations. Next come "Paris Agreement climate proposals need a boost to keep warming well below 2 °C" (3,464) and "Classifying drivers of global forest loss" (2,373).

Most cited papers
#PaperReleasedCitations
1 Natural climate solutions Bronson W. Griscom et al. · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Open access 16 Oct 2017 3,490
2 Paris Agreement climate proposals need a boost to keep warming well below 2 °C Joeri Rogelj, Michel G.J. den Elzen, Niklas Höhne et al. · Nature Open access 29 Jun 2016 3,464
3 Classifying drivers of global forest loss Philip G. Curtis, Christy M. Slay, Nancy L. Harris et al. · Science 13 Sep 2018 2,373
4 A Theory of Access* Jesse Ribot, Nancy Lee Peluso · Rural Sociology Jun 2003 2,312
5 Pollution and health: a progress update Richard Fuller et al. · The Lancet Planetary Health Open access 17 May 2022 2,132
All 60 most cited papers, with filters and sorting

Which keywords describe research at World Resources Institute?

By fractional works in 2022-now, weighted toward what it does more of than the world: Climate Change, Sustainability, Renewable Energy, Energy Transition, Biodiversity Conservation, Environmental Policy, Global Warming and Land Use 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-now 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 Change44▲ 12×50 topics
  2. Sustainability24▲ 7.3×40 topics
  3. Renewable Energy19▲ 9.6×22 topics
  4. Energy Transition16▲ 77×4 topics
  5. Biodiversity Conservation14▲ 27×13 topics
  6. Environmental Policy12▲ 45×7 topics
  7. Global Warming12▲ 21×9 topics
  8. Environmental Impact11▲ 4.9×24 topics
  9. Land Use Change11▲ 28×7 topics
  10. Greenhouse Gas Emissions10▲ 28×6 topics
  11. Economic Impacts8▲ 88×2 topics
  12. Remote Sensing8▲ 4.6×18 topics
  13. Carbon Pricing8▲ 122×1 topic
  14. Policy Instruments8▲ 95×1 topic
  15. EROI7▲ 165×1 topic
  16. Fossil Fuels7▲ 113×1 topic
  17. Urbanization6▲ 11×5 topics
  18. Environmental Services6▲ 127×1 topic
  19. Tropical Deforestation6▲ 127×1 topic
  20. Public Perception6▲ 32×5 topics
  21. Ecosystem Services6▲ 10×8 topics
  22. Social-Ecological Systems6▲ 29×2 topics
  23. Biomass Estimation5▲ 26×3 topics
  24. Biodiversity5▲ 4.7×13 topics
  25. Global Impact5▲ 20×2 topics
  26. Vulnerability5▲ 15×5 topics
  27. Adaptation4▲ 10.0×4 topics
  28. Human-Nature Interactions4▲ 33×1 topic
  29. Spatial Dynamics4▲ 33×1 topic
  30. Global Change4▲ 10×4 topics
  31. Global Governance3▲ 10×2 topics
  32. Migration3▲ 7.3×3 topics
  33. Risk Perception3▲ 8.9×3 topics
  34. Environmental Attitudes3▲ 28×2 topics
  35. Science Communication3▲ 27×2 topics
  36. Household Behavior3▲ 24×2 topics
  37. Natural Gas3▲ 24×2 topics
  38. Climate Change Adaptation3▲ 12×4 topics
  39. Media Coverage3▲ 72×1 topic
  40. Policy Preferences3▲ 75×1 topic

Which research topics does World Resources Institute publish most on?

By volume in 2022-now: Climate Change Policy and Economics, Global Energy and Sustainability Research, Conservation, Biodiversity, and Resource Management and Land Use and Ecosystem Services.

Climate Change Policy and Economics: 8 fractional worksGlobal Energy and Sustainability Research: 7 fractional worksConservation, Biodiversity, and Resource Management: 6 fractional worksLand Use and Ecosystem Services: 4 fractional worksClimate Change Communication and Perception: 3 fractional worksRemote Sensing in Agricu…3Remote Sensing in Agriculture: 3 fractional worksEnergy, Environment, and Transportation Policies: 2 fractional worksClimate Change, Adaptation, Migration: 2 fractional worksRemote Sensing and LiDAR Applications: 2 fractional worksForest Management and Policy: 2 fractional works
Economics and EconometricsRenewable Energy, Sustainability and the EnvironmentGlobal and Planetary ChangeSociology and Political Science2 others

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

  1. 1 Climate Change Policy and Economics Economics and Econometrics 8 works
  2. 2 Global Energy and Sustainability Research Renewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment 7 works
  3. 3 Conservation, Biodiversity, and Resource Management Global and Planetary Change 6 works
  4. 4 Land Use and Ecosystem Services Global and Planetary Change 4 works
  5. 5 Climate Change Communication and Perception Sociology and Political Science 3 works
  6. 6 Remote Sensing in Agriculture Ecology 3 works
  7. 7 Energy, Environment, and Transportation Policies Renewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment 2 works
  8. 8 Climate Change, Adaptation, Migration Sociology and Political Science 2 works
  9. 9 Remote Sensing and LiDAR Applications Environmental Engineering 2 works
  10. 10 Forest Management and Policy Global and Planetary Change 2 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 available42.0%not open58.0%

World: 40% of research is openly available.

with international co-authors27.5%domestic only72.5%

World: 18% is written across borders.

How has World Resources Institute's research output changed?

Output in 2022-2025 was 31% higher than in 2018-2021.

still counting1990200020102020
grewheldshrank

The same series as a ribbon: one cell per year, darker for more. The line above answers how much; this answers when.

Its share of all research

Growing output can still be a shrinking share: all of science grows. This is World Resources Institute as a percentage of every work published that year, 0.00032% in 2024.

still counting0.0010%0.0020%0.0030%World Resources Institute0.00050% in 202519801990200020102020

Fractional works of World Resources Institute over all fractional works that year. How the balance of science has shifted.

How much of it reaches the world top 10%

Year by year, against all institutions in the same year.

still counting10%20%World Resources Institute12.8% in 2025all institutions10.0% in 2025200020102020

Of each year's output, the share that reached the world's 10% most cited for its field and year. Peak 19.9% in 2020.

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World Resources Institute on Science Explorer

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