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University · Durham · United States

Duke University

In research, Duke University stands highest in Health Sciences (#46 of 11,982 worldwide), Medicine (#41 of 10,443 worldwide) and Life Sciences (#42 of 7,800 worldwide), 2022–2025. Relative to its size it is most specialised in Transplantation, Statistics and Probability and Family Practice — Transplantation is 4.6× its share of world research.

duke.eduROR OpenAlex
World rank, 2022–2025
#98
of 28,054 · #56 all time
Rank in United States
#27
of 4,192
Research works
103k
▲ 14% vs 2013–17
Citations
4.3M
41.6 per fractional work
Top-10% rate
21.4%
record average 16.5%
Open access
36%
world 28%

What is Duke University known for in research?

The fields where it stands highest, 2022–2025, ranked among every institution above the floor in each field.

FieldWorld rankWhere that sitsTop-10% rateWorksAll time
Health SciencesDomain #46 of 11,982 19.7%5,504 #42
MedicineField #41 of 10,443 19.3%4,871 #41
Life SciencesDomain #42 of 7,800 23.3%2,189 #43
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular BiologyField #31 of 3,579 22.3%1,242 #34
Social SciencesDomain #93 of 10,521 23.8%3,199 #22
SurgerySubfield #28 of 1,816 20.6%626 #43
Decision SciencesField #12 of 703 22.4%153 #12
Physical SciencesDomain #263 of 12,888 20.5%3,268 #104
Molecular BiologySubfield #45 of 2,175 21.7%699 #54
Sociology and Political ScienceSubfield #80 of 2,578 27.3%553 #35

Each strip is that field’s whole ranked pool, with the notch where Duke University sits in it, in the colour of the band that rank falls in. The track under the rate is the rate itself: it carries no world mark, because the world rate differs by field (from about 6% to 21% in this record).

Which of those standings moved

The same fields on both windows: where it stood over the whole record, and where it stands in 2022–2025. The distance is the story, and it is the one thing the two rank columns above cannot show.

  1. Health Sciences#42 #46
  2. Medicine#41 #41
  3. Life Sciences#43 #42
  4. Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology#34 #31
  5. Social Sciences#22 #93
  6. Surgery#43 #28
  7. Decision Sciences#12 #12
  8. Physical Sciences#104 #263
  9. Molecular Biology#54 #45
  10. Sociology and Political Science#35 #80
all time2022–2025, better2022–2025, worse

A dot further right is a better standing. Fields it was not ranked in over the whole record are left out.

What does Duke University specialise in?

Where its research is concentrated relative to its size: Transplantation takes 4.6× the share of its output that it takes of world research.

  1. TransplantationSubfield · 29.1 works4.6×
  2. Statistics and ProbabilitySubfield · 138.7 works4.6×
  3. Family PracticeSubfield · 22.3 works3.3×
  4. BiophysicsSubfield · 51.1 works3.2×
← less than its size predicts1×more →

Location quotient, a volume reading rather than an impact one. It surfaces small, lopsided specialities.

Field profile

Location quotient across every field it publishes in: outside the ring is more than an institution of this size would be expected to publish, inside it is less.

Agricultural and Biological Sciences: 0.27× its world share, 184 worksAgricultural and Bio…Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology: 1.65× its world share, 1,242 worksBiochemistry, Geneti…Immunology and Microbiology: 1.77× its world share, 252 worksImmunology and Micro…Neuroscience: 2.09× its world share, 480 worksNeurosciencePharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics: 0.62× its world share, 31 worksPharmacology, Toxico…Chemical Engineering: 0.21× its world share, 10 worksChemical EngineeringChemistry: 0.39× its world share, 86 worksChemistryComputer Science: 0.68× its world share, 749 worksComputer ScienceEarth and Planetary Sciences: 0.50× its world share, 112 worksEarth and Planetary …Energy: 0.24× its world share, 32 worksEnergyEngineering: 0.46× its world share, 987 worksEngineeringEnvironmental Science: 0.75× its world share, 526 worksEnvironmental ScienceMaterials Science: 0.37× its world share, 180 worksMaterials ScienceMathematics: 1.60× its world share, 266 worksMathematicsPhysics and Astronomy: 1.02× its world share, 321 worksPhysics and AstronomyDentistry: 0.19× its world share, 13 worksDentistryHealth Professions: 1.44× its world share, 539 worksHealth ProfessionsMedicine: 1.79× its world share, 4,871 worksMedicineNursing: 1.00× its world share, 70 worksNursingVeterinary: 0.64× its world share, 12 worksVeterinaryArts and Humanities: 1.03× its world share, 423 worksArts and HumanitiesBusiness, Management and Accounting: 0.49× its world share, 224 worksBusiness, Management…Decision Sciences: 1.12× its world share, 153 worksDecision SciencesEconomics, Econometrics and Finance: 1.43× its world share, 432 worksEconomics, Econometr…Psychology: 1.34× its world share, 578 worksPsychologySocial Sciences: 0.78× its world share, 1,389 worksSocial Sciences1×world share
more than its size predictsabout as predictedless

Rings at 0.5×, 1× and 2×. Widest outward: Neuroscience, 2.1×. Every wedge is a field page.

Who are the top researchers at Duke University?

Ranked on the composite score, David R. Smith, David B. Matchar and Terrie E. Moffitt lead among researchers whose main affiliation is Duke University.

  1. 1 David R. Smith United States · #94 worldwide 6.3k citations · 145 works
  2. 2 David B. Matchar United States · #668 worldwide 1.9k citations · 130 works
  3. 3 Terrie E. Moffitt United States · #884 worldwide 2.7k citations · 120 works
  4. 4 Campbell R. Harvey United States · #1,543 worldwide 4.2k citations · 81 works
  5. 5 Gary Gereffi United States · #1,576 worldwide 1.6k citations · 90 works
  6. 6 Walter D. Mignolo United States · #2,207 worldwide 581 citations · 97 works
  7. 7 Willie J. Padilla United States · #2,226 worldwide 2.4k citations · 79 works
  8. 8 Svati H. Shah United States · #2,708 worldwide 1.8k citations · 77 works
  9. 9 Pamela S. Douglas United States · #3,160 worldwide 2.2k citations · 196 works
  10. 10 Kenneth A. Dodge United States · #3,387 worldwide 2.3k citations · 84 works
All ranked researchers at Duke University

Which keywords describe research at Duke University?

By fractional works in 2022–2025, weighted toward what it does more of than the world: Epidemiology, Inflammation, Quality of Life, Mental Health, Public Health, Risk Factors, Cardiovascular Disease and Oxidative Stress.

▲ more of its work than of the world’s◆ about the world’s share▼ less than the world’s

Size is fractional works in 2022–2025 in the topics tagged with each word; colour is the word's share of this institution's work against its share of the world's. The 40 words are chosen for being large and distinctive. Each links to the topic it comes from most.

All 40 words, with their numbers
  1. Epidemiology911▲ 1.63×136 topics
  2. Inflammation445▲ 1.51×82 topics
  3. Machine Learning399▼ 0.86×87 topics
  4. Deep Learning387▼ 0.80×80 topics
  5. Quality of Life352▲ 1.73×55 topics
  6. Mental Health319▲ 1.54×43 topics
  7. Oxidative Stress317▲ 1.37×60 topics
  8. Public Health316▲ 1.54×66 topics
  9. Risk Factors281▲ 1.80×37 topics
  10. Climate Change281▼ 0.74×98 topics
  11. Cardiovascular Disease277▲ 1.76×39 topics
  12. Treatment256▲ 1.49×50 topics
  13. Cancer252▲ 1.33×52 topics
  14. Globalization238▼ 0.86×107 topics
  15. Immunotherapy226▲ 2.2×19 topics
  16. Depression218▲ 1.75×25 topics
  17. Biomarkers204▲ 2.1×18 topics
  18. Diagnosis198▲ 1.50×41 topics
  19. Heart Failure170▲ 2.8×14 topics
  20. Mortality169▲ 2.1×13 topics
  21. Clinical Trials165▲ 1.74×19 topics
  22. Metabolic Syndrome163▲ 1.42×24 topics
  23. Guidelines162▲ 2.5×13 topics
  24. Aging151▲ 1.98×19 topics
  25. Chemotherapy149▲ 1.51×25 topics
  26. Neurological Disorders149▲ 1.85×20 topics
  27. Primary Care148▲ 2.8×15 topics
  28. Genetics143▲ 1.44×26 topics
  29. Gene Expression141▲ 1.64×19 topics
  30. Precision Medicine138▲ 2.1×8 topics
  31. Radiotherapy134▲ 2.5×13 topics
  32. Anxiety126▲ 1.88×12 topics
  33. Complications125▲ 1.77×17 topics
  34. Religion124▲ 1.84×37 topics
  35. Health Disparities118▲ 3.2×9 topics
  36. Ethical Considerations117▲ 2.4×19 topics
  37. Medical Education110▲ 3.0×13 topics
  38. Neurodegeneration110▲ 2.6×11 topics
  39. Health-related Quality of Life109▲ 3.3×6 topics
  40. Academic Medicine70▲ 6.4×3 topics

Which research topics does Duke University publish most on?

By volume in 2022–2025: Health Systems, Economic Evaluations, Quality of Life, Diversity and Career in Medicine, Healthcare Policy and Management and Dementia and Cognitive Impairment Research.

Health Systems, Economic…55Health Systems, Economic Evaluations, Quality of Life: 55 fractional worksDiversity and Career in …42Diversity and Career in Medicine: 42 fractional worksHealthcare Policy and Management: 42 fractional worksDementia and Cognitive Impairment Research: 39 fractional worksPalliative Care and End-of-Life Issues: 37 fractional worksGlioma Diagnosis and Treatment: 37 fractional worksHeart Failure Treatment and Management: 37 fractional worksRadiomics and Machine Le…37Radiomics and Machine Learning in Medical Imaging: 37 fractional worksAir Quality and Health Impacts: 36 fractional worksMedical Imaging Techniques and Applications: 35 fractional works
Economics and EconometricsGender StudiesPsychiatry and Mental healthPublic Health, Environmental and Occupational Health4 others

Area is fractional works; colour is the subfield each topic belongs to.

  1. 1 Health Systems, Economic Evaluations, Quality of Life Economics and Econometrics 55 works
  2. 2 Diversity and Career in Medicine Gender Studies 42 works
  3. 3 Healthcare Policy and Management Economics and Econometrics 42 works
  4. 4 Dementia and Cognitive Impairment Research Psychiatry and Mental health 39 works
  5. 5 Palliative Care and End-of-Life Issues Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health 37 works
  6. 6 Glioma Diagnosis and Treatment Genetics 37 works
  7. 7 Heart Failure Treatment and Management Cardiology and Cardiovascular Medicine 37 works
  8. 8 Radiomics and Machine Learning in Medical Imaging Radiology, Nuclear Medicine and Imaging 37 works
  9. 9 Air Quality and Health Impacts Health, Toxicology and Mutagenesis 36 works
  10. 10 Medical Imaging Techniques and Applications Radiology, Nuclear Medicine and Imaging 35 works

How open and international is its research?

Against the world’s own shares — the tick on each track. Both are shares of its output, so they sit on one scale and can be read against each other as well as against the world.

openly available36.4%not open63.6%

World: 28% of research is openly available.

with international co-authors14.5%domestic only85.5%

World: 19% is written across borders.

How has Duke University's research output changed?

Output in 2018–2022 was 14% higher than in 2013–2017.

1990200020102020
grewheldshrank

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

Other research institutions in Durham

All research institutions in Durham

Research measures only: rankings here say nothing about teaching, admissions or student experience. Comparable institutions and collaboration partners are in the interactive view on the map.