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Subfield · Agricultural and Biological Sciences

Plant Science research

Plant Science is a subfield of Agricultural and Biological Sciences. Science Explorer counts 1.9M research works in it since 1950. 23.8% of them reached the world's top 10% most cited for their field and year.

In short: science of plant life.

Research works
1.9M
fractional, since 1950
In the world top 10%
457k
per year above
Top-10% rate
23.8%
share of its works in the world top 10%
Topics
90
Growth, 2013–17 → 2018–22
+36%
the tick is no change

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

By the world's output in 2019–23, its most used keywords are Climate Change, Medicinal Plants, Drought Tolerance, Genetic Diversity, Genetics, Gene Expression. Gaining share since 2009–13: Deep Learning, Plant Disease Detection, Bioactive Compounds, Antioxidant Activity, Herbal Medicine. Losing share: Climate Change, Antioxidant, Epigenetic Regulation, Small RNAs.

▲ 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. Climate Change38k▼ 0.74×7 topics
  2. Medicinal Plants36k▲ 1.16×7 topics
  3. Drought Tolerance33k◆ 1.06×8 topics
  4. Genetic Diversity30k◆ 0.87×7 topics
  5. Genetics28k◆ 1.10×4 topics
  6. Gene Expression26k◆ 0.96×3 topics
  7. Plant Immunity24k◆ 1.14×2 topics
  8. Antioxidant23k▼ 0.74×8 topics
  9. Drought Resistance23k◆ 1.10×3 topics
  10. Bioactive Compounds22k▲ 2.7×3 topics
  11. Genome Sequencing21k◆ 0.92×6 topics
  12. QTL Mapping20k◆ 0.95×4 topics
  13. Antioxidant Activity20k▲ 2.4×4 topics
  14. Genetic Regulation20k◆ 0.93×3 topics
  15. Breeding20k▲ 1.24×5 topics
  16. Herbal Medicine19k▲ 2.1×3 topics
  17. Plant Responses19k◆ 0.98×2 topics
  18. Nutritional Quality19k▲ 1.94×4 topics
  19. Host Recognition18k◆ 0.99×2 topics
  20. Mycorrhizal Fungi18k◆ 0.99×2 topics
  21. Transcriptome Analysis17k▼ 0.85×3 topics
  22. Reactive Oxygen Species17k◆ 1.02×2 topics
  23. Epigenetic Regulation17k▼ 0.78×2 topics
  24. Root Exudates17k◆ 1.10×2 topics
  25. Phytochemistry17k◆ 0.96×3 topics
  26. Oxidative Stress17k◆ 1.07×3 topics
  27. Signal Transduction17k◆ 1.03×2 topics
  28. Abiotic Stress17k▲ 1.22×2 topics
  29. Food Safety16k◆ 0.94×4 topics
  30. Plant Growth16k◆ 0.93×4 topics
  31. Plant Hormones16k◆ 0.97×2 topics
  32. Small RNAs16k▼ 0.79×2 topics
  33. Food Security16k▲ 1.17×3 topics
  34. Metabolism15k◆ 0.89×3 topics
  35. Deep Learning15k▲ 5.8×1 topic
  36. Plant Disease Detection15k▲ 5.8×1 topic
  37. Transcription Factors15k◆ 0.91×2 topics
  38. Phytochemical Analysis15k▲ 2.0×2 topics
  39. Yield Potential14k◆ 1.07×2 topics
  40. Plant Nutrition14k◆ 0.99×2 topics

Which countries lead Plant Science research?

On research quality in 2022–2025, China, India and the United States rank highest in Plant Science. By volume, China and India publish the most (75k and 54k works in 2022–2025).

By research quality, 2022–2025

  1. 1 China · #2 all time 40.0% top 10% · 75k works
  2. 2 India · #5 all time 17.3% top 10% · 54k works
  3. 3 United States · #1 all time 24.4% top 10% · 29k works
  4. 4 United Kingdom · #3 all time 31.7% top 10% · 5.4k works
  5. 5 Germany · #4 all time 32.5% top 10% · 6.3k works
  6. 6 Pakistan · #16 all time 25.1% top 10% · 6.2k works
  7. 7 Italy · #12 all time 33.7% top 10% · 6.9k works
  8. 8 Australia · #7 all time 35.5% top 10% · 4.3k works
  9. 9 Spain · #10 all time 30.8% top 10% · 6.4k works
  10. 10 France · #6 all time 23.4% top 10% · 6.7k 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 92 countries ranked in Plant Science. Composite of field-normalised excellence (50%), output (30%) and citations (20%); the bracket is the all-time rank.

All countries ranked in Plant Science

By volume, 2022–2025

  1. 1 China 75k works
  2. 2 India 54k works
  3. 3 United States 29k works
  4. 4 Indonesia 21k works
  5. 5 Brazil 19k works
  6. 6 Türkiye 8.5k works
  7. 7 Russia 8.2k works
  8. 8 Egypt 7k works
  9. 9 Italy 6.9k works
  10. 10 Japan 6.9k 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: 31.8%India: 23.0%United States: 12.5%Indonesia: 9.1%6 others listed: 23.7%32%largest
China75k · 31.8%India54k · 23.0%United States29k · 12.5%Indonesia21k · 9.1%6 others listed56k · 23.7%

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

Which institutions lead Plant Science research?

China Agricultural University (China) ranks first in Plant Science on research quality in 2022–2025, followed by Chinese Academy of Sciences and Nanjing Agricultural University.

By research quality, 2022–2025

  1. 1 China Agricultural University China · Beijing · #6 all time 51.7% top 10% · 1.6k works
  2. 2 Chinese Academy of Sciences China · Beijing · #5 all time 43.6% top 10% · 1.4k works
  3. 3 Nanjing Agricultural University China · Nanjing · #11 all time 48.0% top 10% · 1.5k works
  4. 4 Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs China · Beijing · #62 all time 48.1% top 10% · 1.6k works
  5. 5 Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences China · Beijing · #15 all time 46.3% top 10% · 1.4k works
  6. 6 Northwest A&F University China · Yangling · #23 all time 52.7% top 10% · 1.4k works
  7. 7 Huazhong Agricultural University China · Wuhan · #12 all time 49.7% top 10% · 1.1k works
  8. 8 Zhejiang University China · Hangzhou · #25 all time 51.4% top 10% · 789 works
  9. 9 University of Chinese Academy of Sciences China · Beijing · #39 all time 47.3% top 10% · 692 works
  10. 10 South China Agricultural University China · Guangzhou · #77 all time 44.4% top 10% · 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 1,395 institutions above the floor of 40 fractional works in Plant Science.

Top 100 Plant Science institutions

By volume, 2022–2025

  1. 1 Tamil Nadu Agricultural UniversityIndia 1.7k works
  2. 2 China Agricultural UniversityChina 1.6k works
  3. 3 Ministry of Agriculture and Rural AffairsChina 1.6k works
  4. 4 Nanjing Agricultural UniversityChina 1.5k works
  5. 5 Chinese Academy of Agricultural SciencesChina 1.4k works
  6. 6 Northwest A&F UniversityChina 1.4k works
  7. 7 Chinese Academy of SciencesChina 1.4k works
  8. 8 Agricultural Research CenterEgypt 1.2k works
  9. 9 Punjab Agricultural UniversityIndia 1.1k works
  10. 10 Indian Agricultural Research InstituteIndia 1.1k works

Who are the leading researchers in Plant Science?

Among the most productive authors in Plant Science, Peter B. Reich, B. L. Turner and Marc Stadler rank highest on the composite score.

  1. 1 Peter B. Reich United States · #1,283 worldwide 4.1k citations · 157 works
  2. 2 B. L. Turner United States · #2,627 worldwide 2.1k citations · 206 works
  3. 3 Marc Stadler Germany · #2,966 worldwide 1.8k citations · 110 works
  4. 4 Rudolf Schmid United States · #3,287 worldwide 1.9k citations · 216 works
  5. 5 Wim H. van der Putten Netherlands · #3,512 worldwide 1.5k citations · 116 works
  6. 6 Bernard R. Glick Canada · #3,662 worldwide 1.7k citations · 76 works
  7. 7 Stephen P. Long United States · #4,377 worldwide 1.8k citations · 82 works
  8. 8 Eric H. C. McKenzie New Zealand · #4,466 worldwide 1.7k citations · 84 works
  9. 9 Kazuko Yamaguchi‐Shinozaki Japan · #5,031 worldwide 1.6k citations · 67 works
  10. 10 Arthur Cronquist United States · #5,210 worldwide 792 citations · 75 works

Re-ranked on the composite score from the 5,588 highest-output authors in Plant Science. Identities come from OpenAlex author disambiguation, which occasionally merges or splits people.

Top 100 Plant Science researchers

Where is Plant Science research done?

The largest centres of Plant Science research in 2022–2025 are Beijing (China), New Delhi (India), Nanjing (China) and Guangzhou (China). Among places with at least 20 works in it, it is an unusually large share of all research in Bikaner, Khed and Xingcheng.

Largest cities, 2022–2025

  1. 1 Beijing China 14k works
  2. 2 New Delhi India 4.1k works
  3. 3 Nanjing China 4k works
  4. 4 Guangzhou China 3.1k works
  5. 5 Coimbatore India 2.8k works
  6. 6 Giza Egypt 2.6k works
  7. 7 Moscow Russia 2.5k works
  8. 8 Hangzhou China 2.5k works
  9. 9 São Paulo Brazil 2.4k works
  10. 10 Wuhan China 2.4k works

Where it is the local speciality

  1. Bikaner21.2 works31×
  2. KhedIN · 48.9 works31×
  3. XingchengCN · 147.3 works29×
  4. BłoniePL · 95.5 works29×
  5. MauIN · 45.0 works29×
← less than its size predicts1×more →

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

See Plant Science on the map

Plant Science research by country

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

Where is the best place to study Plant Science?

Among universities, judged by research, Northwest A&F University, Nanjing Agricultural University and China Agricultural 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%60%mean 46.99%fractional works in this node (log) →share in the world top 10% →Northwest A&F University: 1,381, 52.7%Nanjing Agricultural University: 1,545, 48.0%China Agricultural University: 1,640, 51.7%Huazhong Agricultural University: 1,082, 49.7%Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University: 856, 43.4%Sichuan Agricultural University: 926, 42.6%Shandong Agricultural University: 881, 43.7%Gansu Agricultural University: 789, 47.7%Anhui Agricultural University: 591, 44.9%Henan Agricultural University: 637, 45.5%Northwest A&F Univer…China Agricultural U…Huazhong Agricultura…Nanjing Agricultural…
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 Northwest A&F UniversityChina 77.152.7%9.8×1,381 +16.3%
2 Nanjing Agricultural UniversityChina 74.748.0%11.1×1,545 -4.2%
3 China Agricultural UniversityChina 72.351.7%8.2×1,640 -10.6%
4 Huazhong Agricultural UniversityChina 70.749.7%9.0×1,082 +4.0%
5 Fujian Agriculture and Forestry UniversityChina 68.943.4%10.2×856 +25.2%
6 Sichuan Agricultural UniversityChina 66.142.6%9.2×926 +17.2%
7 Shandong Agricultural UniversityChina 66.143.7%13.8×881 -18.4%
8 Gansu Agricultural UniversityChina 65.647.7%14.9×789 -45.7%
9 Anhui Agricultural UniversityChina 64.044.9%9.6×591 +10.7%
10 Henan Agricultural UniversityChina 63.845.5%10.8×637 -31.2%

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 Plant Science research growing?

Output in 2018–2022 was 36% higher than in 2013–2017, peaking in 2025. The fastest-growing topics are Smart Agriculture and AI, Growth and nutrition in plants and Plant-Microbe Interactions and Immunity.

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. Smart Agriculture and AI+473%
  2. Growth and nutrition in plants+132%
  3. Plant-Microbe Interactions and Immunity+107%
  4. Rice Cultivation and Yield Improvement+99%
  5. Plant Stress Responses and Tolerance+84%
  6. Insect Pest Control Strategies+83%
← shrinkingno changegrowing →

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

What does Plant Science include?

Botany and Plant Ecology Studies: 51k fractional worksPlant Virus Research Studies: 50k fractional worksPlant Physiology and Cul…50kPlant Physiology and Cultivation Studies: 50k fractional worksPlant-Microbe Interactions and Immunity: 49k fractional worksPlant Molecular Biology Research: 49k fractional worksPlant Stress Responses a…48kPlant Stress Responses and Tolerance: 48k fractional worksLegume Nitrogen Fixing Symbiosis: 48k fractional worksInsect Pest Control Strategies: 45k fractional worksPhytochemistry and Biolo…42kPhytochemistry and Biological Activities: 42k fractional worksMycorrhizal Fungi and Plant Interactions: 42k fractional worksPlant nutrient uptake and metabolism: 41k fractional worksHorticultural and Viticu…41kHorticultural and Viticultural Research: 41k fractional works

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