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Subfield · Social Sciences

Human Factors and Ergonomics research

Human Factors and Ergonomics is a subfield of Social Sciences. Science Explorer counts 57k research works in it since 1950. 16.6% of them reached the world's top 10% most cited for their field and year.

In short: study of designing equipment and devices that fit the human body and its cognitive abilities.

Research works
57k
fractional, since 1950
In the world top 10%
9.4k
per year above
Top-10% rate
16.6%
share of its works in the world top 10%
Topics
3
Growth, 2013–17 → 2018–22
+171%
the tick is no change

What is Human Factors and Ergonomics research about, and what is growing?

By the world's output in 2019–23, its most used keywords are Job Satisfaction, Organizational Culture, Activity Theory, Workplace Learning, Disability Divide, Web Accessibility. Gaining share since 2009–13: Job Satisfaction, Organizational Culture. Losing share: Activity Theory, Workplace Learning, Disability Divide, Web Accessibility.

▲ 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 6 words, with their numbers
  1. Job Satisfaction18k▲ 5.2×1 topic
  2. Organizational Culture18k▲ 5.2×1 topic
  3. Activity Theory2,751▼ 0.23×1 topic
  4. Workplace Learning2,751▼ 0.23×1 topic
  5. Disability Divide1,684▼ 0.24×1 topic
  6. Web Accessibility1,684▼ 0.24×1 topic

Which countries lead Human Factors and Ergonomics research?

On research quality in 2022–2025, Indonesia, the United States and the United Kingdom rank highest in Human Factors and Ergonomics. By volume, Indonesia and the United States publish the most (18k and 1k works in 2022–2025).

By research quality, 2022–2025

  1. 1 Indonesia · #2 all time 7.2% top 10% · 18k works
  2. 2 United States · #1 all time 27.1% top 10% · 1k works
  3. 3 United Kingdom · #3 all time 34.9% top 10% · 444 works
  4. 4 Australia · #4 all time 39.2% top 10% · 239 works
  5. 5 India · #11 all time 14.3% top 10% · 349 works
  6. 6 Malaysia · #12 all time 14.2% top 10% · 349 works
  7. 7 ?? · #16 all time 8.8% top 10% · 498 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 7 countries ranked in Human Factors and Ergonomics. Composite of field-normalised excellence (50%), output (30%) and citations (20%); the bracket is the all-time rank.

All countries ranked in Human Factors and Ergonomics

By volume, 2022–2025

  1. 1 Indonesia 18k works
  2. 2 United States 1k works
  3. 3 ?? 498 works
  4. 4 United Kingdom 444 works
  5. 5 Malaysia 349 works
  6. 6 India 349 works
  7. 7 Australia 239 works
  8. 8 China 200 works
  9. 9 Brazil 196 works
  10. 10 Philippines 195 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: 83.3%United States: 4.9%??: 2.4%United Kingdom: 2.1%6 others listed: 7.3%83%largest
Indonesia18k · 83.3%United States1,040 · 4.9%??498 · 2.4%United Kingdom444 · 2.1%6 others listed1,528 · 7.3%

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

Which institutions lead Human Factors and Ergonomics research?

Universitas Patria Artha (Indonesia) ranks first in Human Factors and Ergonomics on research quality in 2022–2025, followed by Universitas Bhayangkara Jakarta Raya and Universitas Pamulang.

By research quality, 2022–2025

  1. 1 Universitas Patria Artha Indonesia · Makassar · #1 all time 6.6% top 10% · 896 works
  2. 2 Universitas Bhayangkara Jakarta Raya Indonesia · Jakarta · #8 all time 13.7% top 10% · 178 works
  3. 3 Universitas Pamulang Indonesia · Tangerang · #6 all time 6.6% top 10% · 366 works
  4. 4 Mercu Buana University Indonesia · Jakarta · #5 all time 8.1% top 10% · 268 works
  5. 5 Universitas Esa Unggul Indonesia · Jakarta · #13 all time 13.8% top 10% · 143 works
  6. 6 University of Indonesia Indonesia · Depok · #10 all time 11.3% top 10% · 194 works
  7. 7 Universitas Informatika dan Bisnis Indonesia Indonesia · Bandung · #17 all time 6.1% top 10% · 269 works
  8. 8 Telkom University Indonesia · Bandung · #11 all time 12.0% top 10% · 107 works
  9. 9 University of Brawijaya Indonesia · Malang · #7 all time 9.8% top 10% · 134 works
  10. 10 State University of Malang Indonesia · Malang · #18 all time 11.8% top 10% · 126 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 89 institutions above the floor of 40 fractional works in Human Factors and Ergonomics.

Top 100 Human Factors and Ergonomics institutions

By volume, 2022–2025

  1. 1 Universitas Patria ArthaIndonesia 896 works
  2. 2 Universitas PamulangIndonesia 366 works
  3. 3 Universitas Informatika dan Bisnis IndonesiaIndonesia 269 works
  4. 4 Mercu Buana UniversityIndonesia 268 works
  5. 5 Universitas Nusa BangsaIndonesia 219 works
  6. 6 Universitas Muhammadiyah SidoarjoIndonesia 202 works
  7. 7 State University of PadangIndonesia 199 works
  8. 8 University of IndonesiaIndonesia 194 works
  9. 9 Universitas TrisaktiIndonesia 194 works
  10. 10 State University of MakassarIndonesia 184 works

Who are the leading researchers in Human Factors and Ergonomics?

Among the most productive authors in Human Factors and Ergonomics, Cyrus Cooper, Jeroen J. G. van Merriënboer and Richard M. Steers rank highest on the composite score.

  1. 1 Cyrus Cooper United Kingdom · #144 worldwide 7.2k citations · 486 works
  2. 2 Jeroen J. G. van Merriënboer Netherlands · #645 worldwide 2.2k citations · 128 works
  3. 3 Richard M. Steers Canada · #1,468 worldwide 2.2k citations · 94 works
  4. 4 Keith E. Stanovich Canada · #2,163 worldwide 2.2k citations · 81 works
  5. 5 Stephen J. Ball United Kingdom · #2,268 worldwide 1.4k citations · 128 works
  6. 6 Yrjö Engeström Finland · #2,618 worldwide 1.8k citations · 70 works
  7. 7 Christopher Day United Kingdom · #3,117 worldwide 1.1k citations · 93 works
  8. 8 David Nunan Hong Kong · #3,336 worldwide 903 citations · 90 works
  9. 9 John S. Edwards United Kingdom · #4,082 worldwide 805 citations · 84 works
  10. 10 Lars G. Svensson United States · #5,192 worldwide 1.5k citations · 197 works

Re-ranked on the composite score from the 2,607 highest-output authors in Human Factors and Ergonomics. Identities come from OpenAlex author disambiguation, which occasionally merges or splits people.

Top 100 Human Factors and Ergonomics researchers

Where is Human Factors and Ergonomics research done?

The largest centres of Human Factors and Ergonomics research in 2022–2025 are Jakarta (Indonesia), Makassar (Indonesia), Bandung (Indonesia) and Medan (Indonesia). Among places with at least 20 works in it, it is an unusually large share of all research in Sumedang Utara, Bekasi and Probolinggo.

Largest cities, 2022–2025

  1. 1 Jakarta Indonesia 2.7k works
  2. 2 Makassar Indonesia 1.5k works
  3. 3 Bandung Indonesia 1.2k works
  4. 4 Medan Indonesia 1k works
  5. 5 Surabaya Indonesia 1k works
  6. 6 Semarang Indonesia 583 works
  7. 7 Yogyakarta Indonesia 579 works
  8. 8 Tangerang Indonesia 564 works
  9. 9 Malang Indonesia 546 works
  10. 10 Padang Indonesia 507 works

Where it is the local speciality

  1. Sumedang UtaraID · 84.0 works51×
  2. Bekasi67.7 works44×
  3. ProbolinggoID · 41.1 works31×
  4. JakartaID · 167.8 works28×
  5. Samarinda38.1 works25×
  6. Kabupaten Badung22.3 works23×
  7. Bandung82.5 works23×
← less than its size predicts1×more →

Location quotient: how much more of its research is in Human Factors and Ergonomics than the world average.

See Human Factors and Ergonomics on the map

Human Factors and Ergonomics research by country

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

Where is the best place to study Human Factors and Ergonomics?

Among universities, judged by research, Universitas Patria Artha, Mercu Buana University and Universitas Esa Unggul 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 8.87%fractional works in this node (log) →share in the world top 10% →Universitas Patria Artha: 896, 6.6%Mercu Buana University: 268, 8.1%Universitas Esa Unggul: 143, 13.8%Universitas Informatika dan Bisnis Indonesia: 269, 6.1%Universitas Muhammadiyah Sumatera Utara: 68, 20.1%Universitas Trisakti: 194, 6.9%Universitas Sumatera Utara: 169, 8.1%Universitas Muhammadiyah Sidoarjo: 202, 6.6%State University of Makassar: 184, 6.8%State University of Jakarta: 168, 5.6%Universitas Esa UnggulMercu Buana UniversityUniversitas Patria A…Universitas Informat…
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 Universitas Patria ArthaIndonesia 63.06.6%49.6×896 +2056.4%
2 Mercu Buana UniversityIndonesia 58.68.1%33.6×268 +4431.6%
3 Universitas Esa UnggulIndonesia 57.913.8%26.1×143 +1633.3%
4 Universitas Informatika dan Bisnis IndonesiaIndonesia 57.56.1%33.0×269 +679.0%
5 Universitas Muhammadiyah Sumatera UtaraIndonesia 57.220.1%13.0×68 +2847.8%
6 Universitas TrisaktiIndonesia 56.76.9%20.0×194 +329.5%
7 Universitas Sumatera UtaraIndonesia 56.78.1%11.1×169 +535.4%
8 Universitas Muhammadiyah SidoarjoIndonesia 56.26.6%20.9×202 +469.2%
9 State University of MakassarIndonesia 56.26.8%10.0×184 +1633.3%
10 State University of JakartaIndonesia 55.55.6%13.8×168 +666.2%

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 Human Factors and Ergonomics research growing?

Output in 2018–2022 was 171% higher than in 2013–2017, peaking in 2025. The fastest-growing topics are Employee Performance and Management, Innovative Education and Learning Practices and Digital Accessibility for Disabilities.

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. Employee Performance and Management+4274%
  2. Innovative Education and Learning Practices+85%
  3. Digital Accessibility for Disabilities+47%
← shrinkingno changegrowing →

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

What does Human Factors and Ergonomics include?