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Subfield · Medicine

Physiology research

Physiology is a subfield of Medicine. Science Explorer counts 1.1M research works in it since 1950. 17.2% of them reached the world's top 10% most cited for their field and year.

In short: science regarding function of organisms or living systems.

Research works
1.1M
fractional, since 1950
In the world top 10%
185k
per year above
Top-10% rate
17.2%
share of its works in the world top 10%
Topics
30
Growth, 2013–17 → 2018–22
+25%
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 Physiology research about, and what is growing?

By the world's output in 2019–23, its most used keywords are Inflammation, Aging, Epidemiology, Oxidative Stress, Weight Loss, Muscle Mass. Gaining share since 2009–13: Cancer Cachexia, Sarcopenia, Muscle Mass, Medical Education, Simulation. Losing share: Oxidative Stress, Central Sensitization, Neuropathic Pain, Allergic Diseases.

▲ 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. Inflammation75k◆ 1.05×7 topics
  2. Aging35k▲ 1.42×4 topics
  3. Epidemiology28k◆ 0.94×2 topics
  4. Oxidative Stress26k▼ 0.73×4 topics
  5. Weight Loss26k▲ 1.30×2 topics
  6. Muscle Mass26k▲ 1.61×2 topics
  7. Insulin Resistance25k◆ 0.96×2 topics
  8. Exercise25k◆ 0.97×2 topics
  9. Treatment24k▼ 0.84×3 topics
  10. Neuroinflammation24k◆ 0.88×2 topics
  11. Cardiovascular Disease22k▲ 1.28×2 topics
  12. Neurological Disorders21k▲ 1.16×2 topics
  13. Cancer Cachexia20k▲ 1.78×1 topic
  14. Sarcopenia20k▲ 1.78×1 topic
  15. Ketogenic Diet20k▲ 1.17×1 topic
  16. Low-Carbohydrate Diet20k▲ 1.17×1 topic
  17. Allergic Diseases16k▼ 0.79×1 topic
  18. Asthma16k▼ 0.79×1 topic
  19. Amyloid Hypothesis14k◆ 0.97×1 topic
  20. Tau Pathology14k◆ 0.97×1 topic
  21. Brown Adipose Tissue14k▼ 0.80×1 topic
  22. Thermogenesis14k▼ 0.80×1 topic
  23. Health Benefits13k▲ 1.16×2 topics
  24. Patient Safety13k◆ 1.13×2 topics
  25. Exercise Performance12k◆ 0.93×2 topics
  26. Obstructive Sleep Apnea11k▲ 1.25×1 topic
  27. Sleep-Disordered Breathing11k▲ 1.25×1 topic
  28. Parkinson's Disease11k◆ 1.04×2 topics
  29. Physical Activity11k▲ 1.32×1 topic
  30. Sedentary Behavior11k▲ 1.32×1 topic
  31. Central Sensitization9,179▼ 0.78×1 topic
  32. Neuropathic Pain9,179▼ 0.78×1 topic
  33. Smoking Cessation8,656◆ 1.00×1 topic
  34. Tobacco Use8,656◆ 1.00×1 topic
  35. Diagnostic Criteria8,149◆ 1.01×2 topics
  36. Medical Education7,224▲ 1.52×1 topic
  37. Simulation7,224▲ 1.52×1 topic
  38. Dysphonia7,176◆ 1.12×1 topic
  39. Voice Disorders7,176◆ 1.12×1 topic
  40. Point-of-Care Testing6,789◆ 1.00×2 topics

Which countries lead Physiology research?

On research quality in 2022–2025, the United States, China and the United Kingdom rank highest in Physiology. By volume, the United States and China publish the most (42k and 26k works in 2022–2025).

By research quality, 2022–2025

  1. 1 United States · #1 all time 16.0% top 10% · 42k works
  2. 2 China · #3 all time 25.8% top 10% · 26k works
  3. 3 United Kingdom · #2 all time 19.0% top 10% · 8.3k works
  4. 4 Italy · #7 all time 24.2% top 10% · 5.6k works
  5. 5 Germany · #4 all time 17.0% top 10% · 5.7k works
  6. 6 Spain · #11 all time 18.2% top 10% · 5k works
  7. 7 Australia · #6 all time 21.9% top 10% · 4.3k works
  8. 8 Canada · #5 all time 18.1% top 10% · 4.7k works
  9. 9 India · #15 all time 9.8% top 10% · 9.1k works
  10. 10 France · #8 all time 14.3% top 10% · 4.3k 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 68 countries ranked in Physiology. Composite of field-normalised excellence (50%), output (30%) and citations (20%); the bracket is the all-time rank.

All countries ranked in Physiology

By volume, 2022–2025

  1. 1 United States 42k works
  2. 2 China 26k works
  3. 3 India 9.1k works
  4. 4 United Kingdom 8.3k works
  5. 5 Japan 8k works
  6. 6 Brazil 6.5k works
  7. 7 Germany 5.7k works
  8. 8 Italy 5.6k works
  9. 9 Spain 5k works
  10. 10 Canada 4.7k 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.

United States: 34.6%China: 21.7%India: 7.5%United Kingdom: 6.8%6 others listed: 29.3%35%largest
United States42k · 34.6%China26k · 21.7%India9,111 · 7.5%United Kingdom8,257 · 6.8%6 others listed36k · 29.3%

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

Which institutions lead Physiology research?

Harvard University (United States) ranks first in Physiology on research quality in 2022–2025, followed by Sichuan University and University College London.

By research quality, 2022–2025

  1. 1 Harvard University United States · Cambridge · #1 all time 27.0% top 10% · 603 works
  2. 2 Sichuan University China · Chengdu 29.9% top 10% · 387 works
  3. 3 University College London United Kingdom · London · #7 all time 24.0% top 10% · 380 works
  4. 4 Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & Peking Union Medical College China · Beijing 24.1% top 10% · 454 works
  5. 5 University of California, San Francisco United States · San Francisco · #2 all time 21.1% top 10% · 349 works
  6. 6 Brigham and Women's Hospital United States · Boston · #3 all time 23.4% top 10% · 301 works
  7. 7 Johns Hopkins University United States · Baltimore · #4 all time 20.5% top 10% · 408 works
  8. 8 University of Pennsylvania United States · Philadelphia · #5 all time 21.8% top 10% · 337 works
  9. 9 Washington University in St. Louis United States · St Louis · #8 all time 20.6% top 10% · 294 works
  10. 10 Shanghai Jiao Tong University China · Shanghai 28.2% top 10% · 294 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 548 institutions above the floor of 40 fractional works in Physiology.

Top 100 Physiology institutions

By volume, 2022–2025

  1. 1 University of North Carolina at Chapel HillUnited States 615 works
  2. 2 Harvard UniversityUnited States 603 works
  3. 3 Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & Peking Union Medical CollegeChina 454 works
  4. 4 Universidade de São PauloBrazil 425 works
  5. 5 Johns Hopkins UniversityUnited States 409 works
  6. 6 Sichuan UniversityChina 387 works
  7. 7 University College LondonUnited Kingdom 380 works
  8. 8 University of MichiganUnited States 378 works
  9. 9 InsermFrance 365 works
  10. 10 University of PittsburghUnited States 365 works

Who are the leading researchers in Physiology?

Among the most productive authors in Physiology, Aziz Sheikh, Giuseppe Remuzzi and Elisabete Weiderpass rank highest on the composite score.

  1. 1 Aziz Sheikh United Kingdom · #17 worldwide 5.8k citations · 274 works
  2. 2 Giuseppe Remuzzi Italy · #34 worldwide 8.1k citations · 312 works
  3. 3 Elisabete Weiderpass France · #44 worldwide 6k citations · 183 works
  4. 4 Emelia J. Benjamin United States · #54 worldwide 6k citations · 166 works
  5. 5 Mika Kivimäki United Kingdom · #69 worldwide 6.7k citations · 266 works
  6. 6 Josef Coresh United States · #72 worldwide 5.3k citations · 204 works
  7. 7 Rob Knight United States · #97 worldwide 4.9k citations · 202 works
  8. 8 Amirhossein Sahebkar Iran · #123 worldwide 5.6k citations · 243 works
  9. 9 Diego Augusto Santos Silva Brazil · #124 worldwide 3.5k citations · 139 works
  10. 10 Carol Brayne United Kingdom · #131 worldwide 3.9k citations · 167 works

Re-ranked on the composite score from the 5,742 highest-output authors in Physiology. Identities come from OpenAlex author disambiguation, which occasionally merges or splits people.

Top 100 Physiology researchers

Where is Physiology research done?

The largest centres of Physiology research in 2022–2025 are Beijing (China), London (United Kingdom), Seoul (South Korea) and Shanghai (China). Among places with at least 20 works in it, it is an unusually large share of all research in Stoneham, Ōbu and Novato.

Largest cities, 2022–2025

  1. 1 Beijing China 4k works
  2. 2 London United Kingdom 2.5k works
  3. 3 Seoul South Korea 2.2k works
  4. 4 Shanghai China 2.2k works
  5. 5 Tokyo Japan 2.1k works
  6. 6 New York United States 1.7k works
  7. 7 Guangzhou China 1.7k works
  8. 8 Paris France 1.6k works
  9. 9 Moscow Russia 1.6k works
  10. 10 São Paulo Brazil 1.5k works

Where it is the local speciality

  1. StonehamUS · 21.1 works19×
  2. ŌbuJP · 66.1 works12×
  3. NovatoUS · 29.4 works10×
← less than its size predicts1×more →

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

See Physiology on the map

Physiology research by country

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

Where is the best place to study Physiology?

Among universities, judged by research, Shanghai University of Sport, Harvard University and Karolinska Institutet 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 27.15%fractional works in this node (log) →share in the world top 10% →Shanghai University of Sport: 86, 36.8%Harvard University: 603, 27.0%Karolinska Institutet: 284, 26.6%Sichuan University: 387, 29.9%Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & Peking Union Medical College: 454, 24.1%University College London: 380, 24.0%Wroclaw Medical University: 113, 26.9%Beijing Sport University: 96, 24.3%University of Copenhagen: 236, 25.3%Monash University: 224, 26.6%Shanghai University …Sichuan UniversityHarvard UniversityKarolinska Institutet
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 Shanghai University of SportChina 62.236.8%8.3×86 +108.2%
2 Harvard UniversityUnited States 55.727.0%2.7×603 +15.6%
3 Karolinska InstitutetSweden 52.526.6%3.6×284 -5.2%
4 Sichuan UniversityChina 48.729.9%1.3×387 +58.0%
5 Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & Peking Union Medical CollegeChina 48.024.1%2.7×454 +36.1%
6 University College LondonUnited Kingdom 47.124.0%1.6×380 +16.5%
7 Wroclaw Medical UniversityPoland 45.726.9%4.4×113 +99.2%
8 Beijing Sport UniversityChina 45.724.3%7.9×96 +18.5%
9 University of CopenhagenDenmark 45.225.3%2.0×236 +23.4%
10 Monash UniversityAustralia 45.026.6%1.5×224 +39.2%

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 Physiology research growing?

Output in 2018–2022 was 25% higher than in 2013–2017, peaking in 2025. The fastest-growing topics are Simulation-Based Education in Healthcare, Dietary Effects on Health and Nutrition and Health in Aging.

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. Simulation-Based Education in Healthcare+234%
  2. Dietary Effects on Health+224%
  3. Nutrition and Health in Aging+185%
  4. Physical Activity and Health+166%
  5. Obstructive Sleep Apnea Research+126%
  6. Syphilis Diagnosis and Treatment+105%
  7. Nitric Oxide and Endothelin Effects-38%
← shrinkingno changegrowing →

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

What does Physiology include?

Diet and metabolism stud…102kDiet and metabolism studies: 102k fractional worksAsthma and respiratory d…87kAsthma and respiratory diseases: 87k fractional worksAdipose Tissue and Metabolism: 81k fractional worksNutrition and Health in Aging: 66k fractional worksNitric Oxide and Endothelin Effects: 59k fractional worksAlzheimer's disease research and treatments: 59k fractional worksPain Mechanisms and Treatments: 55k fractional worksErythrocyte Function and…48kErythrocyte Function and Pathophysiology: 48k fractional worksObstructive Sleep Apnea Research: 43k fractional worksBiochemical effects in animals: 40k fractional worksSmoking Behavior and Cessation: 37k fractional worksPhysical Activity and Health: 37k fractional works

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