Science Explorer Interactive view Map
Subfield · Social Sciences

Education research

Education is a subfield of Social Sciences. Science Explorer counts 2.2M 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: transmission of knowledge and skills.

Research works
2.2M
fractional, since 1950
In the world top 10%
407k
per year above
Top-10% rate
18.9%
share of its works in the world top 10%
Topics
137
Growth, 2013–17 → 2018–22
+89%
the tick is no change

What is Education research about, and what is growing?

By the world's output in 2019–23, its most used keywords are Educational Technology, Curriculum Development, Online Learning, Education, Digital Learning, Qualitative Research. Gaining share since 2009–13: Kampus Merdeka, Merdeka Belajar, Character Education, Local Wisdom, Character Development. Losing share: Higher Education, Education, Pedagogy, Distance Education.

▲ 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. Educational Technology153k▲ 2.3×19 topics
  2. Curriculum Development137k▲ 2.0×14 topics
  3. Online Learning108k▲ 1.68×11 topics
  4. Education107k▼ 0.70×35 topics
  5. Digital Learning103k▲ 2.6×8 topics
  6. Qualitative Research96k▲ 1.29×13 topics
  7. Character Education96k▲ 12×3 topics
  8. Teacher Training91k▲ 1.25×17 topics
  9. E-Learning80k▲ 1.19×11 topics
  10. Pedagogy74k▼ 0.81×18 topics
  11. Mobile Learning74k▲ 10×3 topics
  12. Inclusive Education64k▲ 1.19×15 topics
  13. 21st Century Skills64k▲ 2.4×5 topics
  14. Islamic Education64k▲ 4.2×3 topics
  15. Educational Policy63k▲ 3.3×8 topics
  16. Local Wisdom61k▲ 12×2 topics
  17. Learning Outcomes59k▲ 2.1×4 topics
  18. STEM Education59k▲ 3.7×5 topics
  19. Child Development57k▲ 1.41×4 topics
  20. Globalization50k◆ 0.98×13 topics
  21. Student Development50k▲ 4.0×2 topics
  22. Technology Integration48k▲ 1.42×6 topics
  23. Teaching Strategies47k◆ 1.03×6 topics
  24. Religious Values46k▲ 9.1×1 topic
  25. School Environment46k▲ 9.1×1 topic
  26. Higher Education46k▼ 0.60×15 topics
  27. Student Engagement45k◆ 1.00×9 topics
  28. Critical Thinking Skills45k▲ 1.90×2 topics
  29. Student Satisfaction43k◆ 0.95×3 topics
  30. Distance Education42k▼ 0.85×3 topics
  31. Distance Learning42k▲ 1.54×7 topics
  32. Sustainable Development42k▲ 4.6×6 topics
  33. Teaching Methodologies40k▲ 3.3×2 topics
  34. Character Development39k▲ 10×2 topics
  35. Media Literacy38k▲ 3.8×2 topics
  36. Active Learning38k▲ 1.29×5 topics
  37. Kampus Merdeka36k▲ 14×1 topic
  38. Merdeka Belajar36k▲ 14×1 topic
  39. Parental Involvement36k▲ 1.99×4 topics
  40. Teacher Performance34k▲ 8.6×2 topics

Which countries lead Education research?

On research quality in 2022–2025, Indonesia, the United States and China rank highest in Education. By volume, Indonesia and the United States publish the most (266k and 55k works in 2022–2025).

By research quality, 2022–2025

  1. 1 Indonesia · #2 all time 12.1% top 10% · 266k works
  2. 2 United States · #1 all time 23.2% top 10% · 55k works
  3. 3 China · #5 all time 23.2% top 10% · 20k works
  4. 4 United Kingdom · #3 all time 30.6% top 10% · 12k works
  5. 5 Australia · #4 all time 39.4% top 10% · 7.8k works
  6. 6 Türkiye · #8 all time 24.2% top 10% · 19k works
  7. 7 Germany · #7 all time 24.5% top 10% · 8.7k works
  8. 8 Spain · #10 all time 23.5% top 10% · 11k works
  9. 9 Hong Kong · #11 all time 50.2% top 10% · 1.6k works
  10. 10 Malaysia · #14 all time 17.7% top 10% · 12k 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 115 countries ranked in Education. Composite of field-normalised excellence (50%), output (30%) and citations (20%); the bracket is the all-time rank.

All countries ranked in Education

By volume, 2022–2025

  1. 1 Indonesia 266k works
  2. 2 United States 55k works
  3. 3 Brazil 54k works
  4. 4 China 20k works
  5. 5 Türkiye 19k works
  6. 6 ?? 14k works
  7. 7 Malaysia 12k works
  8. 8 United Kingdom 12k works
  9. 9 Spain 11k works
  10. 10 India 9.4k 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.

Indonesia: 56.2%United States: 11.6%Brazil: 11.4%China: 4.2%6 others listed: 16.5%56%largest
Indonesia266k · 56.2%United States55k · 11.6%Brazil54k · 11.4%China20k · 4.2%6 others listed78k · 16.5%

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

Which institutions lead Education research?

Indonesia University of Education (Indonesia) ranks first in Education on research quality in 2022–2025, followed by Education University of Hong Kong and Institut Agama Islam Negeri Bengkulu.

By research quality, 2022–2025

  1. 1 Indonesia University of Education Indonesia · Bandung · #7 all time 17.4% top 10% · 8.1k works
  2. 2 Education University of Hong Kong Hong Kong · Tai Po · #13 all time 57.1% top 10% · 490 works
  3. 3 Institut Agama Islam Negeri Bengkulu Indonesia · Bengkulu · #19 all time 12.5% top 10% · 11k works
  4. 4 State University of Padang Indonesia · Padang · #20 all time 13.6% top 10% · 7.8k works
  5. 5 University of Hong Kong Hong Kong · Pok Fu Lam · #10 all time 53.7% top 10% · 386 works
  6. 6 Yogyakarta State University Indonesia · Yogyakarta · #17 all time 19.4% top 10% · 4.6k works
  7. 7 Monash University Australia · Melbourne · #11 all time 47.2% top 10% · 520 works
  8. 8 Jambi University Indonesia · Jambi City · #34 all time 15.3% top 10% · 3.7k works
  9. 9 State University of Malang Indonesia · Malang · #26 all time 15.4% top 10% · 5.5k works
  10. 10 Beijing Normal University China · Beijing · #80 all time 40.7% top 10% · 620 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 1,892 institutions above the floor of 40 fractional works in Education.

Top 100 Education institutions

By volume, 2022–2025

  1. 1 Institut Agama Islam Negeri BengkuluIndonesia 11k works
  2. 2 Indonesia University of EducationIndonesia 8.1k works
  3. 3 State University of PadangIndonesia 7.8k works
  4. 4 Universitas Islam Negeri Sumatera UtaraIndonesia 5.8k works
  5. 5 State University of MalangIndonesia 5.5k works
  6. 6 State University of MakassarIndonesia 5.3k works
  7. 7 Universitas Negeri SurabayaIndonesia 4.9k works
  8. 8 State University of MedanIndonesia 4.8k works
  9. 9 Yogyakarta State UniversityIndonesia 4.6k works
  10. 10 Universitas Muhammadiyah Tapanuli SelatanIndonesia 4.3k works

Who are the leading researchers in Education?

Among the most productive authors in Education, Norman K. Denzin, Juan Ramón De La Fuente and Émile Durkheim rank highest on the composite score.

  1. 1 Norman K. Denzin United States · #16 worldwide 8.6k citations · 169 works
  2. 2 Juan Ramón De La Fuente Mexico · #61 worldwide 1.5k citations · 228 works
  3. 3 Émile Durkheim United States · #87 worldwide 2.5k citations · 135 works
  4. 4 Howard Gardner United States · #205 worldwide 3.7k citations · 123 works
  5. 5 Linda Darling‐Hammond United States · #370 worldwide 2.4k citations · 137 works
  6. 6 Jeanne Brooks‐Gunn United States · #523 worldwide 2.9k citations · 132 works
  7. 7 James J. Heckman United States · #541 worldwide 3.3k citations · 175 works
  8. 8 Jeroen J. G. van Merriënboer Netherlands · #645 worldwide 2.2k citations · 128 works
  9. 9 Richard E. Mayer United States · #706 worldwide 4.7k citations · 233 works
  10. 10 Simon Baron‐Cohen United Kingdom · #719 worldwide 3.8k citations · 212 works

Re-ranked on the composite score from the 5,497 highest-output authors in Education. Identities come from OpenAlex author disambiguation, which occasionally merges or splits people.

Top 100 Education researchers

Where is Education research done?

The largest centres of Education research in 2022–2025 are Jakarta (Indonesia), Medan (Indonesia), Bandung (Indonesia) and Yogyakarta (Indonesia). Among places with at least 20 works in it, it is an unusually large share of all research in Curup, Mojokerto and Gresik.

Largest cities, 2022–2025

  1. 1 Jakarta Indonesia 20k works
  2. 2 Medan Indonesia 18k works
  3. 3 Bandung Indonesia 17k works
  4. 4 Yogyakarta Indonesia 15k works
  5. 5 Bengkulu Indonesia 14k works
  6. 6 Semarang Indonesia 13k works
  7. 7 Surabaya Indonesia 13k works
  8. 8 Malang Indonesia 12k works
  9. 9 Makassar Indonesia 12k works
  10. 10 Padang Indonesia 9.9k works

Where it is the local speciality

  1. Curup270.0 works19×
  2. Mojokerto109.2 works19×
  3. Gresik99.3 works18×
  4. Demak86.7 works17×
  5. DapitanPH · 261.8 works16×
  6. Tomohon22.6 works16×
← less than its size predicts1×more →

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

See Education on the map

Education research by country

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

Where is the best place to study Education?

Among universities, judged by research, Indonesia University of Education, Institut Agama Islam Negeri Bengkulu and Yogyakarta State 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%10%20%mean 15.43%fractional works in this node (log) →share in the world top 10% →Indonesia University of Education: 8,099, 17.4%Institut Agama Islam Negeri Bengkulu: 11k, 12.5%Yogyakarta State University: 4,648, 19.4%State University of Padang: 7,828, 13.6%Universitas Negeri Surabaya: 4,893, 15.9%Universitas Pendidikan Ganesha: 2,965, 21.2%State University of Malang: 5,460, 15.4%Sunan Kalijaga State Islamic University Yogyakarta: 3,712, 14.5%State University of Makassar: 5,320, 10.6%State University of Jakarta: 3,463, 13.8%Yogyakarta State Uni…Indonesia University…State University of …Institut Agama Islam…
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 Indonesia University of EducationIndonesia 67.117.4%12.8×8,099 +1506.9%
2 Institut Agama Islam Negeri BengkuluIndonesia 66.112.5%12.6×11,275 +1344.9%
3 Yogyakarta State UniversityIndonesia 65.619.4%12.8×4,648 +523.7%
4 State University of PadangIndonesia 64.813.6%11.4×7,828 +959.7%
5 Universitas Negeri SurabayaIndonesia 63.815.9%10.2×4,893 +414.6%
6 Universitas Pendidikan GaneshaIndonesia 63.521.2%11.7×2,965 +2156.3%
7 State University of MalangIndonesia 61.715.4%9.0×5,460 +1272.4%
8 Sunan Kalijaga State Islamic University YogyakartaIndonesia 61.514.5%11.8×3,712 +736.8%
9 State University of MakassarIndonesia 61.010.6%10.5×5,320 +852.6%
10 State University of JakartaIndonesia 60.613.8%10.3×3,463 +661.3%

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 Education research growing?

Output in 2018–2022 was 89% higher than in 2013–2017, peaking in 2023. The fastest-growing topics are Online Learning Methods and Innovations, Educational Methods and Outcomes and STEM Education.

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. Online Learning Methods and Innovations+20464%
  2. Educational Methods and Outcomes+12728%
  3. STEM Education+11271%
  4. Educational Methods and Impacts+6404%
  5. Educational Curriculum and Learning Methods+6150%
  6. Child Development and Education+5049%
  7. Ideological and Political Education-76%
← shrinkingno changegrowing →

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

What does Education include?

Education and Character …82kEducation and Character Development: 82k fractional worksOnline and Blended Learn…68kOnline and Blended Learning: 68k fractional worksEducation and Critical Thinking Development: 64k fractional worksEducational Curriculum and Learning Methods: 61k fractional worksEducation Pedagogy and Practices: 60k fractional worksEducational Methods and Impacts: 53k fractional worksEarly Childhood Education and Development: 50k fractional worksSTEM Education48kSTEM Education: 48k fractional worksEducational Methods and Outcomes: 46k fractional worksIdeological and Political Education: 42k fractional worksTechnology-Enhanced Education Studies: 42k fractional worksTeacher Education and Leadership Studies: 42k fractional works

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