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Subfield · Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics

Pharmaceutical Science research

Pharmaceutical Science is a subfield of Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics. Science Explorer counts 149k research works in it since 1950. 16.1% of them reached the world's top 10% most cited for their field and year.

In short: area of study concerned with drugs at every stage, from design to disposition.

Research works
149k
fractional, since 1950
In the world top 10%
24k
per year above
Top-10% rate
16.1%
share of its works in the world top 10%
Topics
5
Growth, 2013–17 → 2018–22
+13%
the tick is no change

What is Pharmaceutical Science research about, and what is growing?

By the world's output in 2019–23, its most used keywords are Chitosan, Nanoparticles, Medicinal Chemistry, Microneedles, Solid Lipid Nanoparticles, Cyclodextrins. Gaining share since 2009–13: Microneedles, Solid Lipid Nanoparticles, Chitosan, Nanoparticles. Losing share: Fluorine, Pharmaceuticals, Medicinal Chemistry.

▲ 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 11 words, with their numbers
  1. Chitosan7,886▲ 1.17×1 topic
  2. Nanoparticles7,886▲ 1.17×1 topic
  3. Medicinal Chemistry6,704▼ 0.73×2 topics
  4. Microneedles6,059▲ 1.31×1 topic
  5. Solid Lipid Nanoparticles6,059▲ 1.31×1 topic
  6. Cyclodextrins5,588◆ 0.98×1 topic
  7. Solid Dispersions5,588◆ 0.98×1 topic
  8. Fluorine4,069▼ 0.66×1 topic
  9. Pharmaceuticals4,069▼ 0.66×1 topic
  10. Deuterium2,635◆ 0.87×1 topic
  11. Drug Discovery2,635◆ 0.87×1 topic

Which countries lead Pharmaceutical Science research?

On research quality in 2022–2025, China, the United States and India rank highest in Pharmaceutical Science. By volume, India and China publish the most (4.4k and 4.3k works in 2022–2025).

By research quality, 2022–2025

  1. 1 China · #2 all time 26.5% top 10% · 4.3k works
  2. 2 United States · #1 all time 17.6% top 10% · 2.3k works
  3. 3 India · #5 all time 11.2% top 10% · 4.4k works
  4. 4 United Kingdom · #3 all time 22.5% top 10% · 603 works
  5. 5 South Korea · #10 all time 19.6% top 10% · 504 works
  6. 6 Saudi Arabia · #20 all time 27.0% top 10% · 409 works
  7. 7 Iran · #16 all time 24.0% top 10% · 562 works
  8. 8 Egypt · #21 all time 24.9% top 10% · 490 works
  9. 9 Germany · #4 all time 13.7% top 10% · 630 works
  10. 10 Italy · #9 all time 23.0% top 10% · 396 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 23 countries ranked in Pharmaceutical Science. Composite of field-normalised excellence (50%), output (30%) and citations (20%); the bracket is the all-time rank.

All countries ranked in Pharmaceutical Science

By volume, 2022–2025

  1. 1 India 4.4k works
  2. 2 China 4.3k works
  3. 3 United States 2.3k works
  4. 4 Japan 758 works
  5. 5 Russia 662 works
  6. 6 Germany 630 works
  7. 7 United Kingdom 603 works
  8. 8 Iran 562 works
  9. 9 South Korea 504 works
  10. 10 Egypt 490 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.

India: 28.9%China: 28.4%United States: 15.1%Japan: 5.0%6 others listed: 22.7%29%largest
India4,398 · 28.9%China4,330 · 28.4%United States2,296 · 15.1%Japan758 · 5.0%6 others listed3,451 · 22.7%

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

Which institutions lead Pharmaceutical Science research?

Sichuan University (China) ranks first in Pharmaceutical Science on research quality in 2022–2025, followed by Cairo University and Chinese Academy of Sciences.

By research quality, 2022–2025

  1. 1 Sichuan University China · Chengdu · #21 all time 32.7% top 10% · 73 works
  2. 2 Cairo University Egypt · Giza · #47 all time 30.4% top 10% · 64 works
  3. 3 Chinese Academy of Sciences China · Beijing · #2 all time 25.3% top 10% · 74 works
  4. 4 King Saud University Saudi Arabia · Riyadh · #83 all time 20.9% top 10% · 94 works
  5. 5 Shenyang Pharmaceutical University China · Shenyang · #33 all time 25.7% top 10% · 90 works
  6. 6 Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies India · Mumbai 15.0% top 10% · 74 works
  7. 7 Shri Vile Parle Kelavani Mandal India · Mumbai 8.4% top 10% · 75 works
  8. 8 Hindu College of Pharmacy India · Sonīpat 2.3% top 10% · 151 works
  9. 9 University of Baghdad Iraq · Baghdad 2.2% top 10% · 71 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 9 institutions above the floor of 40 fractional works in Pharmaceutical Science.

Top 100 Pharmaceutical Science institutions

By volume, 2022–2025

  1. 1 Hindu College of PharmacyIndia 151 works
  2. 2 King Saud UniversitySaudi Arabia 94 works
  3. 3 Shenyang Pharmaceutical UniversityChina 90 works
  4. 4 Shri Vile Parle Kelavani MandalIndia 75 works
  5. 5 Narsee Monjee Institute of Management StudiesIndia 74 works
  6. 6 Chinese Academy of SciencesChina 74 works
  7. 7 Sichuan UniversityChina 73 works
  8. 8 University of BaghdadIraq 71 works
  9. 9 Cairo UniversityEgypt 64 works
  10. 10 University of SzegedHungary 59 works

Who are the leading researchers in Pharmaceutical Science?

Among the most productive authors in Pharmaceutical Science, Donald G. Truhlar, Sidney Udenfriend and Michael J. S. Dewar rank highest on the composite score.

  1. 1 Donald G. Truhlar United States · #255 worldwide 8.4k citations · 315 works
  2. 2 Sidney Udenfriend United States · #957 worldwide 2.3k citations · 119 works
  3. 3 Michael J. S. Dewar United States · #993 worldwide 4.3k citations · 217 works
  4. 4 Zhuang Liu China · #1,007 worldwide 3.6k citations · 182 works
  5. 5 David W. C. MacMillan United States · #1,296 worldwide 3.5k citations · 98 works
  6. 6 George M. Whitesides United States · #1,739 worldwide 4.8k citations · 265 works
  7. 7 Róbert Langer United States · #1,884 worldwide 4.2k citations · 244 works
  8. 8 Judith A. K. Howard United Kingdom · #2,575 worldwide 5.5k citations · 294 works
  9. 9 G. Wilkinson United States · #3,356 worldwide 1.7k citations · 123 works
  10. 10 Bengt Samuelsson Sweden · #3,576 worldwide 1.7k citations · 98 works

Re-ranked on the composite score from the 3,889 highest-output authors in Pharmaceutical Science. Identities come from OpenAlex author disambiguation, which occasionally merges or splits people.

Top 100 Pharmaceutical Science researchers

Where is Pharmaceutical Science research done?

The largest centres of Pharmaceutical Science research in 2022–2025 are Beijing (China), Shanghai (China), Mumbai (India) and Moscow (Russia). Among places with at least 20 works in it, it is an unusually large share of all research in Moga, Alwar and Ahilyanagar.

Largest cities, 2022–2025

  1. 1 Beijing China 518 works
  2. 2 Shanghai China 410 works
  3. 3 Mumbai India 290 works
  4. 4 Moscow Russia 279 works
  5. 5 Nanjing China 263 works
  6. 6 Hangzhou China 231 works
  7. 7 Guangzhou China 231 works
  8. 8 Seoul South Korea 218 works
  9. 9 Tehran Iran 209 works
  10. 10 Tokyo Japan 200 works

Where it is the local speciality

  1. MogaIN · 33.9 works39×
  2. AlwarIN · 21.2 works37×
  3. AhilyanagarIN · 35.4 works29×
  4. RaebareliIN · 28.2 works23×
  5. BrahmapurIN · 32.7 works19×
  6. SonīpatIN · 157.7 works18×
← less than its size predicts1×more →

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

See Pharmaceutical Science on the map

Pharmaceutical Science research by country

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

Where is the best place to study Pharmaceutical Science?

Among universities, judged by research, Queen's University Belfast, Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies and Jouf 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%20%40%mean 27.66%fractional works in this node (log) →share in the world top 10% →Queen's University Belfast: 56, 42.7%Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies: 74, 15.0%Jouf University: 17, 38.3%University of Sargodha: 23, 19.8%Shenyang Pharmaceutical University: 90, 25.7%Quaid-i-Azam University: 27, 21.6%Misr University for Science and Technology: 14, 23.7%Jamia Hamdard: 44, 30.6%National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research: 13, 31.7%Integral University: 20, 27.5%Queen's University B…Jouf UniversityUniversity of SargodhaNarsee Monjee Instit…
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 Queen's University BelfastUnited Kingdom 67.042.7%8.1×56 +46.9%
2 Narsee Monjee Institute of Management StudiesIndia 61.615.0%27.8×74 +169.2%
3 Jouf UniversitySaudi Arabia 61.538.3%5.8×17 +278.0%
4 University of SargodhaPakistan 60.319.8%9.3×23 +316.8%
5 Shenyang Pharmaceutical UniversityChina 59.425.7%31.6×90 +14.0%
6 Quaid-i-Azam UniversityPakistan 58.621.6%7.9×27 +411.8%
7 Misr University for Science and TechnologyEgypt 57.723.7%16.4×14 +255.5%
8 Jamia HamdardIndia 57.530.6%21.8×44 -11.8%
9 National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and ResearchIndia 55.331.7%28.6×13 +125.2%
10 Integral UniversityIndia 55.227.5%12.5×20 +95.8%

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 Pharmaceutical Science research growing?

Output in 2018–2022 was 13% higher than in 2013–2017, peaking in 2025. The fastest-growing topics are Advanced Drug Delivery Systems, Advancements in Transdermal Drug Delivery and Drug Solubulity and Delivery Systems.

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. Advanced Drug Delivery Systems+110%
  2. Advancements in Transdermal Drug Delivery+96%
  3. Drug Solubulity and Delivery Systems+82%
  4. Chemical Reactions and Isotopes+29%
  5. Fluorine in Organic Chemistry+12%
← shrinkingno changegrowing →

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

What does Pharmaceutical Science include?

Fluorine in Organic Chem…41kFluorine in Organic Chemistry: 41k fractional worksAdvanced Drug Delivery S…31kAdvanced Drug Delivery Systems: 31k fractional worksChemical Reactions and Isotopes: 27k fractional worksDrug Solubulity and Delivery Systems: 26k fractional worksAdvancements in Transdermal Drug Delivery: 25k fractional works

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