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Subfield · Nursing

Research and Theory research

Research and Theory is a subfield of Nursing. Science Explorer counts 22k research works in it since 1950. 30.4% of them reached the world's top 10% most cited for their field and year.

In short: systematic study undertaken to increase knowledge.

Research works
22k
fractional, since 1950
In the world top 10%
6.6k
per year above
Top-10% rate
30.4%
share of its works in the world top 10%
Topics
1
Growth, 2013–17 → 2018–22
+40%
the tick is no change

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

Which countries lead Research and Theory research?

On research quality in 2022–2025, China, the United States and Australia rank highest in Research and Theory. By volume, the United States and China publish the most (1.3k and 490 works in 2022–2025).

By research quality, 2022–2025

  1. 1 China · #3 all time 52.2% top 10% · 490 works
  2. 2 United States · #1 all time 22.7% top 10% · 1.3k works
  3. 3 Australia · #5 all time 32.7% top 10% · 344 works
  4. 4 United Kingdom · #2 all time 28.5% top 10% · 336 works
  5. 5 Iran · #6 all time 35.0% top 10% · 238 works
  6. 6 Türkiye · #8 all time 28.0% top 10% · 231 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 6 countries ranked in Research and Theory. Composite of field-normalised excellence (50%), output (30%) and citations (20%); the bracket is the all-time rank.

All countries ranked in Research and Theory

By volume, 2022–2025

  1. 1 United States 1.3k works
  2. 2 China 490 works
  3. 3 Australia 344 works
  4. 4 United Kingdom 336 works
  5. 5 Iran 238 works
  6. 6 Türkiye 231 works
  7. 7 Canada 197 works
  8. 8 Saudi Arabia 122 works
  9. 9 South Korea 118 works
  10. 10 South Africa 117 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: 37.9%China: 13.9%Australia: 9.7%United Kingdom: 9.5%6 others listed: 29.0%38%largest
United States1,339 · 37.9%China490 · 13.9%Australia344 · 9.7%United Kingdom336 · 9.5%6 others listed1,023 · 29.0%

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

Which institutions lead Research and Theory research?

By volume in 2022–2025, Iranshahr University publishes the most Research and Theory research, followed by Apple (Israel) and La Trobe University.

By volume, 2022–2025

  1. 1 Iranshahr UniversityIran 31 works
  2. 2 Apple (Israel)Israel 21 works
  3. 3 La Trobe UniversityAustralia 20 works
  4. 4 King Saud UniversitySaudi Arabia 17 works
  5. 5 University of North Carolina at Chapel HillUnited States 16 works
  6. 6 Monash UniversityAustralia 16 works
  7. 7 University of PennsylvaniaUnited States 15 works
  8. 8 Sichuan UniversityChina 14 works
  9. 9 Griffith UniversityAustralia 14 works
  10. 10 Central South UniversityChina 14 works

Who are the leading researchers in Research and Theory?

Among the most productive authors in Research and Theory, Wilmar B. Schaufeli, Arnold B. Bakker and Reinhard Busse rank highest on the composite score.

  1. 1 Wilmar B. Schaufeli Netherlands · #130 worldwide 5.3k citations · 157 works
  2. 2 Arnold B. Bakker Netherlands · #293 worldwide 6k citations · 124 works
  3. 3 Reinhard Busse Germany · #480 worldwide 3.1k citations · 103 works
  4. 4 Jos M. G. A. Schols Netherlands · #1,054 worldwide 1.7k citations · 103 works
  5. 5 Tait D. Shanafelt United States · #4,320 worldwide 1.3k citations · 117 works
  6. 6 Sanjay Saint United States · #4,670 worldwide 977 citations · 88 works
  7. 7 Muhammad Aziz Rahman United States · #7,264 worldwide 4.1k citations · 52 works
  8. 8 Theodore J. Iwashyna United States · #9,634 worldwide 749 citations · 93 works
  9. 9 Cheryl Tatano Beck United States · #11,041 worldwide 874 citations · 51 works
  10. 10 Lotty Hooft Netherlands · #13,091 worldwide 848 citations · 53 works

Re-ranked on the composite score from the 1,326 highest-output authors in Research and Theory. Identities come from OpenAlex author disambiguation, which occasionally merges or splits people.

Top 100 Research and Theory researchers

Where is Research and Theory research done?

The largest centres of Research and Theory research in 2022–2025 are London (United Kingdom), Melbourne (Australia), Riyadh (Saudi Arabia) and Tehran (Iran). Among places with at least 20 works in it, it is an unusually large share of all research in Iranshahr and Herzliya.

Largest cities, 2022–2025

  1. 1 London United Kingdom 71 works
  2. 2 Melbourne Australia 70 works
  3. 3 Riyadh Saudi Arabia 63 works
  4. 4 Tehran Iran 61 works
  5. 5 New York United States 54 works
  6. 6 Seoul South Korea 50 works
  7. 7 Istanbul Türkiye 47 works
  8. 8 Chengdu China 45 works
  9. 9 Brisbane Australia 44 works
  10. 10 Sydney Australia 40 works

Where it is the local speciality

  1. IranshahrIR · 30.6 works67×
  2. HerzliyaIL · 21.1 works38×
← less than its size predicts1×more →

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

See Research and Theory on the map

Research and Theory research by country

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

Where is the best place to study Research and Theory?

Among universities, judged by research, Iranshahr University, Sultan Qaboos University and Edith Cowan 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 36.93%fractional works in this node (log) →share in the world top 10% →Iranshahr University: 31, 38.4%Sultan Qaboos University: 9, 45.2%Edith Cowan University: 10, 39.9%Jordan University of Science and Technology: 9, 42.0%Federation University: 9, 31.7%La Trobe University: 20, 26.5%Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences: 13, 37.2%King Saud University: 17, 41.4%Flinders University: 12, 38.7%North-West University: 14, 28.3%Sultan Qaboos Univer…Jordan University of…Edith Cowan UniversityIranshahr University
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 Iranshahr UniversityIran 76.738.4%70.2×31 +192.0%
2 Sultan Qaboos UniversityOman 66.145.2%10.2×9 +268.1%
3 Edith Cowan UniversityAustralia 64.639.9%13.6×10 +414.7%
4 Jordan University of Science and TechnologyJordan 64.242.0%10.6×9 +285.9%
5 Federation UniversityAustralia 58.531.7%27.3×9 +215.7%
6 La Trobe UniversityAustralia 57.826.5%12.3×20 +51.3%
7 Shahid Beheshti University of Medical SciencesIran 57.237.2%7.2×13 +242.1%
8 King Saud UniversitySaudi Arabia 57.141.4%3.6×17 +416.3%
9 Flinders UniversityAustralia 56.838.7%10.4×12 +48.9%
10 North-West UniversitySouth Africa 56.728.3%9.0×14 +167.6%

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 Research and Theory research growing?

Output in 2018–2022 was 40% higher than in 2013–2017, peaking in 2025. The fastest-growing topics are Nursing education and management.

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.

What does Research and Theory include?