Science Explorer Interactive view Map
Field · Health Sciences

Medicine research

Medicine is a field of the Health Sciences. Science Explorer counts 22M research works in it since 1950. 16.2% of them reached the world's top 10% most cited for their field and year.

In short: field of study for diagnosing, treating and preventing disease.

Research works
22M
fractional, since 1950
In the world top 10%
3.6M
per year above
Top-10% rate
16.2%
share of its works in the world top 10%
Topics
692
Growth, 2013–17 → 2018–22
+28%
the tick is no change

This ranks research output and citation impact. It says nothing about the quality of diagnosis, treatment or care.

What is Medicine research about, and what is growing?

By the world's output in 2019–23, its most used keywords are Epidemiology, Inflammation, Treatment, Diagnosis, Cardiovascular Disease, Oxidative Stress. Gaining share since 2009–13: SARS-CoV-2, ACE2 Receptor, Pandemic, COVID-19, Pathophysiology.

▲ 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. Epidemiology781k◆ 1.01×95 topics
  2. Inflammation383k◆ 0.94×50 topics
  3. Treatment258k◆ 0.92×41 topics
  4. Diagnosis226k◆ 0.99×35 topics
  5. Cardiovascular Disease225k◆ 0.94×29 topics
  6. Oxidative Stress223k◆ 0.98×29 topics
  7. Risk Factors184k◆ 1.05×21 topics
  8. Metabolic Syndrome177k◆ 0.94×18 topics
  9. Chemotherapy174k◆ 1.03×24 topics
  10. Quality of Life171k◆ 1.04×28 topics
  11. Management164k◆ 1.04×27 topics
  12. Clinical Trials138k▲ 1.18×14 topics
  13. Obesity137k◆ 0.92×19 topics
  14. Clinical Practice Guidelines132k◆ 0.99×13 topics
  15. Complications131k◆ 1.03×17 topics
  16. Immunotherapy131k▲ 1.21×14 topics
  17. Cancer128k▲ 1.17×19 topics
  18. Guidelines118k◆ 1.03×12 topics
  19. Global Burden117k◆ 0.95×10 topics
  20. Prognostic Factors114k◆ 0.98×14 topics
  21. Pandemic114k▲ 5.8×5 topics
  22. Mortality113k▲ 1.33×10 topics
  23. Immune Response112k▲ 1.24×12 topics
  24. Insulin Resistance111k◆ 0.98×9 topics
  25. SARS-CoV-2109k▲ 13×6 topics
  26. COVID-19108k▲ 5.4×12 topics
  27. Surgical Management101k◆ 0.97×19 topics
  28. Diabetes100k◆ 1.01×14 topics
  29. Public Health98k◆ 1.07×18 topics
  30. Biomarkers90k◆ 1.08×9 topics
  31. Pathophysiology89k▲ 1.82×10 topics
  32. Heart Failure88k◆ 0.97×11 topics
  33. Radiotherapy85k◆ 1.05×12 topics
  34. Tumor Microenvironment85k▲ 1.74×6 topics
  35. Surgery84k▲ 1.43×9 topics
  36. Vaccine83k▲ 1.40×7 topics
  37. ACE2 Receptor83k▲ 9.4×3 topics
  38. Pathogenesis82k◆ 0.90×13 topics
  39. Prevention81k▲ 1.23×11 topics
  40. Genetic Mutations81k◆ 0.93×15 topics

Which countries lead Medicine research?

On research quality in 2022–2025, the United States, China and the United Kingdom rank highest in Medicine. By volume, the United States and China publish the most (885k and 572k works in 2022–2025).

By research quality, 2022–2025

  1. 1 United States · #1 all time 15.2% top 10% · 885k works
  2. 2 China · #3 all time 22.0% top 10% · 572k works
  3. 3 United Kingdom · #2 all time 17.7% top 10% · 174k works
  4. 4 Italy · #7 all time 21.6% top 10% · 129k works
  5. 5 Germany · #4 all time 16.1% top 10% · 137k works
  6. 6 Canada · #5 all time 18.7% top 10% · 91k works
  7. 7 Australia · #8 all time 21.0% top 10% · 81k works
  8. 8 France · #6 all time 15.2% top 10% · 96k works
  9. 9 India · #14 all time 8.1% top 10% · 254k works
  10. 10 Spain · #11 all time 14.5% top 10% · 100k 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 155 countries ranked in Medicine. Composite of field-normalised excellence (50%), output (30%) and citations (20%); the bracket is the all-time rank.

All countries ranked in Medicine

By volume, 2022–2025

  1. 1 United States 885k works
  2. 2 China 572k works
  3. 3 India 254k works
  4. 4 United Kingdom 174k works
  5. 5 Japan 167k works
  6. 6 Germany 137k works
  7. 7 Italy 129k works
  8. 8 Brazil 113k works
  9. 9 Spain 100k works
  10. 10 Türkiye 98k 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: 33.7%China: 21.8%India: 9.7%United Kingdom: 6.6%6 others listed: 28.3%34%largest
United States885k · 33.7%China572k · 21.8%India254k · 9.7%United Kingdom174k · 6.6%6 others listed744k · 28.3%

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

Which institutions lead Medicine research?

Harvard University (United States) ranks first in Medicine on research quality in 2022–2025, followed by Stanford University and Johns Hopkins University.

By research quality, 2022–2025

  1. 1 Harvard University United States · Cambridge · #1 all time 25.2% top 10% · 11k works
  2. 2 Stanford University United States · Stanford · #4 all time 20.6% top 10% · 7.5k works
  3. 3 Johns Hopkins University United States · Baltimore · #2 all time 20.9% top 10% · 9k works
  4. 4 Brigham and Women's Hospital United States · Boston · #3 all time 22.0% top 10% · 5.7k works
  5. 5 Massachusetts General Hospital United States · Boston · #6 all time 19.3% top 10% · 7.4k works
  6. 6 University of California, San Francisco United States · San Francisco · #5 all time 20.4% top 10% · 7.3k works
  7. 7 Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & Peking Union Medical College China · Beijing 20.3% top 10% · 12k works
  8. 8 University of Pennsylvania United States · Philadelphia · #8 all time 19.6% top 10% · 7.4k works
  9. 9 University College London United Kingdom · London · #13 all time 22.3% top 10% · 7.1k works
  10. 10 University of Michigan United States · Ann Arbor · #7 all time 18.5% top 10% · 7.6k 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 10,443 institutions above the floor of 40 fractional works in Medicine.

Top 100 Medicine institutions

By volume, 2022–2025

  1. 1 University of North Carolina at Chapel HillUnited States 12k works
  2. 2 Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & Peking Union Medical CollegeChina 12k works
  3. 3 Harvard UniversityUnited States 11k works
  4. 4 Johns Hopkins UniversityUnited States 9k works
  5. 5 All India Institute of Medical SciencesIndia 8.6k works
  6. 6 Sichuan UniversityChina 8.6k works
  7. 7 Sun Yat-sen UniversityChina 7.7k works
  8. 8 University of MichiganUnited States 7.6k works
  9. 9 Cleveland ClinicUnited States 7.5k works
  10. 10 Capital Medical UniversityChina 7.5k works

Who are the leading researchers in Medicine?

Among the most productive authors in Medicine, Roger Chou, Gordon Guyatt and Jost B. Jonas rank highest on the composite score.

  1. 1 Roger Chou United States · #6 worldwide 14k citations · 187 works
  2. 2 Gordon Guyatt Canada · #11 worldwide 6.8k citations · 254 works
  3. 3 Jost B. Jonas Germany · #12 worldwide 7.7k citations · 243 works
  4. 4 Graeme J. Hankey Australia · #15 worldwide 7.2k citations · 205 works
  5. 5 Aziz Sheikh United Kingdom · #17 worldwide 5.8k citations · 274 works
  6. 6 Vivekanand Jha India · #18 worldwide 5.8k citations · 232 works
  7. 7 Reza Malekzadeh Iran · #24 worldwide 6.7k citations · 167 works
  8. 8 Zulfiqar A Bhutta Pakistan · #29 worldwide 7k citations · 258 works
  9. 9 Giuseppe Remuzzi Italy · #34 worldwide 8.1k citations · 312 works
  10. 10 Yousef Khader Jordan · #42 worldwide 7.7k citations · 152 works

Re-ranked on the composite score from the 5,839 highest-output authors in Medicine. Identities come from OpenAlex author disambiguation, which occasionally merges or splits people.

Top 100 Medicine researchers

Where is Medicine research done?

The largest centres of Medicine research in 2022–2025 are Beijing (China), London (United Kingdom), Shanghai (China) and New York (United States). Among places with at least 20 works in it, it is an unusually large share of all research in Onomichi, Orange and Vail.

Largest cities, 2022–2025

  1. 1 Beijing China 84k works
  2. 2 London United Kingdom 53k works
  3. 3 Shanghai China 48k works
  4. 4 New York United States 45k works
  5. 5 Seoul South Korea 43k works
  6. 6 Tokyo Japan 41k works
  7. 7 Guangzhou China 38k works
  8. 8 Paris France 34k works
  9. 9 Boston United States 33k works
  10. 10 Moscow Russia 33k works

Where it is the local speciality

  1. OnomichiJP · 64.0 works4.8×
  2. OrangeUS · 61.5 works4.8×
  3. VailUS · 284.3 works4.8×
← less than its size predicts1×more →

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

See Medicine on the map

Medicine research by country

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

Where is the best place to study Medicine?

Among universities, judged by research, Harvard University, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & Peking Union Medical College and Karolinska Institutet 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%10%20%30%mean 19.2%fractional works in this node (log) →share in the world top 10% →Harvard University: 11k, 25.2%Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & Peking Union Medical College: 12k, 20.3%Karolinska Institutet: 4,625, 25.5%Capital Medical University: 7,506, 18.8%University of California, San Francisco: 7,333, 20.4%Sağlık Bilimleri Üniversitesi: 7,153, 5.1%Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai: 5,993, 17.1%Johns Hopkins University: 8,962, 20.9%Medical University of Vienna: 3,957, 18.8%Carol Davila University of Medicine and Pharmacy: 2,199, 19.9%Karolinska InstitutetHarvard UniversityChinese Academy of M…Capital Medical Univ…
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
1 Harvard UniversityUnited States 63.225.2%2.2×11,036 +19.3%
2 Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & Peking Union Medical CollegeChina 62.020.3%3.1×11,687 +34.4%
3 Karolinska InstitutetSweden 60.125.5%2.7×4,625 +13.7%
4 Capital Medical UniversityChina 56.818.8%3.4×7,506 +23.7%
5 University of California, San FranciscoUnited States 56.620.4%3.0×7,333 +10.6%
6 Sağlık Bilimleri ÜniversitesiTürkiye 55.35.1%3.2×7,153 +3135.0%
7 Icahn School of Medicine at Mount SinaiUnited States 54.917.1%3.2×5,993 +52.2%
8 Johns Hopkins UniversityUnited States 54.520.9%2.1×8,962 +14.5%
9 Medical University of ViennaAustria 53.718.8%3.4×3,957 +11.5%
10 Carol Davila University of Medicine and PharmacyRomania 53.519.9%3.5×2,199 +119.8%

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 Medicine research growing?

Output in 2018–2022 was 28% higher than in 2013–2017, peaking in 2025. The fastest-growing topics are Public Health and Nutrition, Radiomics and Machine Learning in Medical Imaging and Atrial Fibrillation Management and Outcomes.

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. Public Health and Nutrition+4023%
  2. Radiomics and Machine Learning in Medical Imaging+157%
  3. Atrial Fibrillation Management and Outcomes+135%
  4. Cardiac Valve Diseases and Treatments+119%
  5. Obesity, Physical Activity, Diet+117%
  6. Musculoskeletal pain and rehabilitation+98%
← shrinkingno changegrowing →

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

What does Medicine include?

Liver Disease Diagnosis …122kLiver Disease Diagnosis and Treatment: 122k fractional worksMonoclonal and Polyclona…110kMonoclonal and Polyclonal Antibodies Research: 110k fractional worksDiet and metabolism studies: 102k fractional worksCardiac, Anesthesia and Surgical Outcomes: 98k fractional worksCardiac Imaging and Diagnostics: 89k fractional worksAsthma and respiratory d…87kAsthma and respiratory diseases: 87k fractional worksCardiovascular Function and Risk Factors: 86k fractional worksPublic Health and Nutrition: 85k fractional worksNeonatal Respiratory Hea…85kNeonatal Respiratory Health Research: 85k fractional worksMedical Imaging Techniques and Applications: 84k fractional worksCardiac electrophysiology and arrhythmias: 82k fractional worksAdipose Tissue and Metab…81kAdipose Tissue and Metabolism: 81k fractional works

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