Question 1

Which countries lead Earth and Planetary Sciences research?

Accepted Answer

On research quality in 2022-now, the United States, China and the United Kingdom rank highest in Earth and Planetary Sciences. By volume, China and the United States publish the most (97k and 64k works in 2022-now).

Question 2

Which institutions lead Earth and Planetary Sciences research?

Accepted Answer

Chinese Academy of Sciences (China) ranks first in Earth and Planetary Sciences on research quality in 2022-now, followed by Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique and ETH Zurich.

Question 3

Who are the leading researchers in Earth and Planetary Sciences?

Accepted Answer

Counting only their work in Earth and Planetary Sciences, Fu‐Yuan Wu, Peter A. Cawood and Simon A. Wilde have the most papers in the world top 10% for their subfield and year beyond the 10% expected.

Question 4

Where is Earth and Planetary Sciences research done?

Accepted Answer

The largest centres of Earth and Planetary Sciences research in 2022-now are Beijing (China), Moscow (Russia), Nanjing (China) and Paris (France). Among places with at least 20 works in it, it is an unusually large share of all research in Hawaiian Ocean View, Vasco and Brentwood.

Question 5

Where is the best place to study Earth and Planetary Sciences?

Accepted Answer

Among universities, judged by research, University of California, Berkeley, ETH Zurich and University of California San Diego score highest, combining standing in the field's ranking, excellence, specialisation, size, growth and international reach. Research strength is one signal when choosing where to study; it does not measure teaching.

Question 6

Is Earth and Planetary Sciences research growing?

Accepted Answer

Output in 2022-2025 was 3% higher than in 2018-2021, peaking in 2021. The fastest-growing topics are Geophysics and Gravity Measurements, Remote Sensing and Land Use and 3D Surveying and Cultural Heritage.

Question 7

What are the most cited papers in Earth and Planetary Sciences?

Accepted Answer

The most cited paper in Earth and Planetary Sciences is "From ultrasoft pseudopotentials to the projector augmented-wave method" (Georg Kresse, Daniel P. Joubert, 1999), with 85,965 citations. Next come "The neighbor-joining method: a new method for reconstructing phylogenetic trees." (60,643) and "Ab initio molecular dynamics for liquid metals" (45,996).