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Subfield · Engineering

Safety, Risk, Reliability and Quality research

Safety, Risk, Reliability and Quality is a subfield of Engineering. Science Explorer counts 283k research works in it since 1950. 15.9% of them reached the world's top 10% most cited for their field and year.

In short: state of being secure from harm, injury, danger, or other non-desirable outcomes.

Research works
283k
fractional, since 1950
In the world top 10%
45k
per year above
Top-10% rate
15.9%
share of its works in the world top 10%
Topics
12
Growth, 2013–17 → 2018–22
+11%
the tick is no change

What is Safety, Risk, Reliability and Quality research about, and what is growing?

By the world's output in 2019–23, its most used keywords are Finite Element Analysis, Driver Behavior, Traffic Accidents, Risk Assessment, Slope Stability Analysis, Spatial Variability. Gaining share since 2009–13: Slope Stability Analysis, Spatial Variability, Computer Vision, Fire Detection, Driver Behavior. Losing share: Neural Network, Safety Assessment, Mining Technology, Water Inrush.

▲ 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 27 words, with their numbers
  1. Finite Element Analysis14k▲ 1.76×2 topics
  2. Driver Behavior10k▲ 2.3×1 topic
  3. Traffic Accidents10k▲ 2.3×1 topic
  4. Risk Assessment10k▼ 0.52×4 topics
  5. Slope Stability Analysis9,200▲ 2.5×1 topic
  6. Spatial Variability9,200▲ 2.5×1 topic
  7. Smoke Control6,354▲ 1.90×1 topic
  8. Tunnel Fires6,354▲ 1.90×1 topic
  9. Power System5,581▼ 0.34×2 topics
  10. System Maturity5,518▲ 1.42×1 topic
  11. Technology Readiness Levels5,518▲ 1.42×1 topic
  12. Maintenance Optimization5,450▲ 1.62×1 topic
  13. Reliability Engineering5,450▲ 1.62×1 topic
  14. Computer Vision5,285▲ 2.4×1 topic
  15. Fire Detection5,285▲ 2.4×1 topic
  16. Nuclear Fuel4,563◆ 1.09×1 topic
  17. Radiation Protection4,563◆ 1.09×1 topic
  18. Reliability Evaluation4,474▲ 1.90×1 topic
  19. Wind Power4,474▲ 1.90×1 topic
  20. Mining Technology2,313▼ 0.16×1 topic
  21. Water Inrush2,313▼ 0.16×1 topic
  22. Assurance Cases1,717▲ 1.51×1 topic
  23. Safety Assurance1,717▲ 1.51×1 topic
  24. Neural Network1,107▼ 0.08×1 topic
  25. Safety Assessment1,107▼ 0.08×1 topic
  26. Occupational Health613▲ 1.85×1 topic
  27. Safety Management613▲ 1.85×1 topic

Which countries lead Safety, Risk, Reliability and Quality research?

On research quality in 2022–2025, China, the United States and India rank highest in Safety, Risk, Reliability and Quality. By volume, China and the United States publish the most (19k and 5.6k works in 2022–2025).

By research quality, 2022–2025

  1. 1 China · #2 all time 21.0% top 10% · 19k works
  2. 2 United States · #1 all time 14.9% top 10% · 5.6k works
  3. 3 India · #9 all time 12.9% top 10% · 3.9k works
  4. 4 United Kingdom · #3 all time 20.8% top 10% · 1.2k works
  5. 5 Australia · #6 all time 25.4% top 10% · 807 works
  6. 6 Germany · #5 all time 15.9% top 10% · 1.3k works
  7. 7 Canada · #4 all time 19.7% top 10% · 929 works
  8. 8 South Korea · #11 all time 16.1% top 10% · 1k works
  9. 9 Italy · #10 all time 21.8% top 10% · 787 works
  10. 10 Hong Kong · #19 all time 38.3% top 10% · 267 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 38 countries ranked in Safety, Risk, Reliability and Quality. Composite of field-normalised excellence (50%), output (30%) and citations (20%); the bracket is the all-time rank.

All countries ranked in Safety, Risk, Reliability and Quality

By volume, 2022–2025

  1. 1 China 19k works
  2. 2 United States 5.6k works
  3. 3 India 3.9k works
  4. 4 Germany 1.3k works
  5. 5 United Kingdom 1.2k works
  6. 6 Russia 1.2k works
  7. 7 Indonesia 1k works
  8. 8 Japan 1k works
  9. 9 South Korea 1k works
  10. 10 Canada 929 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: 51.8%United States: 15.7%India: 10.9%Germany: 3.7%6 others listed: 17.9%52%largest
China19k · 51.8%United States5,622 · 15.7%India3,901 · 10.9%Germany1,324 · 3.7%6 others listed6,393 · 17.9%

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

Which institutions lead Safety, Risk, Reliability and Quality research?

China University of Mining and Technology (China) ranks first in Safety, Risk, Reliability and Quality on research quality in 2022–2025, followed by Chongqing University and Xi'an University of Science and Technology.

By research quality, 2022–2025

  1. 1 China University of Mining and Technology China · Xuzhou · #1 all time 25.6% top 10% · 534 works
  2. 2 Chongqing University China · Chongqing · #4 all time 32.6% top 10% · 217 works
  3. 3 Xi'an University of Science and Technology China · Xi'an · #11 all time 30.3% top 10% · 178 works
  4. 4 Beijing Institute of Technology China · Beijing · #2 all time 37.8% top 10% · 150 works
  5. 5 Tongji University China · Shanghai · #9 all time 27.2% top 10% · 375 works
  6. 6 Tsinghua University China · Beijing · #5 all time 29.0% top 10% · 273 works
  7. 7 Central South University China · Changsha · #7 all time 28.1% top 10% · 300 works
  8. 8 Hong Kong Polytechnic University Hong Kong · Hong Kong · #17 all time 42.9% top 10% · 126 works
  9. 9 Beihang University China · Beijing · #21 all time 23.7% top 10% · 205 works
  10. 10 Southwest Jiaotong University China · Chengdu · #29 all time 29.1% top 10% · 300 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 84 institutions above the floor of 40 fractional works in Safety, Risk, Reliability and Quality.

Top 100 Safety, Risk, Reliability and Quality institutions

By volume, 2022–2025

  1. 1 China University of Mining and TechnologyChina 534 works
  2. 2 Tongji UniversityChina 375 works
  3. 3 Central South UniversityChina 300 works
  4. 4 Southwest Jiaotong UniversityChina 299 works
  5. 5 Tsinghua UniversityChina 273 works
  6. 6 Southeast UniversityChina 223 works
  7. 7 Chongqing UniversityChina 217 works
  8. 8 University of Science and Technology of ChinaChina 206 works
  9. 9 Beihang UniversityChina 205 works
  10. 10 Chang'an UniversityChina 182 works

Who are the leading researchers in Safety, Risk, Reliability and Quality?

Among the most productive authors in Safety, Risk, Reliability and Quality, Gilles Deleuze, Ted R. Miller and Paul Slovic rank highest on the composite score.

  1. 1 Gilles Deleuze France · #166 worldwide 4.6k citations · 114 works
  2. 2 Ted R. Miller United States · #233 worldwide 8.1k citations · 108 works
  3. 3 Paul Slovic United States · #421 worldwide 3.5k citations · 119 works
  4. 4 Fei Tao China · #831 worldwide 2.7k citations · 123 works
  5. 5 Andrew J. Pierre United States · #944 worldwide 951 citations · 155 works
  6. 6 Kristin Shrader‐Frechette United States · #1,546 worldwide 1.8k citations · 88 works
  7. 7 David C. Schwebel United States · #1,741 worldwide 5k citations · 78 works
  8. 8 Fausto Guzzetti Italy · #2,435 worldwide 1.7k citations · 112 works
  9. 9 Richard C. Franklin Australia · #2,973 worldwide 1.5k citations · 74 works
  10. 10 Thierry Poinsot France · #3,840 worldwide 1.6k citations · 86 works

Re-ranked on the composite score from the 4,924 highest-output authors in Safety, Risk, Reliability and Quality. Identities come from OpenAlex author disambiguation, which occasionally merges or splits people.

Top 100 Safety, Risk, Reliability and Quality researchers

Where is Safety, Risk, Reliability and Quality research done?

The largest centres of Safety, Risk, Reliability and Quality research in 2022–2025 are Beijing (China), Shanghai (China), Xi'an (China) and Nanjing (China). Among places with at least 20 works in it, it is an unusually large share of all research in Petroşani, Sanhe Shi and Idaho Falls.

Largest cities, 2022–2025

  1. 1 Beijing China 3.7k works
  2. 2 Shanghai China 1.2k works
  3. 3 Xi'an China 1.1k works
  4. 4 Nanjing China 1k works
  5. 5 Wuhan China 876 works
  6. 6 Chengdu China 783 works
  7. 7 Changsha China 612 works
  8. 8 Guangzhou China 586 works
  9. 9 Xuzhou China 552 works
  10. 10 Chongqing China 544 works

Where it is the local speciality

  1. PetroşaniRO · 41.4 works28×
  2. Sanhe ShiCN · 22.7 works15×
  3. Idaho FallsUS · 89.5 works14×
← less than its size predicts1×more →

Location quotient: how much more of its research is in Safety, Risk, Reliability and Quality than the world average.

See Safety, Risk, Reliability and Quality on the map

Safety, Risk, Reliability and Quality research by country

The best places for Safety, Risk, Reliability and Quality research inside each country, with that country's researchers and world standing.

Where is the best place to study Safety, Risk, Reliability and Quality?

Among universities, judged by research, China University of Mining and Technology, Xi'an University of Science and Technology and Southwest Jiaotong 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 29.75%fractional works in this node (log) →share in the world top 10% →China University of Mining and Technology: 534, 25.6%Xi'an University of Science and Technology: 178, 30.3%Southwest Jiaotong University: 300, 29.1%Chang'an University: 182, 25.1%Hong Kong Polytechnic University: 126, 42.9%China Academy of Safety Sciences and Technology: 34, 41.5%Tongji University: 375, 27.2%University of Central Florida: 75, 34.3%Henan Polytechnic University: 144, 19.9%Liaoning Technical University: 120, 21.6%Xi'an University of …Southwest Jiaotong U…China University of …Chang'an 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 China University of Mining and TechnologyChina 61.125.6%13.7×534 -61.7%
2 Xi'an University of Science and TechnologyChina 56.430.3%15.7×178 -61.4%
3 Southwest Jiaotong UniversityChina 54.229.1%7.9×300 -56.8%
4 Chang'an UniversityChina 54.125.1%9.8×182 -54.3%
5 Hong Kong Polytechnic UniversityHong Kong 53.342.9%3.0×126 -14.2%
6 China Academy of Safety Sciences and TechnologyChina 52.841.5%35.6×34 -52.6%
7 Tongji UniversityChina 51.327.2%6.0×375 -32.4%
8 University of Central FloridaUnited States 49.634.3%4.1×75 +117.6%
9 Henan Polytechnic UniversityChina 49.019.9%10.1×144 -79.3%
10 Liaoning Technical UniversityChina 48.521.6%13.9×120 -84.2%

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 Safety, Risk, Reliability and Quality research growing?

Output in 2018–2022 was 11% higher than in 2013–2017, peaking in 2025. The fastest-growing topics are Industrial and Mining Safety, Geotechnical Engineering and Analysis and Traffic and Road Safety.

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. Industrial and Mining Safety+245%
  2. Geotechnical Engineering and Analysis+166%
  3. Traffic and Road Safety+158%
  4. Fire dynamics and safety research+90%
  5. Safety Systems Engineering in Autonomy+84%
  6. Power System Reliability and Maintenance+81%
  7. Geoscience and Mining Technology-77%
  8. Evaluation and Optimization Models-85%
← shrinkingno changegrowing →

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

What does Safety, Risk, Reliability and Quality include?

Geoscience and Mining Te…35kGeoscience and Mining Technology: 35k fractional worksTraffic and Road Safety35kTraffic and Road Safety: 35k fractional worksEvaluation and Optimization Models: 33k fractional worksNuclear and radioactivit…32kNuclear and radioactivity studies: 32k fractional worksGeotechnical Engineering…29kGeotechnical Engineering and Analysis: 29k fractional worksFire dynamics and safety research: 25k fractional worksReliability and Maintenance Optimization: 24k fractional worksTechnology Assessment an…24kTechnology Assessment and Management: 24k fractional worksPower System Reliability and Maintenance: 17k fractional worksFire Detection and Safety Systems: 17k fractional worksSafety Systems Engineering in Autonomy: 8,165 fractional worksIndustrial and Mining Safety: 2,507 fractional works

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