Publications

INSTAAR researchers publish influential scientific papers and other publications, many of which are highly cited or gain news or social media coverage. These publications are part of 񱦵’s overall excellence in the Earth and environmental sciences. Collectively, CU-Boulder papers in the geosciences generate more citations than those of any other university in the world.

Browse our INSTAAR publications, along with lists of theses and scientific publications by INSTAAR researchers.

 

Arctic, Antarctic, and Alpine Research

INSTAAR’s international open-access journal publishes interdisciplinary research on cold regions environments

AAAR primarily covers environmental science from modern to paleo timescales, with an emphasis on climate change in mountain and high latitude regions. Topics include ecology, climatology, glaciology, and biogeochemistry. Articles are peer reviewed. The journal is online only, with 310,000 views/downloads in 2020. INSTAAR staff select editors and reviewers and control content; Taylor and Francis Online publishes and hosts the journal.

AAAR also publishes a series of science briefs called “,” which are written by science experts to answer policy-relevant questions about the Arctic and climate change impacts.

Logo for open access journals

 

  Theses & dissertations

Student research is a vital part of INSTAAR's mission. In a typical year, 10-15 graduate students finish documenting their research and complete their degrees. Additionally, undergraduate students with INSTAAR advisors complete their theses. The buttons below show a selection of student theses and dissertations from 1998 to present.

View theses and dissertations

2020-2024 
2015-2019 
2010-2014 
2005-2009 
2000-2004 
1995-1999 

  Occasional Papers

INSTAAR published 61 documents in its Occasional Papers series from 1971–2013. These documents include meeting proceedings and map series as well as compilations and assessements of glacier data, radiocarbon dates, water quality, and more.  

Popular papers in this series 

55. Glacier Mass Balance and Regime: Data of Measurements and Analysis (2 MB PDF). By Mark Dyurgerov, with editors Mark Meier and Richard Armstrong. 2002. 268 pp.

61. The Glaciers of Mongolia (11 MB PDF). By Ulrich Kamp, Brandon Krumwiede, Kevin McManigal, Caleb Pan, Michael Walther, and Avirmed Dashtseren. 2013. 43 pp.


See INSTAAR Occasional Papers 

INSTAAR research is frequently published and cited

 

 

  
200

publications
per year 
by INSTAARs
 

 

  
2.2

times more citations
for a typical 
INSTAAR publication 
than the field average 

 

  
4.5 %

of INSTAAR publications
are highly cited
vs. field average of 1% 
 

 

 
#1

university*
in the world
in geoscience citations
 

*When INSTAAR publications are combined with other science departments and institutes across 񱦵, our collective papers in the geosciences generate more citations than those of any other university in the world.

The numbers above are based on data from Clarivate for the period 2016-2020 from the Web of Science and Essential Science Indicators database. Web of Science defines a “highly cited” publication as ranked in the top 1% by citations for their science field (discipline) and year. 

Recent publications

The below listings show most of INSTAAR's recent publications, derived from the . 

Some of our publications are missing, particularly from retired and emeriti faculty and students. In addition, student-authored publications are only included if they are co-authored by an INSTAAR faculty member. We are working with the university to help make its publications database more complete in the future.