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Field · Social Sciences

Decision Sciences research

Decision Sciences is a field of the Social Sciences. Science Explorer counts 1M research works in it since 1950. 20.1% of them reached the world's top 10% most cited for their field and year.

In short: branch of applied probability theory.

Research works
1M
fractional, since 1950
In the world top 10%
204k
per year above
Top-10% rate
20.1%
share of its works in the world top 10%
Topics
60
Growth, 2013–17 → 2018–22
+21%
the tick is no change

What is Decision Sciences research about, and what is growing?

By the world's output in 2019–23, its most used keywords are Qualitative Research, Research Methods, Quantitative Research, Innovation Management, Data Analysis, Case Study. Gaining share since 2009–13: Stock Market Prediction, Time Series Forecasting, Neural Networks, Supply Chain Management, Information Systems. Losing share: Agent-Based Modeling, Modeling, Quality Assurance, Sustainability.

▲ gaining share of this field◆ holding its share▼ losing share

Size is the world's fractional works in 2019–23 in the topics tagged with each word; colour compares the word's share of this field with 2009–13. Each links to the topic it comes from most.

All 40 words, with their numbers
  1. Qualitative Research26k▲ 1.33×5 topics
  2. Research Methods25k▲ 1.31×3 topics
  3. Quantitative Research25k▲ 1.31×2 topics
  4. Innovation Management25k◆ 1.12×2 topics
  5. Data Analysis24k▲ 1.27×2 topics
  6. Case Study24k▲ 1.30×1 topic
  7. Organizational Management24k▲ 1.30×1 topic
  8. Structural Equation Modeling22k▲ 1.37×2 topics
  9. Information Systems20k▲ 1.47×1 topic
  10. Technology Acceptance Model20k▲ 1.47×1 topic
  11. Decision Making17k▼ 0.86×4 topics
  12. Fuzzy Sets17k◆ 1.12×2 topics
  13. Supply Chain Management16k▲ 1.70×3 topics
  14. Neural Networks16k▲ 1.78×2 topics
  15. Risk Management15k▲ 1.19×4 topics
  16. Forecasting Models14k▲ 1.39×2 topics
  17. Analytic Hierarchy Process13k◆ 1.14×1 topic
  18. TOPSIS13k◆ 1.14×1 topic
  19. Bayesian Networks12k◆ 0.96×1 topic
  20. Fault Tree Analysis12k◆ 0.96×1 topic
  21. Machine Learning11k▲ 1.45×5 topics
  22. Reliability Analysis11k◆ 0.96×2 topics
  23. Big Data11k◆ 1.15×4 topics
  24. Stock Market Prediction10k▲ 1.93×1 topic
  25. Time Series Forecasting10k▲ 1.93×1 topic
  26. Sensitivity Analysis10k◆ 0.97×1 topic
  27. Uncertainty Quantification10k◆ 0.97×1 topic
  28. Construction Projects9,985▲ 1.25×1 topic
  29. Project Success9,985▲ 1.25×1 topic
  30. Interdisciplinary Research9,772◆ 0.87×3 topics
  31. Artificial Intelligence8,731▲ 1.32×7 topics
  32. Complex Systems8,227▼ 0.84×2 topics
  33. Reproducibility7,825◆ 0.89×1 topic
  34. Scientific Workflows7,825◆ 0.89×1 topic
  35. Data Cleaning7,207▲ 1.17×1 topic
  36. Record Linkage7,207▲ 1.17×1 topic
  37. Agent-Based Modeling7,206▼ 0.64×2 topics
  38. Sustainability6,797▼ 0.73×2 topics
  39. Modeling6,679▼ 0.69×2 topics
  40. Quality Assurance6,650▼ 0.69×2 topics

Which countries lead Decision Sciences research?

On research quality in 2022–2025, the United States, China and the United Kingdom rank highest in Decision Sciences. By volume, the United States and China publish the most (30k and 30k works in 2022–2025).

By research quality, 2022–2025

  1. 1 United States · #1 all time 18.2% top 10% · 30k works
  2. 2 China · #6 all time 24.4% top 10% · 30k works
  3. 3 United Kingdom · #2 all time 22.9% top 10% · 8k works
  4. 4 Germany · #3 all time 21.3% top 10% · 7.1k works
  5. 5 India · #14 all time 16.4% top 10% · 15k works
  6. 6 Australia · #7 all time 26.8% top 10% · 3.7k works
  7. 7 Netherlands · #5 all time 26.0% top 10% · 2.5k works
  8. 8 Canada · #4 all time 21.9% top 10% · 4k works
  9. 9 Italy · #10 all time 22.7% top 10% · 3.8k works
  10. 10 France · #8 all time 16.0% top 10% · 3.9k works

The track on each row is that row’s top-10% rate. The ranking itself is the composite score, which the rate is only one part of.

Of 79 countries ranked in Decision Sciences. Composite of field-normalised excellence (50%), output (30%) and citations (20%); the bracket is the all-time rank.

All countries ranked in Decision Sciences

By volume, 2022–2025

  1. 1 United States 30k works
  2. 2 China 30k works
  3. 3 Brazil 16k works
  4. 4 India 15k works
  5. 5 Indonesia 11k works
  6. 6 United Kingdom 8k works
  7. 7 Germany 7.1k works
  8. 8 Türkiye 4.9k works
  9. 9 Canada 4k works
  10. 10 France 3.9k works

How concentrated that is

The same countries as shares of everything the list above accounts for. A node where two countries do two thirds of the work and one spread evenly across twelve read alike as a ranking and not at all alike here.

United States: 23.1%China: 22.7%Brazil: 12.3%India: 11.8%6 others listed: 30.0%23%largest
United States30k · 23.1%China30k · 22.7%Brazil16k · 12.3%India15k · 11.8%6 others listed39k · 30.0%

Shares of the rows listed above, not of the whole node.

Which institutions lead Decision Sciences research?

Erasmus University Rotterdam (Netherlands) ranks first in Decision Sciences on research quality in 2022–2025, followed by Princeton University and University of Toronto.

By research quality, 2022–2025

  1. 1 Erasmus University Rotterdam Netherlands · Rotterdam · #28 all time 28.9% top 10% · 140 works
  2. 2 Princeton University United States · Princeton · #6 all time 24.5% top 10% · 109 works
  3. 3 University of Toronto Canada · Toronto · #18 all time 19.4% top 10% · 336 works
  4. 4 Harvard University United States · Cambridge · #7 all time 27.4% top 10% · 151 works
  5. 5 Northwestern University United States · Evanston · #15 all time 26.5% top 10% · 134 works
  6. 6 University of Oxford United Kingdom · Oxford · #17 all time 23.6% top 10% · 279 works
  7. 7 Columbia University United States · New York · #11 all time 21.5% top 10% · 269 works
  8. 8 University of Warwick United Kingdom · Coventry · #53 all time 21.9% top 10% · 159 works
  9. 9 University of Zurich Switzerland · Zurich · #23 all time 32.2% top 10% · 126 works
  10. 10 Stanford University United States · Stanford · #1 all time 26.1% top 10% · 249 works

The track on each row is that row’s top-10% rate. The ranking itself is the composite score, which the rate is only one part of.

Of 703 institutions above the floor of 40 fractional works in Decision Sciences.

Top 100 Decision Sciences institutions

By volume, 2022–2025

  1. 1 Binus University Indonesia 743 works
  2. 2 Universidade de São Paulo Brazil 444 works
  3. 3 Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina Brazil 440 works
  4. 4 Tsinghua University China 430 works
  5. 5 Universiti Teknologi MARA Malaysia 426 works
  6. 6 Universidade Federal Fluminense Brazil 366 works
  7. 7 Universidade Federal de Pernambuco Brazil 350 works
  8. 8 Beihang University China 345 works
  9. 9 Northwestern Polytechnical University China 340 works
  10. 10 Shanghai Jiao Tong University China 339 works

Who are the leading researchers in Decision Sciences?

Among the most productive authors in Decision Sciences, David Moher, Roger Chou and John P. A. Ioannidis rank highest on the composite score.

  1. 1 David Moher Canada · #1 worldwide 38k citations · 235 works
  2. 2 Roger Chou United States · #6 worldwide 14k citations · 187 works
  3. 3 John P. A. Ioannidis United States · #10 worldwide 8k citations · 222 works
  4. 4 Gordon Guyatt Canada · #11 worldwide 6.8k citations · 254 works
  5. 5 Kenneth J. Arrow United States · #26 worldwide 5.4k citations · 176 works
  6. 6 James Thomas United Kingdom · #27 worldwide 13k citations · 154 works
  7. 7 Robert Tibshirani United States · #38 worldwide 13k citations · 155 works
  8. 8 Patrick M. Bossuyt Netherlands · #59 worldwide 14k citations · 137 works
  9. 9 M. Hashem Pesaran United States · #64 worldwide 9.1k citations · 161 works
  10. 10 Herbert A. Simon United States · #65 worldwide 4.2k citations · 188 works

Re-ranked on the composite score from the 5,663 highest-output authors in Decision Sciences. Identities come from OpenAlex author disambiguation, which occasionally merges or splits people.

Top 100 Decision Sciences researchers

Where is Decision Sciences research done?

The largest centres of Decision Sciences research in 2022–2025 are Beijing (China), Shanghai (China), São Paulo (Brazil) and Jakarta (Indonesia). Among places with at least 20 works in it, it is an unusually large share of all research in Alachua and Pirassununga.

Largest cities, 2022–2025

  1. 1 Beijing China 5.4k works
  2. 2 Shanghai China 2.4k works
  3. 3 São Paulo Brazil 2.2k works
  4. 4 Jakarta Indonesia 2.1k works
  5. 5 London United Kingdom 2.1k works
  6. 6 Moscow Russia 1.8k works
  7. 7 Nanjing China 1.7k works
  8. 8 Xi'an China 1.5k works
  9. 9 Rio de Janeiro Brazil 1.4k works
  10. 10 Wuhan China 1.3k works

Where it is the local speciality

  1. AlachuaUS · 28.4 works12×
  2. PirassunungaBR · 36.4 works11×
← less than its size predicts1×more →

Location quotient: how much more of its research is in Decision Sciences than the world average.

See Decision Sciences on the map

Decision Sciences research by country

The best places for Decision Sciences research inside each country, with that country's researchers and world standing.

Where is the best place to study Decision Sciences?

Among universities, judged by research, University of Business and Technology, Binus University and King Abdulaziz University score highest, combining excellence, specialisation, size, growth and international reach. Research strength is one signal when choosing where to study; it does not measure teaching.

0%20%40%mean 29.27%fractional works in this node (log) →share in the world top 10% →University of Business and Technology: 98, 46.6%Binus University: 744, 14.1%King Abdulaziz University: 195, 35.4%Mangalore University: 151, 29.5%University of the Punjab: 140, 37.9%Symbiosis International University: 244, 26.5%Hong Kong Polytechnic University: 277, 38.7%Shandong University of Finance and Economics: 108, 35.5%São Paulo State Technological College: 167, 3.3%University of Johannesburg: 320, 25.2%University of Busine…King Abdulaziz Unive…Mangalore UniversityBinus University
above the meannear itbelow it

One dot per university in the table below. The upper left is the interesting corner: small places doing unusually strong work.

#UniversityScoreTop 10%SpecialisationWorksGrowth
1University of Business and Technology Saudi Arabia 64.446.6%5.2×98 +127.3%
2Binus University Indonesia 60.814.1%6.8×744 +312.4%
3King Abdulaziz University Saudi Arabia 55.435.4%1.8×195 +258.4%
4Mangalore University India 55.129.5%6.1×151 +327.0%
5University of the Punjab Pakistan 53.637.9%2.4×140 +654.4%
6Symbiosis International University India 51.826.5%3.6×244 +224.2%
7Hong Kong Polytechnic University Hong Kong 50.438.7%1.6×277 -4.9%
8Shandong University of Finance and Economics China 48.635.5%6.7×108 +40.5%
9São Paulo State Technological College Brazil 48.23.3%13.6×167 +215.2%
10University of Johannesburg South Africa 46.725.2%2.6×320 +92.8%

Universities only. Score blends excellence (30%), specialisation (25%), size (20%), growth (15%) and international reach (10%), 2015–2022; growth compares 2010–14 with 2015–19.

Is Decision Sciences research growing?

Output in 2018–2022 was 21% higher than in 2013–2017, peaking in 2025. The fastest-growing topics are Business and Management Studies, Technology Adoption and User Behaviour and Data Quality and Management.

19801990200020102020
grewheldshrank

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

Which topics inside it are moving

Growth and decline on one axis around a shared zero. Two lists side by side hide the thing that matters: whether the growth dwarfs the decline, or the other way round.

  1. Business and Management Studies+400%
  2. Technology Adoption and User Behaviour+186%
  3. Data Quality and Management+166%
  4. scientometrics and bibliometrics research+136%
  5. Construction Project Management and Performance+131%
  6. Stock Market Forecasting Methods+121%
  7. Simulation Techniques and Applications-1%
← shrinkingno changegrowing →

Growth in output from 2005–09 to 2015–19. Every topic is a page of its own.

What does Decision Sciences include?

Business and Management …76kBusiness and Management Studies: 76k fractional worksTechnology Adoption and …63kTechnology Adoption and User Behaviour: 63k fractional worksRisk and Safety Analysis: 51k fractional worksMulti-Criteria Decision Making: 49k fractional worksProbabilistic and Robust Engineering Design: 47k fractional worksComplex Systems and Decision Making: 39k fractional worksScientific Computing and Data Management: 36k fractional worksConstruction Project Management and Performance: 35k fractional worksStock Market Forecasting Methods: 31k fractional worksAuction Theory and Applications: 28k fractional worksDecision-Making and Behavioral Economics: 28k fractional worksSimulation Techniques and Applications: 28k fractional works

Area is fractional works in that topic. Every name below is a page of its own.