Science Explorer Interactive view Map
Subfield · Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics

Pharmacology research

Pharmacology is a subfield of Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics. Science Explorer counts 249k research works in it since 1950. 16.8% of them reached the world's top 10% most cited for their field and year.

In short: branch of biology concerning drugs.

Research works
249k
fractional, since 1950
In the world top 10%
42k
per year above
Top-10% rate
16.8%
share of its works in the world top 10%
Topics
15
Growth, 2013–17 → 2018–22
+11%
the tick is no change

What is Pharmacology research about, and what is growing?

By the world's output in 2019–23, its most used keywords are Antioxidant, Bioactive Compounds, Pharmacology, Hepatoprotective, Cancer, Inflammation. Gaining share since 2009–13: Hibiscus Sabdariffa, phytochemical, hypoglycemic, Psidium guajava, Antimicrobial. Losing share: Flavonoids, Icariin, Metabolism, Pharmacological Effects.

▲ 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. Antioxidant22k▲ 1.32×7 topics
  2. Bioactive Compounds16k▲ 1.22×4 topics
  3. Pharmacology16k▲ 1.18×4 topics
  4. Hepatoprotective13k◆ 1.09×3 topics
  5. Cancer13k◆ 1.05×2 topics
  6. Inflammation11k◆ 0.99×2 topics
  7. Glycyrrhizin9,158◆ 0.90×1 topic
  8. Licorice9,158◆ 0.90×1 topic
  9. Pharmacokinetics8,508▼ 0.75×2 topics
  10. Anti-inflammatory8,081▲ 2.0×3 topics
  11. Drug-Induced Liver Injury7,831▲ 1.64×1 topic
  12. Hepatotoxicity7,831▲ 1.64×1 topic
  13. Phytochemistry7,826◆ 1.07×3 topics
  14. Cytochrome P4505,376▼ 0.85×1 topic
  15. Pharmacogenetics5,376▼ 0.85×1 topic
  16. Metabolism5,375▼ 0.47×3 topics
  17. Pharmacological4,990▲ 2.1×2 topics
  18. Total Synthesis4,723▲ 1.47×2 topics
  19. Antimicrobial4,110▲ 2.3×2 topics
  20. Pharmacological Effects3,510▼ 0.47×2 topics
  21. Ginger3,386▲ 1.96×1 topic
  22. Zingiber officinale3,386▲ 1.96×1 topic
  23. Aconitum Alkaloids3,131▼ 0.62×1 topic
  24. Traditional Chinese Medicine3,131▼ 0.62×1 topic
  25. Clinical Pharmacy2,573▼ 0.63×1 topic
  26. Pharmaceutical Care2,573▼ 0.63×1 topic
  27. Conflict of Interest2,522◆ 0.88×1 topic
  28. Pharmaceutical Industry2,522◆ 0.88×1 topic
  29. Lignans2,456▲ 1.89×1 topic
  30. Phyllanthus2,456▲ 1.89×1 topic
  31. Alkaloids2,266▲ 1.19×1 topic
  32. Kratom2,266▲ 1.19×1 topic
  33. Psidium guajava2,239▲ 2.5×1 topic
  34. hypoglycemic2,239▲ 2.5×1 topic
  35. Anticancer1,871▲ 2.1×1 topic
  36. Piperine1,871▲ 2.1×1 topic
  37. Hibiscus Sabdariffa1,604▲ 2.5×1 topic
  38. phytochemical1,604▲ 2.5×1 topic
  39. Flavonoids1,244▼ 0.22×1 topic
  40. Icariin1,244▼ 0.22×1 topic

Which countries lead Pharmacology research?

On research quality in 2022–2025, China, the United States and India rank highest in Pharmacology. By volume, China and India publish the most (8.8k and 5.1k works in 2022–2025).

By research quality, 2022–2025

  1. 1 China · #2 all time 25.2% top 10% · 8.8k works
  2. 2 United States · #1 all time 15.2% top 10% · 4.5k works
  3. 3 India · #5 all time 11.2% top 10% · 5.1k works
  4. 4 United Kingdom · #3 all time 19.1% top 10% · 729 works
  5. 5 Egypt · #18 all time 18.4% top 10% · 972 works
  6. 6 Iran · #15 all time 16.1% top 10% · 827 works
  7. 7 Poland · #21 all time 24.2% top 10% · 309 works
  8. 8 Italy · #11 all time 24.3% top 10% · 465 works
  9. 9 Germany · #4 all time 16.1% top 10% · 630 works
  10. 10 Saudi Arabia · #20 all time 25.3% top 10% · 589 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 32 countries ranked in Pharmacology. Composite of field-normalised excellence (50%), output (30%) and citations (20%); the bracket is the all-time rank.

All countries ranked in Pharmacology

By volume, 2022–2025

  1. 1 China 8.8k works
  2. 2 India 5.1k works
  3. 3 United States 4.5k works
  4. 4 Indonesia 1.7k works
  5. 5 Japan 1.5k works
  6. 6 Nigeria 1.1k works
  7. 7 Egypt 972 works
  8. 8 South Korea 961 works
  9. 9 Brazil 891 works
  10. 10 Iran 827 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: 33.5%India: 19.2%United States: 17.1%Indonesia: 6.6%6 others listed: 23.6%33%largest
China8,825 · 33.5%India5,060 · 19.2%United States4,521 · 17.1%Indonesia1,748 · 6.6%6 others listed6,226 · 23.6%

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

Which institutions lead Pharmacology research?

Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine (China) ranks first in Pharmacology on research quality in 2022–2025, followed by Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & Peking Union Medical College and Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine.

By research quality, 2022–2025

  1. 1 Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine China · Chengdu · #16 all time 39.4% top 10% · 143 works
  2. 2 Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & Peking Union Medical College China · Beijing · #20 all time 21.1% top 10% · 184 works
  3. 3 Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine China · Nanjing · #58 all time 23.9% top 10% · 126 works
  4. 4 Shandong University of Traditional Chinese Medicine China · Jinan 31.5% top 10% · 72 works
  5. 5 Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine China · Shanghai · #44 all time 22.5% top 10% · 103 works
  6. 6 Beijing University of Chinese Medicine China · Beijing · #37 all time 22.0% top 10% · 142 works
  7. 7 Saveetha University India · Chennai 22.9% top 10% · 82 works
  8. 8 Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine China · Guangzhou · #98 all time 27.1% top 10% · 84 works
  9. 9 China Pharmaceutical University China · Nanjing · #28 all time 28.1% top 10% · 90 works
  10. 10 King Saud University Saudi Arabia · Riyadh · #62 all time 28.5% 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 29 institutions above the floor of 40 fractional works in Pharmacology.

Top 100 Pharmacology institutions

By volume, 2022–2025

  1. 1 Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & Peking Union Medical CollegeChina 184 works
  2. 2 Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese MedicineChina 143 works
  3. 3 Beijing University of Chinese MedicineChina 143 works
  4. 4 Nanjing University of Chinese MedicineChina 126 works
  5. 5 King Saud UniversitySaudi Arabia 117 works
  6. 6 Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese MedicineChina 103 works
  7. 7 China Pharmaceutical UniversityChina 90 works
  8. 8 Shenyang Pharmaceutical UniversityChina 89 works
  9. 9 Chinese Academy of SciencesChina 88 works
  10. 10 Cairo UniversityEgypt 87 works

Who are the leading researchers in Pharmacology?

Among the most productive authors in Pharmacology, David Moher, Maciej Banach and Alberto Ortíz rank highest on the composite score.

  1. 1 David Moher Canada · #1 worldwide 38k citations · 235 works
  2. 2 Maciej Banach Poland · #49 worldwide 5.2k citations · 199 works
  3. 3 Alberto Ortíz Spain · #52 worldwide 5.9k citations · 191 works
  4. 4 Félix Carvalho Portugal · #172 worldwide 4.6k citations · 125 works
  5. 5 Peter Brooks Australia · #319 worldwide 2.2k citations · 187 works
  6. 6 Yuming Guo Australia · #599 worldwide 3.8k citations · 150 works
  7. 7 David Löwenthal United States · #1,064 worldwide 1.1k citations · 111 works
  8. 8 Salvador Moncada United Kingdom · #1,243 worldwide 2.3k citations · 129 works
  9. 9 Harry Sokol France · #1,652 worldwide 1.7k citations · 97 works
  10. 10 Arun J. Sanyal United States · #2,102 worldwide 1.9k citations · 195 works

Re-ranked on the composite score from the 4,594 highest-output authors in Pharmacology. Identities come from OpenAlex author disambiguation, which occasionally merges or splits people.

Top 100 Pharmacology researchers

Where is Pharmacology research done?

The largest centres of Pharmacology research in 2022–2025 are Beijing (China), Shanghai (China), Guangzhou (China) and Tokyo (Japan). Among places with at least 20 works in it, it is an unusually large share of all research in Hassan, Amloh and Malappuram.

Largest cities, 2022–2025

  1. 1 Beijing China 1.2k works
  2. 2 Shanghai China 532 works
  3. 3 Guangzhou China 530 works
  4. 4 Tokyo Japan 427 works
  5. 5 Nanjing China 399 works
  6. 6 Chengdu China 366 works
  7. 7 Seoul South Korea 358 works
  8. 8 Hangzhou China 323 works
  9. 9 New Delhi India 319 works
  10. 10 Chennai India 303 works

Where it is the local speciality

  1. HassanIN · 31.3 works30×
  2. AmlohIN · 71.9 works23×
  3. MalappuramIN · 81.4 works16×
  4. JamnagarIN · 21.0 works15×
  5. NadiādIN · 21.0 works12×
  6. NandedIN · 54.8 works11×
← less than its size predicts1×more →

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

See Pharmacology on the map

Pharmacology research by country

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

Where is the best place to study Pharmacology?

Among universities, judged by research, Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Danylo Halytsky Lviv National Medical University and Beijing University of Chinese Medicine 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 27.4%fractional works in this node (log) →share in the world top 10% →Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine: 143, 39.4%Danylo Halytsky Lviv National Medical University: 24, 32.3%Beijing University of Chinese Medicine: 142, 22.0%China Pharmaceutical University: 90, 28.1%Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine: 126, 23.9%Shandong University of Traditional Chinese Medicine: 72, 31.5%Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine: 84, 27.1%Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine: 103, 22.5%Zunyi Medical University: 54, 28.4%Guiyang Medical University: 47, 18.8%Chengdu University o…Danylo Halytsky Lviv…China Pharmaceutical…Beijing University o…
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 Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese MedicineChina 68.039.4%17.2×143 -49.2%
2 Danylo Halytsky Lviv National Medical UniversityUkraine 62.332.3%9.1×24 +315.9%
3 Beijing University of Chinese MedicineChina 58.122.0%21.7×142 -38.0%
4 China Pharmaceutical UniversityChina 57.628.1%11.1×90 -48.3%
5 Nanjing University of Chinese MedicineChina 57.523.9%13.4×126 -49.6%
6 Shandong University of Traditional Chinese MedicineChina 57.531.5%15.4×72 -79.8%
7 Guangzhou University of Chinese MedicineChina 56.427.1%12.0×84 -64.8%
8 Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese MedicineChina 55.022.5%14.1×103 -54.8%
9 Zunyi Medical UniversityChina 54.228.4%9.3×54 -7.2%
10 Guiyang Medical UniversityChina 54.018.8%9.4×47 +99.1%

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 Pharmacology research growing?

Output in 2018–2022 was 11% higher than in 2013–2017, peaking in 2025. The fastest-growing topics are Medical and Pharmaceutic Studies, Hibiscus Plant Research Studies and Psidium guajava Extracts and Applications.

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. Medical and Pharmaceutic Studies+421%
  2. Hibiscus Plant Research Studies+299%
  3. Psidium guajava Extracts and Applications+262%
  4. Ginger and Zingiberaceae research+165%
  5. Piperaceae Chemical and Biological Studies+145%
  6. Phytochemistry and Bioactivity Studies+129%
  7. Plant-based Medicinal Research-11%
  8. Medicinal Plant Pharmacodynamics Research-55%
← shrinkingno changegrowing →

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

What does Pharmacology include?

Pharmacological Effects of Natural Compounds: 46k fractional worksPharmacogenetics and Drug Metabolism: 44k fractional worksDrug-Induced Hepatotoxicity and Protection: 36k fractional worksPlant-based Medicinal Research: 23k fractional worksPharmacy and Medical Practices: 18k fractional worksPharmaceutical industry and healthcare: 15k fractional worksMedicinal Plant Pharmacodynamics Research: 13k fractional worksAlkaloids: synthesis and pharmacology: 12k fractional worksGinger and Zingiberaceae research: 11k fractional worksPhytochemistry and Bioactivity Studies: 8,204 fractional worksPsidium guajava Extracts and Applications: 6,649 fractional worksPiperaceae Chemical and Biological Studies: 6,319 fractional works

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