Science Explorer Interactive view Map
Field · Health Sciences

Nursing research

Nursing is a field of the Health Sciences. Science Explorer counts 577k research works in it since 1950. 18.9% of them reached the world's top 10% most cited for their field and year.

In short: caring for people who are sick or injured.

Research works
577k
fractional, since 1950
In the world top 10%
109k
per year above
Top-10% rate
18.9%
share of its works in the world top 10%
Topics
21
Growth, 2013–17 → 2018–22
+29%
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 Nursing research about, and what is growing?

By the world's output in 2019–23, its most used keywords are Health Benefits, Dietary Fiber, Child Development, Maternal and Child Undernutrition, Antioxidant, Gut Microbiota. Gaining share since 2009–13: Child Development, Maternal and Child Undernutrition, Cardiovascular Health, Phenolic Compounds, Cancer. Losing share: Copper, Zinc, Fatty Acid Metabolism, Omega-3 Fatty Acids.

▲ 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. Health Benefits25k◆ 1.06×3 topics
  2. Dietary Fiber21k◆ 1.05×2 topics
  3. Child Development21k▲ 1.66×1 topic
  4. Maternal and Child Undernutrition21k▲ 1.66×1 topic
  5. Antioxidant20k◆ 0.90×4 topics
  6. Gut Microbiota20k◆ 0.92×3 topics
  7. Nutrition17k▼ 0.78×4 topics
  8. Immune Function13k▼ 0.82×2 topics
  9. Glycemic Index13k▲ 1.16×1 topic
  10. Starch13k▲ 1.16×1 topic
  11. Cardiovascular Disease12k▼ 0.81×3 topics
  12. Inflammation12k▼ 0.81×3 topics
  13. Toxicity12k▼ 0.76×2 topics
  14. Sweet Taste9,202▼ 0.83×1 topic
  15. Taste Receptors9,202▼ 0.83×1 topic
  16. Fructans8,683◆ 0.92×1 topic
  17. Inulin8,683◆ 0.92×1 topic
  18. Patient Outcomes8,256◆ 0.98×2 topics
  19. Cancer8,169▲ 1.25×2 topics
  20. Job Satisfaction8,160▲ 1.19×2 topics
  21. Chronic Diseases8,040▼ 0.70×2 topics
  22. Dietary Intake8,040▼ 0.70×2 topics
  23. Copper7,636▼ 0.68×1 topic
  24. Zinc7,636▼ 0.68×1 topic
  25. Human Milk Composition6,894◆ 1.03×1 topic
  26. Preterm Infants6,894◆ 1.03×1 topic
  27. Cancer Prevention6,606◆ 1.11×2 topics
  28. Metabolism6,606◆ 1.11×2 topics
  29. Critical Care6,575◆ 0.87×1 topic
  30. Nutrition Support Therapy6,575◆ 0.87×1 topic
  31. Fatty Acid Metabolism6,011▼ 0.68×1 topic
  32. Omega-3 Fatty Acids6,011▼ 0.68×1 topic
  33. Public Health5,886▼ 0.78×2 topics
  34. Cardiovascular Health5,864▲ 1.30×2 topics
  35. Phenolic Compounds5,864▲ 1.30×2 topics
  36. Ascorbic Acid5,861◆ 1.13×1 topic
  37. Vitamin C5,861◆ 1.13×1 topic
  38. Nursing Staffing5,228▲ 1.17×1 topic
  39. Qualitative Research5,228▲ 1.17×1 topic
  40. Selenium4,414◆ 0.96×1 topic

Which countries lead Nursing research?

On research quality in 2022–2025, the United States, China and South Korea rank highest in Nursing. By volume, China and the United States publish the most (17k and 14k works in 2022–2025).

By research quality, 2022–2025

  1. 1 United States · #1 all time 17.2% top 10% · 14k works
  2. 2 China · #6 all time 32.0% top 10% · 17k works
  3. 3 South Korea · #3 all time 19.4% top 10% · 2.7k works
  4. 4 United Kingdom · #2 all time 19.5% top 10% · 3k works
  5. 5 Australia · #5 all time 26.3% top 10% · 1.9k works
  6. 6 Iran · #8 all time 18.4% top 10% · 2.4k works
  7. 7 Canada · #4 all time 22.3% top 10% · 1.9k works
  8. 8 Türkiye · #13 all time 11.3% top 10% · 3.4k works
  9. 9 Spain · #11 all time 22.0% top 10% · 1.9k works
  10. 10 Saudi Arabia · #17 all time 23.5% top 10% · 995 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 65 countries ranked in Nursing. Composite of field-normalised excellence (50%), output (30%) and citations (20%); the bracket is the all-time rank.

All countries ranked in Nursing

By volume, 2022–2025

  1. 1 China 17k works
  2. 2 United States 14k works
  3. 3 India 8.5k works
  4. 4 Indonesia 5.6k works
  5. 5 Brazil 3.8k works
  6. 6 Türkiye 3.4k works
  7. 7 United Kingdom 3k works
  8. 8 Japan 2.8k works
  9. 9 South Korea 2.7k works
  10. 10 Iran 2.4k 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.

China: 26.7%United States: 22.1%India: 13.5%Indonesia: 8.9%6 others listed: 28.8%27%largest
China17k · 26.7%United States14k · 22.1%India8,518 · 13.5%Indonesia5,589 · 8.9%6 others listed18k · 28.8%

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

Which institutions lead Nursing research?

Ewha Womans University (South Korea) ranks first in Nursing on research quality in 2022–2025, followed by University of Pennsylvania and Yonsei University.

By research quality, 2022–2025

  1. 1 Ewha Womans University South Korea · Seoul · #28 all time 24.1% top 10% · 67 works
  2. 2 University of Pennsylvania United States · Philadelphia · #1 all time 29.0% top 10% · 91 works
  3. 3 Yonsei University South Korea · Seoul · #25 all time 23.3% top 10% · 88 works
  4. 4 Sichuan University China · Chengdu 32.3% top 10% · 144 works
  5. 5 Alexandria University Egypt · Alexandria 19.0% top 10% · 122 works
  6. 6 Central South University China · Changsha 39.3% top 10% · 110 works
  7. 7 King Saud University Saudi Arabia · Riyadh 25.5% top 10% · 160 works
  8. 8 Columbia University United States · New York · #3 all time 27.8% top 10% · 62 works
  9. 9 Johns Hopkins University United States · Baltimore · #11 all time 25.0% top 10% · 153 works
  10. 10 Universidade de São Paulo Brazil · São Paulo · #14 all time 16.7% top 10% · 216 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 213 institutions above the floor of 40 fractional works in Nursing.

Top 100 Nursing institutions

By volume, 2022–2025

  1. 1 Jiangnan University China 345 works
  2. 2 State Key Laboratory of Food Science and Technology China 295 works
  3. 3 University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill United States 253 works
  4. 4 China Agricultural University China 244 works
  5. 5 Northeast Agricultural University China 221 works
  6. 6 Universidade de São Paulo Brazil 216 works
  7. 7 Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs China 199 works
  8. 8 Airlangga University Indonesia 191 works
  9. 9 Ain Shams University Egypt 185 works
  10. 10 Henan University of Technology China 176 works

Who are the leading researchers in Nursing?

Among the most productive authors in Nursing, Christopher J L Murray, Zulfiqar A Bhutta and Mostafa Qorbani rank highest on the composite score.

  1. 1 Christopher J L Murray United States · #23 worldwide 13k citations · 158 works
  2. 2 Zulfiqar A Bhutta Pakistan · #29 worldwide 7k citations · 258 works
  3. 3 Mostafa Qorbani Iran · #41 worldwide 5.9k citations · 166 works
  4. 4 Maciej Banach Poland · #49 worldwide 5.2k citations · 199 works
  5. 5 Nelson Alvis‐Guzmán Colombia · #62 worldwide 7.7k citations · 138 works
  6. 6 Déborah Carvalho Malta Brazil · #71 worldwide 5.5k citations · 142 works
  7. 7 Amirhossein Sahebkar Iran · #123 worldwide 5.6k citations · 243 works
  8. 8 Juan Jesús Carrero Sweden · #138 worldwide 6.5k citations · 120 works
  9. 9 Till Bärnighausen Germany · #139 worldwide 5.4k citations · 123 works
  10. 10 Cyrus Cooper United Kingdom · #144 worldwide 7.2k citations · 486 works

Re-ranked on the composite score from the 5,120 highest-output authors in Nursing. Identities come from OpenAlex author disambiguation, which occasionally merges or splits people.

Top 100 Nursing researchers

Where is Nursing research done?

The largest centres of Nursing research in 2022–2025 are Beijing (China), Seoul (South Korea), Guangzhou (China) and London (United Kingdom). Among places with at least 20 works in it, it is an unusually large share of all research in Vevey and Sangrur.

Largest cities, 2022–2025

  1. 1 Beijing China 2.3k works
  2. 2 Seoul South Korea 1.1k works
  3. 3 Guangzhou China 910 works
  4. 4 London United Kingdom 898 works
  5. 5 Tehran Iran 800 works
  6. 6 Shanghai China 780 works
  7. 7 Jakarta Indonesia 740 works
  8. 8 Tokyo Japan 730 works
  9. 9 New Delhi India 716 works
  10. 10 Wuxi China 666 works

Where it is the local speciality

  1. VeveyCH · 25.4 works15×
  2. SangrurIN · 49.0 works9.8×
← less than its size predicts1×more →

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

See Nursing on the map

Nursing research by country

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

Where is the best place to study Nursing?

Among universities, judged by research, Northeast Agricultural University, Beijing Technology and Business University and National Institute of Food Technology Entrepreneurship and Management 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%60%mean 39.1%fractional works in this node (log) →share in the world top 10% →Northeast Agricultural University: 221, 51.3%Beijing Technology and Business University: 154, 46.2%National Institute of Food Technology Entrepreneurship and Management: 61, 34.8%University of Gondar: 126, 28.9%Jiangnan University: 345, 39.1%Henan University of Technology: 176, 39.5%Northwest A&F University: 159, 46.5%Sant Longowal Institute of Engineering and Technology: 49, 27.8%Wuhan Polytechnic University: 106, 38.9%China Agricultural University: 244, 38.0%Northeast Agricultur…Beijing Technology a…National Institute o…University of Gondar
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
1Northeast Agricultural University China 68.651.3%8.3×221 -25.7%
2Beijing Technology and Business University China 68.546.2%7.2×154 +124.0%
3National Institute of Food Technology Entrepreneurship and Management India 65.334.8%20.5×61 +1120.0%
4University of Gondar Ethiopia 64.628.9%8.5×126 +223.0%
5Jiangnan University China 61.739.1%5.7×345 +9.6%
6Henan University of Technology China 59.439.5%8.5×176 -36.0%
7Northwest A&F University China 57.546.5%4.0×159 +58.4%
8Sant Longowal Institute of Engineering and Technology India 57.527.8%9.8×49 +235.8%
9Wuhan Polytechnic University China 56.238.9%9.1×106 -27.1%
10China Agricultural University China 52.938.0%4.4×244 -18.0%

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 Nursing research growing?

Output in 2018–2022 was 29% higher than in 2013–2017, peaking in 2025. The fastest-growing topics are Food Science and Nutritional Studies, Pomegranate: compositions and health benefits and Healthcare Education and Workforce Issues.

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. Food Science and Nutritional Studies+278%
  2. Pomegranate: compositions and health benefits+267%
  3. Healthcare Education and Workforce Issues+224%
  4. Child Nutrition and Water Access+210%
  5. Sodium Intake and Health+113%
  6. Nuts composition and effects+110%
  7. Nursing Education, Practice, and Leadership-1%
← shrinkingno changegrowing →

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

What does Nursing include?

Child Nutrition and Wate…67kChild Nutrition and Water Access: 67k fractional worksBiochemical Analysis and…51kBiochemical Analysis and Sensing Techniques: 51k fractional worksFood composition and properties: 51k fractional worksTrace Elements in Health50kTrace Elements in Health: 50k fractional worksMicrobial Metabolites in Food Biotechnology: 44k fractional worksClinical Nutrition and Gastroenterology: 40k fractional worksFatty Acid Research and Health: 38k fractional worksInfant Nutrition and Hea…33kInfant Nutrition and Health: 33k fractional worksVitamin C and Antioxidants Research: 27k fractional worksNursing education and management: 22k fractional worksSelenium in Biological Systems: 21k fractional worksNursing Education, Practice, and Leadership: 20k fractional works

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