Science Explorer Interactive view Map
Subfield · Social Sciences

Health research

Health is a subfield of Social Sciences. Science Explorer counts 236k research works in it since 1950. 21.4% of them reached the world's top 10% most cited for their field and year.

In short: desirable level of functional or metabolic efficiency of a living being.

Research works
236k
fractional, since 1950
In the world top 10%
50k
per year above
Top-10% rate
21.4%
share of its works in the world top 10%
Topics
14
Growth, 2013–17 → 2018–22
+75%
the tick is no change

What is Health research about, and what is growing?

By the world's output in 2019–23, its most used keywords are Mental Health, Social Support, Public Health, Social Media, Health Equity, Social Relationships. Gaining share since 2009–13: Health Research, Social Activity, Environmental Burden, Occupational Health, COVID-19 Vaccine. Losing share: Health Inequality, Social Determinants, Health Promotion, Religion.

▲ 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 38 words, with their numbers
  1. Mental Health25k▼ 0.81×5 topics
  2. Social Support25k▼ 0.79×2 topics
  3. Public Health23k▼ 0.83×5 topics
  4. Social Media22k▲ 1.60×2 topics
  5. Health Equity21k▼ 0.84×2 topics
  6. Social Relationships18k◆ 0.88×1 topic
  7. Socioeconomic Inequalities18k◆ 0.88×1 topic
  8. COVID-19 Vaccine17k▲ 1.84×1 topic
  9. Vaccine Hesitancy17k▲ 1.84×1 topic
  10. Socioeconomic Factors9,958▲ 1.80×2 topics
  11. Health Consequences9,314▼ 0.86×1 topic
  12. Intimate Partner Violence9,314▼ 0.86×1 topic
  13. Health8,304▼ 0.65×2 topics
  14. Healthcare Access7,442▼ 0.81×2 topics
  15. Religion7,309▼ 0.62×1 topic
  16. Spirituality7,309▼ 0.62×1 topic
  17. Public Policy6,097◆ 1.06×2 topics
  18. Healthcare Communication5,877▲ 1.16×1 topic
  19. Online Recruitment5,877▲ 1.16×1 topic
  20. International Migration5,101◆ 1.09×1 topic
  21. Refugee Law5,101◆ 1.09×1 topic
  22. Health Research4,857▲ 5.6×1 topic
  23. Social Activity4,857▲ 5.6×1 topic
  24. Decolonization3,473▼ 0.66×1 topic
  25. Indigenous Health3,473▼ 0.66×1 topic
  26. Health Promotion2,984▼ 0.56×2 topics
  27. Firearm Violence2,849◆ 0.89×1 topic
  28. Gun Ownership2,849◆ 0.89×1 topic
  29. Health Inequality2,341▼ 0.52×1 topic
  30. Social Determinants2,341▼ 0.52×1 topic
  31. Aging996◆ 0.92×1 topic
  32. Education996◆ 0.92×1 topic
  33. Family Dynamics643▼ 0.76×1 topic
  34. Social Determinants of Health643▼ 0.76×1 topic
  35. Environmental Burden141▲ 2.6×1 topic
  36. Occupational Health141▲ 2.6×1 topic
  37. Venezuela112▼ 0.80×1 topic
  38. crisis112▼ 0.80×1 topic

Which countries lead Health research?

On research quality in 2022–2025, the United States, China and the United Kingdom rank highest in Health. By volume, the United States and Brazil publish the most (16k and 6.3k works in 2022–2025).

By research quality, 2022–2025

  1. 1 United States · #1 all time 20.7% top 10% · 16k works
  2. 2 China · #5 all time 36.4% top 10% · 2.9k works
  3. 3 United Kingdom · #2 all time 25.3% top 10% · 3.5k works
  4. 4 Australia · #4 all time 26.3% top 10% · 2.6k works
  5. 5 Canada · #3 all time 22.7% top 10% · 2.7k works
  6. 6 Germany · #6 all time 25.2% top 10% · 1.2k works
  7. 7 India · #10 all time 13.4% top 10% · 2.1k works
  8. 8 Italy · #9 all time 24.5% top 10% · 1k works
  9. 9 Netherlands · #7 all time 28.3% top 10% · 664 works
  10. 10 Brazil · #8 all time 4.1% top 10% · 6.3k 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 50 countries ranked in Health. Composite of field-normalised excellence (50%), output (30%) and citations (20%); the bracket is the all-time rank.

All countries ranked in Health

By volume, 2022–2025

  1. 1 United States 16k works
  2. 2 Brazil 6.3k works
  3. 3 United Kingdom 3.5k works
  4. 4 China 2.9k works
  5. 5 Canada 2.7k works
  6. 6 Australia 2.6k works
  7. 7 India 2.1k works
  8. 8 Russia 1.9k works
  9. 9 Indonesia 1.7k works
  10. 10 Spain 1.5k 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: 39.7%Brazil: 15.1%United Kingdom: 8.3%China: 7.1%6 others listed: 29.8%40%largest
United States16k · 39.7%Brazil6,263 · 15.1%United Kingdom3,458 · 8.3%China2,929 · 7.1%6 others listed12k · 29.8%

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

Which institutions lead Health research?

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

By research quality, 2022–2025

  1. 1 Harvard University United States · Cambridge · #2 all time 32.4% top 10% · 182 works
  2. 2 Johns Hopkins University United States · Baltimore · #4 all time 28.5% top 10% · 257 works
  3. 3 University College London United Kingdom · London · #3 all time 30.8% top 10% · 190 works
  4. 4 University of Michigan United States · Ann Arbor · #1 all time 26.9% top 10% · 216 works
  5. 5 University of Toronto Canada · Toronto · #7 all time 24.9% top 10% · 200 works
  6. 6 Columbia University United States · New York · #5 all time 28.8% top 10% · 129 works
  7. 7 The University of Melbourne Australia · Melbourne · #22 all time 29.3% top 10% · 158 works
  8. 8 University of Oxford United Kingdom · Oxford · #14 all time 31.3% top 10% · 120 works
  9. 9 University of Washington United States · Seattle · #6 all time 27.2% top 10% · 148 works
  10. 10 Peking University China · Beijing · #81 all time 36.1% top 10% · 107 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 107 institutions above the floor of 40 fractional works in Health.

Top 100 Health institutions

By volume, 2022–2025

  1. 1 University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill United States 395 works
  2. 2 Johns Hopkins University United States 257 works
  3. 3 University of Michigan United States 216 works
  4. 4 Universidade de São Paulo Brazil 201 works
  5. 5 University of Toronto Canada 200 works
  6. 6 University College London United Kingdom 190 works
  7. 7 Harvard University United States 182 works
  8. 8 The University of Melbourne Australia 158 works
  9. 9 University of Washington United States 148 works
  10. 10 The University of Sydney Australia 147 works

Who are the leading researchers in Health?

Among the most productive authors in Health, Jost B. Jonas, Ronald C. Kessler and Graeme J. Hankey rank highest on the composite score.

  1. 1 Jost B. Jonas Germany · #12 worldwide 7.7k citations · 243 works
  2. 2 Ronald C. Kessler United States · #14 worldwide 9.8k citations · 232 works
  3. 3 Graeme J. Hankey Australia · #15 worldwide 7.2k citations · 205 works
  4. 4 Aziz Sheikh United Kingdom · #17 worldwide 5.8k citations · 274 works
  5. 5 Christopher J L Murray United States · #23 worldwide 13k citations · 158 works
  6. 6 Mostafa Qorbani Iran · #41 worldwide 5.9k citations · 166 works
  7. 7 Ziad A. Memish Saudi Arabia · #58 worldwide 5.3k citations · 162 works
  8. 8 Nelson Alvis‐Guzmán Colombia · #62 worldwide 7.7k citations · 138 works
  9. 9 Josep María Haro Spain · #63 worldwide 6.4k citations · 180 works
  10. 10 Simon I Hay United States · #67 worldwide 12k citations · 134 works

Re-ranked on the composite score from the 4,507 highest-output authors in Health. Identities come from OpenAlex author disambiguation, which occasionally merges or splits people.

Top 100 Health researchers

Where is Health research done?

The largest centres of Health research in 2022–2025 are London (United Kingdom), São Paulo (Brazil), New York (United States) and Rio de Janeiro (Brazil).

Largest cities, 2022–2025

  1. 1 London United Kingdom 1.1k works
  2. 2 São Paulo Brazil 921 works
  3. 3 New York United States 798 works
  4. 4 Rio de Janeiro Brazil 667 works
  5. 5 Moscow Russia 618 works
  6. 6 Beijing China 579 works
  7. 7 Melbourne Australia 564 works
  8. 8 Boston United States 500 works
  9. 9 Toronto Canada 465 works
  10. 10 Washington D.C. United States 464 works
See Health on the map

Health research by country

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

Where is the best place to study Health?

Among universities, judged by research, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, International Institute for Population Sciences and University of Gondar 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%mean 35.29%fractional works in this node (log) →share in the world top 10% →London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine: 97, 35.5%International Institute for Population Sciences: 57, 40.2%University of Gondar: 40, 46.0%Johns Hopkins University: 257, 28.5%University College London: 190, 30.8%Simon Fraser University: 70, 33.7%The University of Melbourne: 158, 29.3%Harvard University: 182, 32.4%Huazhong University of Science and Technology: 37, 44.3%Deakin University: 85, 32.2%University of GondarInternational Instit…London School of Hyg…Johns Hopkins Univer…
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
1London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine United Kingdom 72.735.5%10.6×97 +58.7%
2International Institute for Population Sciences India 69.340.2%28.0×57 +135.5%
3University of Gondar Ethiopia 60.346.0%4.5×40 +373.5%
4Johns Hopkins University United States 53.128.5%4.0×257 +51.8%
5University College London United Kingdom 50.830.8%2.3×190 +54.7%
6Simon Fraser University Canada 50.433.7%4.1×70 +81.9%
7The University of Melbourne Australia 49.729.3%2.7×158 +77.3%
8Harvard University United States 49.132.4%2.4×182 +28.7%
9Huazhong University of Science and Technology China 48.244.3%0.4×37 +215.9%
10Deakin University Australia 47.232.2%3.1×85 +65.8%

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 Health research growing?

Output in 2018–2022 was 75% higher than in 2013–2017, peaking in 2021. The fastest-growing topics are Social and Behavioral Studies, Occupational Health and Global Justice and Migration, Racism, and Human Rights.

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. Social and Behavioral Studies+1566%
  2. Occupational Health and Global Justice+759%
  3. Migration, Racism, and Human Rights+388%
  4. Social Media in Health Education+318%
  5. Health, Education, and Aging+301%
  6. Philosophy and Education Pedagogy+251%
← shrinkingno changegrowing →

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

What does Health include?

Health disparities and o…57kHealth disparities and outcomes: 57k fractional worksVaccine Coverage and Hesitancy: 38k fractional worksIntimate Partner and Family Violence: 31k fractional worksReligion, Spirituality, and Psychology: 30k fractional worksSocial Media in Health Education: 17k fractional worksMigration, Racism, and H…14kMigration, Racism, and Human Rights: 14k fractional worksIndigenous Health, Education, and Rights: 13k fractional worksGun Ownership and Violence Research: 10k fractional worksPublic Health and Social Inequalities: 9,634 fractional worksSocial and Behavioral Studies: 8,926 fractional worksHealth, Education, and Aging: 3,721 fractional worksPhilosophy and Education Pedagogy: 2,149 fractional works

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