Research Funders in the United Kingdom and the Journals That Publish Their Research

In short29 research funders from the United Kingdom are named in the recent research articles of 2,142 journals we checked. The biggest is Economic and Social Research Council (410 journals). Below: the funders, then the journals that publish their funded research most often.

Research funders in the United Kingdom

Economic and Social Research Council410 journalsEngineering and Physical Sciences Research Council381 journalsNational Institute for Health and Care Research330 journalsWellcome Trust290 journalsArts and Humanities Research Council210 journalsLeverhulme Trust201 journalsBritish Academy176 journalsMedical Research Council170 journalsUK Research and Innovation168 journalsNatural Environment Research Council127 journalsBiotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council79 journalsBritish Heart Foundation51 journalsCancer Research UK46 journalsScience and Technology Facilities Council28 journalsGlaxoSmithKline20 journalsForeign, Commonwealth and Development Office20 journalsRoyal Society19 journalsRufford Foundation17 journalsNuffield Foundation15 journalsResearch England15 journalsDepartment of Health and Social Care15 journalsGlobal Challenges Research Fund13 journalsIndependent Social Research Foundation13 journalsManchester Biomedical Research Centre11 journalsViiV Healthcare11 journalsUniversity of Manchester10 journalsCambridge Trust10 journalsHealth Technology Assessment programme10 journalsUniversity of Leeds10 journals

Journals that publish research funded in the United Kingdom most often

#JournalFunder mentionsFunders from United KingdomIndexingImpact factor*Median review time
1Health Technology Assessment174 in 200 articles1SCIE2.81n/a
2RAS Techniques and Instruments71 in 160 articles3Scopus2.10n/a
3Microbiology58 in 200 articles3SCIE3.00n/a
4Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society Letters55 in 143 articles3Scopus6.63n/a
5The Lancet Digital Health54 in 200 articles5SCIE16.67n/a
6BMJ Mental Health53 in 200 articles3SCIE5.44n/a
7JCPP Advances52 in 200 articles5ESCI3.24n/a
8The Lancet Healthy Longevity52 in 200 articles4SCIE12.17n/a
9The Lancet Psychiatry49 in 200 articles4SCIE SSCI8.79n/a
10PLoS Medicine46 in 200 articles3SCIE8.51n/a
11Molecular Cell46 in 200 articles3SCIE14.18n/a
12Research Involvement and Engagement42 in 200 articles4Scopus3.54132 days
13NIHR Open Research39 in 200 articles3Scopus1.26n/a
14The Lancet Microbe38 in 200 articles3SCIE11.87n/a
15Microbial Genomics37 in 200 articles3SCIE3.60n/a
16PLoS Biology37 in 200 articles3SCIE7.18n/a
17Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers36 in 134 articles4SSCI3.57280 days
18Programme Grants for Applied Research33 in 36 articles1Scopus0.63n/a
19Journal of Clinical Epidemiology33 in 200 articles4SCIE4.72n/a
20People and Nature32 in 200 articles4SCIE4.67282 days
21BMJ Medicine31 in 111 articles5ESCI7.14n/a
22The Lancet Public Health31 in 200 articles3SCIE SSCI17.49n/a
23Area30 in 188 articles5SSCI1.66210 days
24RSC Chemical Biology30 in 200 articles2ESCI2.66n/a
25Epidemics30 in 159 articles3SCIE3.98n/a
26Open Biology30 in 200 articles2SCIE4.72115 days
27Health & Place29 in 200 articles3SCIE SSCI4.23n/a
28The Lancet Child & Adolescent Health29 in 200 articles3SCIE6.09n/a
29Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry28 in 200 articles4SCIE SSCI4.67n/a
30SSM - Mental Health28 in 200 articles3ESCI2.88n/a
31Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society28 in 200 articles2SCIE5.47n/a
32The Lancet Regional Health - Africa27 in 176 articles3ESCI0.26n/a
33Journal of General Virology27 in 200 articles3SCIE3.26n/a
34Access Microbiology27 in 200 articles4Scopus1.99n/a
35Palaeontology27 in 110 articles3SCIE2.06230 days
36Journal of Infection26 in 200 articles3SCIE7.09n/a
37Space Weather26 in 200 articles2SCIE4.28148 days
38Brain Communications25 in 200 articles2ESCI4.52n/a
39EClinicalMedicine25 in 200 articles3SCIE12.46n/a
40The Lancet Planetary Health25 in 200 articles3SCIE SSCI11.98n/a

"Funder mentions" adds up how often the funders from the United Kingdom are named in the journal's recent research articles (up to 200 from the last 24 months); one article that names two of them counts twice. *Impact factor calculated by ScholarsColab, not the official Clarivate value. Review time: median days from submission to acceptance.

Research funders of other countries

United StatesChinaGermanySouth KoreaSpainAustraliaIndiaBrazilCanadaItalySwedenEuropean UnionIndonesiaSaudi ArabiaJapanDenmarkSouth AfricaAustriaFinlandIranNew ZealandSwitzerlandCzech RepublicMalaysiaThailandHong KongIrelandHungaryInternationalIsraelKazakhstanNetherlandsNorwayTaiwanVietnamBelgiumMexicoRussiaSerbiaArgentinaChileEgyptFrancePolandQatarSingaporeSlovakiaColombiaEstoniaGreecePortugalTurkeyUkraineUnited Arab EmiratesBangladeshBulgariaCroatiaGeorgiaLithuaniaMacauMoroccoNigeriaOmanPakistanRomaniaSlovenia

Find a journal for your paper

A journal that publishes research funded in the United Kingdom knows this community, but the fit with your topic matters most. The free Journal Finder matches your title or abstract to the journals that published the closest papers.

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Frequently asked questions

Which research funders in the United Kingdom fund the most published research?

By the number of journals that name them in recent research articles: Economic and Social Research Council, Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, National Institute for Health and Care Research, Wellcome Trust, Arts and Humanities Research Council. In all, 29 funders from the United Kingdom are named in at least 10 journals.

Which journals publish the most research funded in the United Kingdom?

Counting the funder mentions of all 29 funders together: Health Technology Assessment, RAS Techniques and Instruments, Microbiology, Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society Letters, The Lancet Digital Health.

Should I choose a journal because it publishes research funded in the United Kingdom?

It shows that editors and reviewers of the journal know this research community, but the fit with your topic, the indexing and the review time matter more. The free Journal Finder matches your abstract to the journals that published the closest papers.

How is this counted?

For each journal, ScholarsColab looked at up to 200 research articles from the last 24 months and counted the funders they name; the country is that of the funding body.

For each journal, ScholarsColab looked at up to 200 research articles from the last 24 months and counted the funders they name; funders named in at least 10 journals are grouped by the country of the funding body. Updated: 29 October 2026.