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Subfield · Health Professions

Physical Therapy, Sports Therapy and Rehabilitation research

Physical Therapy, Sports Therapy and Rehabilitation is a subfield of Health Professions. Science Explorer counts 139k research works in it since 1950. 16.3% of them reached the world's top 10% most cited for their field and year.

In short: health profession that aims to address the illnesses or injuries that limit a person's abilities to function in everyday lives.

Research works
139k
fractional, since 1950
In the world top 10%
23k
per year above
Top-10% rate
16.3%
share of its works in the world top 10%
Topics
7
Growth, 2013–17 → 2018–22
+74%
the tick is no change

This ranks research output and citation impact. It says nothing about the quality of diagnosis, treatment or care.

What is Physical Therapy, Sports Therapy and Rehabilitation research about, and what is growing?

By the world's output in 2019–23, its most used keywords are Motor Learning, Sport Performance, Health Promotion, Physical Education, Fall Risk, Gait Speed. Gaining share since 2009–13: Motor Learning, Sport Performance, Motor Skills Development, Sports Science, Athletic Training. Losing share: Quality, Rehabilitation, Sport Education, Teaching Games for Understanding.

▲ 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 17 words, with their numbers
  1. Motor Learning17k▲ 4.7×1 topic
  2. Sport Performance17k▲ 4.7×1 topic
  3. Health Promotion11k▼ 0.85×2 topics
  4. Physical Education11k▼ 0.85×2 topics
  5. Fall Risk10k▼ 0.67×1 topic
  6. Gait Speed10k▼ 0.67×1 topic
  7. Athletic Training7,006▲ 1.16×2 topics
  8. Motor Skills Development6,400▲ 1.26×1 topic
  9. Sports Science6,400▲ 1.26×1 topic
  10. Sport Education4,271▼ 0.58×1 topic
  11. Teaching Games for Understanding4,271▼ 0.58×1 topic
  12. Quality2,940▼ 0.39×1 topic
  13. Rehabilitation2,940▼ 0.39×1 topic
  14. Driving Cessation2,144▼ 0.58×1 topic
  15. Mobility2,144▼ 0.58×1 topic
  16. Professional Socialization606▼ 0.65×1 topic
  17. Work-Life Balance606▼ 0.65×1 topic

Which countries lead Physical Therapy, Sports Therapy and Rehabilitation research?

On research quality in 2022–2025, China, the United States and the United Kingdom rank highest in Physical Therapy, Sports Therapy and Rehabilitation. By volume, Indonesia and the United States publish the most (12k and 3.9k works in 2022–2025).

By research quality, 2022–2025

  1. 1 China · #6 all time 24.4% top 10% · 2.2k works
  2. 2 United States · #1 all time 18.9% top 10% · 3.9k works
  3. 3 United Kingdom · #2 all time 27.9% top 10% · 863 works
  4. 4 Indonesia · #10 all time 4.9% top 10% · 12k works
  5. 5 Australia · #3 all time 31.8% top 10% · 669 works
  6. 6 Spain · #9 all time 26.1% top 10% · 800 works
  7. 7 Germany · #4 all time 9.8% top 10% · 2.3k works
  8. 8 Italy · #7 all time 29.5% top 10% · 509 works
  9. 9 Canada · #5 all time 25.2% top 10% · 702 works
  10. 10 Türkiye · #18 all time 11.6% top 10% · 964 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 30 countries ranked in Physical Therapy, Sports Therapy and Rehabilitation. Composite of field-normalised excellence (50%), output (30%) and citations (20%); the bracket is the all-time rank.

All countries ranked in Physical Therapy, Sports Therapy and Rehabilitation

By volume, 2022–2025

  1. 1 Indonesia 12k works
  2. 2 United States 3.9k works
  3. 3 Germany 2.3k works
  4. 4 China 2.2k works
  5. 5 Russia 1k works
  6. 6 Japan 1k works
  7. 7 Brazil 993 works
  8. 8 India 984 works
  9. 9 Türkiye 964 works
  10. 10 Ukraine 957 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: 45.2%United States: 15.0%Germany: 8.7%China: 8.4%6 others listed: 22.7%45%largest
Indonesia12k · 45.2%United States3,933 · 15.0%Germany2,276 · 8.7%China2,212 · 8.4%6 others listed5,955 · 22.7%

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

Which institutions lead Physical Therapy, Sports Therapy and Rehabilitation research?

Yogyakarta State University (Indonesia) ranks first in Physical Therapy, Sports Therapy and Rehabilitation on research quality in 2022–2025, followed by Indonesia University of Education and State University of Padang.

By research quality, 2022–2025

  1. 1 Yogyakarta State University Indonesia · Yogyakarta · #12 all time 11.4% top 10% · 471 works
  2. 2 Indonesia University of Education Indonesia · Bandung · #7 all time 7.5% top 10% · 508 works
  3. 3 State University of Padang Indonesia · Padang · #22 all time 11.6% top 10% · 423 works
  4. 4 State University of Semarang Indonesia · Semarang · #44 all time 6.2% top 10% · 413 works
  5. 5 State University of Makassar Indonesia · Makassar · #55 all time 7.5% top 10% · 309 works
  6. 6 Universitas Negeri Surabaya Indonesia · Surabaya · #51 all time 5.7% top 10% · 369 works
  7. 7 State University of Malang Indonesia · Malang · #37 all time 5.5% top 10% · 382 works
  8. 8 Tanjungpura University Indonesia · Pontianak · #73 all time 8.9% top 10% · 128 works
  9. 9 State University of Medan Indonesia · Medan · #63 all time 4.9% top 10% · 290 works
  10. 10 Muhammadiyah University of Surakarta Indonesia · Surakarta · #74 all time 3.9% top 10% · 271 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 49 institutions above the floor of 40 fractional works in Physical Therapy, Sports Therapy and Rehabilitation.

Top 100 Physical Therapy, Sports Therapy and Rehabilitation institutions

By volume, 2022–2025

  1. 1 Indonesia University of EducationIndonesia 508 works
  2. 2 Yogyakarta State UniversityIndonesia 471 works
  3. 3 State University of PadangIndonesia 423 works
  4. 4 State University of SemarangIndonesia 413 works
  5. 5 State University of MalangIndonesia 382 works
  6. 6 Universitas Negeri SurabayaIndonesia 369 works
  7. 7 State University of MakassarIndonesia 309 works
  8. 8 State University of MedanIndonesia 290 works
  9. 9 Universitas Muhammadiyah Tapanuli SelatanIndonesia 285 works
  10. 10 Muhammadiyah University of SurakartaIndonesia 271 works

Who are the leading researchers in Physical Therapy, Sports Therapy and Rehabilitation?

Among the most productive authors in Physical Therapy, Sports Therapy and Rehabilitation, Li Fei-Fei, Neil Pearce and Reinhard Busse rank highest on the composite score.

  1. 1 Li Fei-Fei United States · #9 worldwide 17k citations · 188 works
  2. 2 Neil Pearce United Kingdom · #220 worldwide 3.2k citations · 152 works
  3. 3 Reinhard Busse Germany · #480 worldwide 3.1k citations · 103 works
  4. 4 Sharon E. Straus Canada · #623 worldwide 6k citations · 96 works
  5. 5 John C. Morris United States · #720 worldwide 5.1k citations · 361 works
  6. 6 Lenore J. Launer United States · #898 worldwide 3k citations · 184 works
  7. 7 Donald S. Siegel United States · #1,182 worldwide 2.7k citations · 114 works
  8. 8 Ronald C. Petersen United States · #1,258 worldwide 4k citations · 306 works
  9. 9 Ester Cerin Hong Kong · #1,276 worldwide 4k citations · 85 works
  10. 10 Steve Iliffe United Kingdom · #1,469 worldwide 1.6k citations · 156 works

Re-ranked on the composite score from the 3,550 highest-output authors in Physical Therapy, Sports Therapy and Rehabilitation. Identities come from OpenAlex author disambiguation, which occasionally merges or splits people.

Top 100 Physical Therapy, Sports Therapy and Rehabilitation researchers

Where is Physical Therapy, Sports Therapy and Rehabilitation research done?

The largest centres of Physical Therapy, Sports Therapy and Rehabilitation research in 2022–2025 are Jakarta (Indonesia), Semarang (Indonesia), Bandung (Indonesia) and Yogyakarta (Indonesia). Among places with at least 20 works in it, it is an unusually large share of all research in Medan, Kediri and Cianjur.

Largest cities, 2022–2025

  1. 1 Jakarta Indonesia 994 works
  2. 2 Semarang Indonesia 952 works
  3. 3 Bandung Indonesia 856 works
  4. 4 Yogyakarta Indonesia 731 works
  5. 5 Surabaya Indonesia 650 works
  6. 6 Malang Indonesia 605 works
  7. 7 Surakarta Indonesia 560 works
  8. 8 Medan Indonesia 548 works
  9. 9 Padang Indonesia 511 works
  10. 10 Makassar Indonesia 493 works

Where it is the local speciality

  1. Medan45.5 works173×
  2. Kediri56.0 works21×
  3. CianjurID · 25.7 works19×
  4. ŌbuJP · 20.3 works18×
  5. PadangsidempuanID · 285.2 works17×
← less than its size predicts1×more →

Location quotient: how much more of its research is in Physical Therapy, Sports Therapy and Rehabilitation than the world average.

See Physical Therapy, Sports Therapy and Rehabilitation on the map

Physical Therapy, Sports Therapy and Rehabilitation research by country

The best places for Physical Therapy, Sports Therapy and Rehabilitation research inside each country, with that country's researchers and world standing.

Where is the best place to study Physical Therapy, Sports Therapy and Rehabilitation?

Among universities, judged by research, Yogyakarta State University, State University of Padang and Indonesia University of Education 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 10.64%fractional works in this node (log) →share in the world top 10% →Yogyakarta State University: 471, 11.4%State University of Padang: 423, 11.6%Indonesia University of Education: 508, 7.5%State University of Semarang: 413, 6.2%State University of Malang: 382, 5.5%Universitas Negeri Surabaya: 369, 5.7%State University of Makassar: 309, 7.5%Norwegian School of Sport Sciences: 19, 42.2%State University of Medan: 290, 4.9%Universitas Muhammadiyah Tapanuli Selatan: 285, 3.9%State University of …Yogyakarta State Uni…Indonesia University…State 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
1 Yogyakarta State UniversityIndonesia 66.411.4%21.8×471 +963.4%
2 State University of PadangIndonesia 65.511.6%10.3×423 +6790.8%
3 Indonesia University of EducationIndonesia 64.57.5%13.4×508 +1829.0%
4 State University of SemarangIndonesia 62.86.2%14.3×413 +401.1%
5 State University of MalangIndonesia 62.25.5%10.6×382 +1162.5%
6 Universitas Negeri SurabayaIndonesia 61.85.7%12.9×369 +1241.6%
7 State University of MakassarIndonesia 61.47.5%10.2×309 +2181.7%
8 Norwegian School of Sport SciencesNorway 60.942.2%26.3×19 +19.4%
9 State University of MedanIndonesia 59.64.9%10.5×290 +3031.2%
10 Universitas Muhammadiyah Tapanuli SelatanIndonesia 59.23.9%17.4×285 +3278.6%

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 Physical Therapy, Sports Therapy and Rehabilitation research growing?

Output in 2018–2022 was 74% higher than in 2013–2017, peaking in 2025. The fastest-growing topics are Sports and Physical Education Research, Physical Education and Training Studies and Balance, Gait, and Falls Prevention.

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. Sports and Physical Education Research+822%
  2. Physical Education and Training Studies+255%
  3. Balance, Gait, and Falls Prevention+152%
  4. Physical Education and Pedagogy+117%
  5. Older Adults Driving Studies+116%
  6. Athletic Training and Education+85%
← shrinkingno changegrowing →

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

What does Physical Therapy, Sports Therapy and Rehabilitation include?

Balance, Gait, and Falls…39kBalance, Gait, and Falls Prevention: 39k fractional worksSports and Physical Educ…34kSports and Physical Education Research: 34k fractional worksMedical Practices and Re…19kMedical Practices and Rehabilitation: 19k fractional worksPhysical Education and P…19kPhysical Education and Pedagogy: 19k fractional worksPhysical Education and Training Studies: 17k fractional worksOlder Adults Driving Studies: 9,090 fractional worksAthletic Training and Education: 2,447 fractional works

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