Science Explorer Interactive view Map
Subfield · Earth and Planetary Sciences

Oceanography research

Oceanography is a subfield of Earth and Planetary Sciences. Science Explorer counts 385k research works in it since 1950. 20.7% of them reached the world's top 10% most cited for their field and year.

In short: branch of Earth science that studies the ocean.

Research works
385k
fractional, since 1950
In the world top 10%
80k
per year above
Top-10% rate
20.7%
share of its works in the world top 10%
Topics
9
Growth, 2013–17 → 2018–22
+17%
the tick is no change

What is Oceanography research about, and what is growing?

By the world's output in 2019–23, its most used keywords are Climate Change, Benthic Communities, Marine Biodiversity, GRACE, Sea Level Rise, Dissolved Organic Matter. Gaining share since 2009–13: Black Sea, Holocene, GRACE, Sea Level Rise. Losing share: Deep-Sea Ecology, Ecosystem Functioning, Acoustic Techniques, Seafloor Mapping.

▲ 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 22 words, with their numbers
  1. Climate Change24k◆ 1.08×2 topics
  2. Benthic Communities16k▼ 0.85×2 topics
  3. Marine Biodiversity16k▼ 0.85×2 topics
  4. GRACE12k▲ 1.36×1 topic
  5. Sea Level Rise12k▲ 1.36×1 topic
  6. Dissolved Organic Matter12k◆ 0.89×1 topic
  7. Eutrophication12k◆ 0.89×1 topic
  8. Ocean Acidification10k◆ 0.98×2 topics
  9. Black Sea9,269▲ 1.55×1 topic
  10. Holocene9,269▲ 1.55×1 topic
  11. Ocean Circulation9,234◆ 0.92×1 topic
  12. Oceanic Modeling9,234◆ 0.92×1 topic
  13. Deep-Sea Ecology8,897▼ 0.79×1 topic
  14. Ecosystem Functioning8,897▼ 0.79×1 topic
  15. Acoustic Techniques7,336▼ 0.81×1 topic
  16. Seafloor Mapping7,336▼ 0.81×1 topic
  17. Kelp Forests7,172◆ 0.93×1 topic
  18. Seagrasses7,172◆ 0.93×1 topic
  19. Ocean Waves6,305◆ 1.00×1 topic
  20. Wind Stress6,305◆ 1.00×1 topic
  21. CO2 Emissions3,156◆ 1.14×1 topic
  22. Marine Organisms3,156◆ 1.14×1 topic

Which countries lead Oceanography research?

On research quality in 2022–2025, China, the United States and France rank highest in Oceanography. By volume, China and the United States publish the most (13k and 12k works in 2022–2025).

By research quality, 2022–2025

  1. 1 China · #2 all time 23.8% top 10% · 13k works
  2. 2 United States · #1 all time 13.4% top 10% · 12k works
  3. 3 France · #5 all time 21.1% top 10% · 2.4k works
  4. 4 Germany · #4 all time 26.5% top 10% · 1.8k works
  5. 5 United Kingdom · #3 all time 23.6% top 10% · 1.9k works
  6. 6 Australia · #6 all time 27.9% top 10% · 1.4k works
  7. 7 India · #16 all time 14.5% top 10% · 2.2k works
  8. 8 Italy · #8 all time 21.7% top 10% · 1.5k works
  9. 9 Spain · #10 all time 19.1% top 10% · 1.4k works
  10. 10 Canada · #7 all time 20.7% top 10% · 1.1k 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 43 countries ranked in Oceanography. Composite of field-normalised excellence (50%), output (30%) and citations (20%); the bracket is the all-time rank.

All countries ranked in Oceanography

By volume, 2022–2025

  1. 1 China 13k works
  2. 2 United States 12k works
  3. 3 Russia 3.5k works
  4. 4 France 2.4k works
  5. 5 India 2.2k works
  6. 6 United Kingdom 1.9k works
  7. 7 Germany 1.8k works
  8. 8 Japan 1.7k works
  9. 9 Italy 1.5k works
  10. 10 Spain 1.4k 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: 31.4%United States: 29.7%Russia: 8.4%France: 5.7%6 others listed: 24.7%31%largest
China13k · 31.4%United States12k · 29.7%Russia3,549 · 8.4%France2,409 · 5.7%6 others listed10k · 24.7%

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

Which institutions lead Oceanography research?

Chinese Academy of Sciences (China) ranks first in Oceanography on research quality in 2022–2025, followed by Wuhan University and Ocean University of China.

By research quality, 2022–2025

  1. 1 Chinese Academy of Sciences China · Beijing · #15 all time 25.5% top 10% · 581 works
  2. 2 Wuhan University China · Wuhan · #3 all time 46.2% top 10% · 195 works
  3. 3 Ocean University of China China · Qingdao · #63 all time 18.6% top 10% · 592 works
  4. 4 Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique France · Paris · #4 all time 25.4% top 10% · 327 works
  5. 5 University of Chinese Academy of Sciences China · Beijing · #49 all time 27.0% top 10% · 338 works
  6. 6 National University of Defense Technology China · Changsha · #42 all time 23.1% top 10% · 218 works
  7. 7 Ministry of Natural Resources China · Beijing 21.9% top 10% · 335 works
  8. 8 Xiamen University China · Xiamen · #96 all time 26.0% top 10% · 225 works
  9. 9 Institute of Oceanology China · Qingdao 21.7% top 10% · 246 works
  10. 10 GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel Germany · Kiel · #13 all time 32.4% top 10% · 117 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 156 institutions above the floor of 40 fractional works in Oceanography.

Top 100 Oceanography institutions

By volume, 2022–2025

  1. 1 University of California, Berkeley United States 659 works
  2. 2 Ocean University of China China 592 works
  3. 3 Chinese Academy of Sciences China 581 works
  4. 4 Purdue University West Lafayette United States 367 works
  5. 5 University of Chinese Academy of Sciences China 338 works
  6. 6 Ministry of Natural Resources China 335 works
  7. 7 Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique France 327 works
  8. 8 Institute of Oceanology. PP Shirshov Russian Academy of Sciences Russia 297 works
  9. 9 Michigan State University United States 293 works
  10. 10 Qingdao National Laboratory for Marine Science and Technology China 249 works

Who are the leading researchers in Oceanography?

Among the most productive authors in Oceanography, Eugenia Kalnay, J. E. Brau and M. Razzano rank highest on the composite score.

  1. 1 Eugenia Kalnay United States · #936 worldwide 5k citations · 95 works
  2. 2 J. E. Brau United Kingdom · #1,373 worldwide 5.6k citations · 227 works
  3. 3 M. Razzano France · #1,524 worldwide 3.1k citations · 96 works
  4. 4 Ove Hoegh‐Guldberg Australia · #1,610 worldwide 2.9k citations · 99 works
  5. 5 Frank J. Millero United States · #2,568 worldwide 2k citations · 109 works
  6. 6 Jimy Dudhia United States · #2,672 worldwide 2.3k citations · 75 works
  7. 7 Thibault Damour France · #3,194 worldwide 3.2k citations · 111 works
  8. 8 Édouard Bard France · #3,225 worldwide 1.9k citations · 114 works
  9. 9 Kevin E. Trenberth United States · #3,298 worldwide 2.3k citations · 109 works
  10. 10 S. Mitra India · #4,128 worldwide 2.4k citations · 96 works

Re-ranked on the composite score from the 5,646 highest-output authors in Oceanography. Identities come from OpenAlex author disambiguation, which occasionally merges or splits people.

Top 100 Oceanography researchers

Where is Oceanography research done?

The largest centres of Oceanography research in 2022–2025 are Beijing (China), Qingdao (China), Moscow (Russia) and Nanjing (China). Among places with at least 20 works in it, it is an unusually large share of all research in Ramonville-Saint-Agne, Warnemünde and Richland.

Largest cities, 2022–2025

  1. 1 Beijing China 3k works
  2. 2 Qingdao China 1.6k works
  3. 3 Moscow Russia 1.6k works
  4. 4 Nanjing China 852 works
  5. 5 Shanghai China 817 works
  6. 6 Paris France 803 works
  7. 7 Berkeley United States 778 works
  8. 8 Guangzhou China 738 works
  9. 9 Wuhan China 666 works
  10. 10 Xi'an China 482 works

Where it is the local speciality

  1. Ramonville-Saint-AgneFR · 43.3 works118×
  2. WarnemündeDE · 69.1 works104×
  3. RichlandUS · 169.1 works90×
  4. CastrovilleUS · 26.0 works88×
  5. Bay Saint LouisUS · 52.1 works85×
  6. Ellicott CityUS · 23.7 works84×
  7. Villefranche-sur-MerFR · 31.0 works82×
  8. ObanGB · 22.9 works79×
← less than its size predicts1×more →

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

See Oceanography on the map

Oceanography research by country

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

Where is the best place to study Oceanography?

Among universities, judged by research, Zhejiang Ocean University, Ocean University of China and King Abdullah University of Science and Technology 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 29.03%fractional works in this node (log) →share in the world top 10% →Zhejiang Ocean University: 136, 20.3%Ocean University of China: 592, 18.6%King Abdullah University of Science and Technology: 72, 31.0%Southern Cross University: 34, 36.3%Wuhan University: 195, 46.2%University of South Florida St. Petersburg: 31, 37.9%Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology: 193, 18.8%Shanghai Ocean University: 157, 24.9%University of Tasmania: 93, 29.8%Guangdong Ocean University: 111, 26.5%Southern Cross Unive…King Abdullah Univer…Zhejiang Ocean Unive…Ocean University of …
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
1Zhejiang Ocean University China 64.320.3%14.2×136 +278.0%
2Ocean University of China China 60.618.6%20.3×592 -1.7%
3King Abdullah University of Science and Technology Saudi Arabia 56.631.0%4.4×72 +231.8%
4Southern Cross University Australia 56.036.3%9.0×34 +59.1%
5Wuhan University China 55.646.2%2.8×195 +48.8%
6University of South Florida St. Petersburg United States 55.537.9%36.5×31 +9.7%
7Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology China 54.218.8%8.2×193 +76.6%
8Shanghai Ocean University China 54.224.9%12.0×157 -32.5%
9University of Tasmania Australia 53.529.8%7.6×93 +31.4%
10Guangdong Ocean University China 52.026.5%12.1×111 -40.4%

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 Oceanography research growing?

Output in 2018–2022 was 17% higher than in 2013–2017, peaking in 2023. The fastest-growing topics are Ocean Acidification Effects and Responses, Marine and environmental studies and Geophysics and Gravity Measurements.

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. Ocean Acidification Effects and Responses+128%
  2. Marine and environmental studies+121%
  3. Geophysics and Gravity Measurements+62%
  4. Ocean Waves and Remote Sensing+54%
  5. Marine and coastal plant biology+43%
  6. Marine and coastal ecosystems+38%
← shrinkingno changegrowing →

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

What does Oceanography include?

Marine and coastal ecosystems: 63k fractional worksMarine Biology and Ecology Research: 55k fractional worksGeophysics and Gravity M…54kGeophysics and Gravity Measurements: 54k fractional worksOceanographic and Atmosp…49kOceanographic and Atmospheric Processes: 49k fractional worksUnderwater Acoustics Res…44kUnderwater Acoustics Research: 44k fractional worksMarine and coastal plant…40kMarine and coastal plant biology: 40k fractional worksMarine and environmental…36kMarine and environmental studies: 36k fractional worksOcean Waves and Remote S…31kOcean Waves and Remote Sensing: 31k fractional worksOcean Acidification Effe…Ocean Acidification Effects and Responses: 13k fractional works

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