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Subfield · Health Professions

Speech and Hearing research

Speech and Hearing is a subfield of Health Professions. Science Explorer counts 189k research works in it since 1950. 10.2% of them reached the world's top 10% most cited for their field and year.

In short: interdisciplinary field focused on the study of speech, language, and hearing processes and disorders, encompassing assessment, diagnosis, and treatment of communication and auditory impairments.

Research works
189k
fractional, since 1950
In the world top 10%
19k
per year above
Top-10% rate
10.2%
share of its works in the world top 10%
Topics
10
Growth, 2018-21 → 2022-25
+16%
the tick is no change
Largest producer
United States
30% of the 10 largest, 2022-now
Speech and Hearing

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

What is Speech and Hearing research about, and what is growing?

By the world's output in 2021-25, its most used keywords are Health Effects, Noise Pollution, Quality of Life, Dysphagia, Swallowing, Adolescents. Gaining share since 2011-15: Problem Solving, Social Skills, Communication Skills, Mental Health, Digital Storytelling. Losing share: Health Promoting Schools, School Health Promotion, Elderly Care, Social Support.

▲ gaining share of this field◆ holding its share▼ losing share

Size is the world's fractional works in 2021-25 in the topics tagged with each word; colour compares the word's share of this field with 2011-15. Each links to the topic it comes from most.

All 23 words, with their numbers
  1. Health Effects13k◆ 1.06×1 topic
  2. Noise Pollution13k◆ 1.06×1 topic
  3. Quality of Life11k◆ 0.92×2 topics
  4. Dysphagia8,646◆ 1.00×1 topic
  5. Swallowing8,646◆ 1.00×1 topic
  6. Adolescents6,955◆ 1.02×1 topic
  7. Transition6,955◆ 1.02×1 topic
  8. Digital Storytelling6,343▲ 1.31×1 topic
  9. Education6,343▲ 1.31×1 topic
  10. Communication Skills4,711▲ 1.36×2 topics
  11. Mental Health4,711▲ 1.36×2 topics
  12. Health Promoting Schools4,226▼ 0.66×1 topic
  13. School Health Promotion4,226▼ 0.66×1 topic
  14. Elderly Care2,723▼ 0.72×1 topic
  15. Social Support2,723▼ 0.72×1 topic
  16. Problem Solving2,717▲ 1.57×1 topic
  17. Social Skills2,717▲ 1.57×1 topic
  18. Ankyloglossia2,063◆ 0.95×1 topic
  19. Frenulotomy2,063◆ 0.95×1 topic
  20. Suicide Risk1,994◆ 1.15×1 topic
  21. veterinary surgeons1,994◆ 1.15×1 topic
  22. Infant Skin1,793◆ 0.90×1 topic
  23. Skin Barrier1,793◆ 0.90×1 topic

Which countries lead Speech and Hearing research?

On research quality in 2022-now, the United States, China and the United Kingdom rank highest in Speech and Hearing. By volume, the United States and China publish the most (8.4k and 3.7k works in 2022-now).

By research quality, 2022-now

  1. 1 United States #1 all time 0.92× citation excellence · 1.48× journals · 100% breadth 10.3% top 10% · 7.5k works
  2. 2 China #3 all time 1.54× citation excellence · 1.13× journals · 100% breadth 19.3% top 10% · 3.3k works
  3. 3 United Kingdom #2 all time 1.04× citation excellence · 1.41× journals · 100% breadth 12.2% top 10% · 2.3k works
  4. 4 Germany #4 all time 1.27× citation excellence · 1.38× journals · 100% breadth 9.9% top 10% · 1.2k works
  5. 5 Australia #5 all time 1.52× citation excellence · 1.20× journals · 100% breadth 18.0% top 10% · 969 works
  6. 6 Canada #6 all time 1.21× citation excellence · 1.19× journals · 100% breadth 12.0% top 10% · 1.1k works
  7. 7 Spain #8 all time 1.48× citation excellence · 1.01× journals · 100% breadth 12.7% top 10% · 969 works
  8. 8 Netherlands #7 all time 1.54× citation excellence · 1.45× journals · 100% breadth 15.3% top 10% · 455 works
  9. 9 Switzerland #10 all time 1.42× citation excellence · 1.86× journals · 100% breadth 13.7% top 10% · 240 works
  10. 10 France #11 all time 0.91× citation excellence · 1.25× journals · 100% breadth 7.4% top 10% · 896 works

The track on each row is that row's top-10% rate. The ranking itself is the quality score, which compares the rate with what each place's own topics predict, adds its share of papers in the Nature Index journals, and counts output and breadth too.

Of 35 countries ranked in Speech and Hearing. Ranked on the quality score for 2022-now; the bracket is the all-time rank.

All countries ranked in Speech and Hearing

By volume, 2022-now

  1. 1 United States 8.4k works
  2. 2 China 3.7k works
  3. 3 Brazil 2.7k works
  4. 4 United Kingdom 2.6k works
  5. 5 Türkiye 2.4k works
  6. 6 India 2k works
  7. 7 Indonesia 1.8k works
  8. 8 Japan 1.5k works
  9. 9 Germany 1.4k works
  10. 10 Canada 1.2k 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: 30.4%China: 13.3%Brazil: 9.9%United Kingdom: 9.3%6 others listed: 37.1%30%largest
United States8,427 · 30.4%China3,679 · 13.3%Brazil2,748 · 9.9%United Kingdom2,570 · 9.3%6 others listed10k · 37.1%

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

Which institutions lead Speech and Hearing research?

Harvard University (United States) ranks first in Speech and Hearing on research quality in 2022-now, followed by University College London and University of Toronto.

By research quality, 2022-now

  1. 1 Harvard University United States · Cambridge · #1 all time 16.1% top 10% · 211 works
  2. 2 University College London United Kingdom · London · #5 all time 13.2% top 10% · 162 works
  3. 3 University of Toronto Canada · Toronto · #4 all time 12.9% top 10% · 154 works
  4. 4 Stanford University United States · Stanford · #12 all time 12.2% top 10% · 61 works
  5. 5 University of Washington United States · Seattle · #11 all time 13.1% top 10% · 74 works
  6. 6 Johns Hopkins University United States · Baltimore · #2 all time 14.3% top 10% · 95 works
  7. 7 Columbia University United States · New York · #10 all time 10.8% top 10% · 67 works
  8. 8 Shanghai Jiao Tong University China · Shanghai · #50 all time 23.1% top 10% · 63 works
  9. 9 Cornell University United States · Ithaca · #13 all time 11.9% top 10% · 62 works
  10. 10 The University of Sydney Australia · Sydney · #24 all time 15.7% top 10% · 93 works

The track on each row is that row's top-10% rate. The ranking itself is the quality score, which compares the rate with what each place's own topics predict, adds its share of papers in the Nature Index journals, and counts output and breadth too.

Of 38 institutions above the floor of 40 fractional works in Speech and Hearing.

Top 100 Speech and Hearing institutions

By volume, 2022-now

  1. 1 Harvard UniversityUnited States 233 works
  2. 2 Universidade de São PauloBrazil 205 works
  3. 3 University College LondonUnited Kingdom 176 works
  4. 4 University of TorontoCanada 168 works
  5. 5 Centre National de la Recherche ScientifiqueFrance 147 works
  6. 6 University of North Carolina at Chapel HillUnited States 135 works
  7. 7 Islamic Azad University, TehranIran 128 works
  8. 8 The University of SydneyAustralia 105 works
  9. 9 The Ohio State UniversityUnited States 104 works
  10. 10 Johns Hopkins UniversityUnited States 104 works

Who are the leading researchers in Speech and Hearing?

Counting only their work in Speech and Hearing, Jian Kang, Mark J Nieuwenhuijsen and Peter J. Kahrilas have the most papers in the world top 10% for their subfield and year beyond the 10% expected.

  1. 1 Jian Kang United Kingdom · #151,590 worldwide overall 58.5 of 195 papers here in the top 10%
  2. 2 Mark J Nieuwenhuijsen Spain · #3,836 worldwide overall 45.3 of 65 papers here in the top 10%
  3. 3 Peter J. Kahrilas United States · #17,763 worldwide overall 37.0 of 82 papers here in the top 10%
  4. 4 John Erik Pandolfino United States · #36,932 worldwide overall 35.8 of 83 papers here in the top 10%
  5. 5 Mette Sørensen Denmark · #23,054 worldwide overall 26.8 of 50 papers here in the top 10%
  6. 6 Bert Brunekreef Netherlands · #16,568 worldwide overall 27.0 of 53 papers here in the top 10%
  7. 7 Rainer Dziewas Germany · #104,179 worldwide overall 25.8 of 62 papers here in the top 10%
  8. 8 Thomas Münzel Germany · #43,557 worldwide overall 24.7 of 55 papers here in the top 10%
  9. 9 Père Clavé Spain · #109,585 worldwide overall 24.4 of 53 papers here in the top 10%
  10. 10 Matthias Ketzel Denmark · #67,149 worldwide overall 20.0 of 40 papers here in the top 10%

Ranked on their work in Speech and Hearing alone: how many more of their papers here reached the world top 10% for their subfield and year than the 10% expected, among 708,289 ranked researchers with a paper here. Each paper counts once, so many strong papers outrank one famous one, and a long record of ordinary papers does not climb. Identities come from OpenAlex author disambiguation, which occasionally merges or splits people.

Top 100 Speech and Hearing researchers

What are the most cited papers in Speech and Hearing?

The most cited paper in Speech and Hearing is "An Ecological Perspective on Health Promotion Programs" (Kenneth R. McLeroy, Daniel L. Bibeau, Allan Steckler et al., 1988), with 8,568 citations. Next come "Development of a Rating Scale for Primary Depressive Illness" (8,516) and "Nanotoxicology: An Emerging Discipline Evolving from Studies of Ultrafine Particles" (7,918).

Most cited papers
#PaperReleasedCitations
1 An Ecological Perspective on Health Promotion Programs Kenneth R. McLeroy, Daniel L. Bibeau, Allan Steckler et al. · Health Education Quarterly Dec 1988 8,568
2 Development of a Rating Scale for Primary Depressive Illness Max Hamilton · British Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology Dec 1967 8,516
3 Nanotoxicology: An Emerging Discipline Evolving from Studies of Ultrafine Particles Günter Oberdörster, Eva Oberdörster, Jan Oberdörster · Environmental Health Perspectives Open access 22 Mar 2005 7,918
4 Health Promotion by Social Cognitive Means Albert Bandura · Health Education & Behavior Apr 2004 7,411
5 The restorative benefits of nature: Toward an integrative framework Stephen Kaplan · Journal of Environmental Psychology Sep 1995 6,855
All 99 most cited papers, with filters and sorting

Where is Speech and Hearing research done?

The largest centres of Speech and Hearing research in 2022-now are London (United Kingdom), São Paulo (Brazil), Beijing (China) and Istanbul (Türkiye).

Largest cities, 2022-now

  1. 1 LondonUnited Kingdom 795 works
  2. 2 São PauloBrazil 557 works
  3. 3 BeijingChina 536 works
  4. 4 IstanbulTürkiye 433 works
  5. 5 TokyoJapan 427 works
  6. 6 AnkaraTürkiye 403 works
  7. 7 New YorkUnited States 362 works
  8. 8 ParisFrance 310 works
  9. 9 SeoulSouth Korea 302 works
  10. 10 LisbonPortugal 288 works
See Speech and Hearing on the map

Speech and Hearing research by country

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

Where is the best place to study Speech and Hearing?

Among universities, judged by research, Harvard University, University College London and University of Toronto score highest, combining standing in the field's ranking, citation excellence, specialisation, size, growth and international reach. Research strength is one signal when choosing where to study; it does not measure teaching.

0%10%20%30%mean 14.98%fractional works in this field (log) →share of work in the world top 10% →Harvard UniversityJohns Hopkins Univer…University College L…University of Toronto
above the meannear itbelow it

One dot per university in the first ten of the table below, at the default weights. The upper left is the interesting corner: small places doing unusually strong work.

Standingthis field's institution ranking, three quarters all time and a quarter 2022-now
50%
Citation excellenceshare of its work in the world top 10%, 2022-now and all time averaged
20%
Specialisationhow much of its work is in this field, counted up to 10× the world share
5%
Sizeits output in this field, on a log scale
15%
Growthoutput growth, counted from -20% to +20%
5%
Internationalshare of its work with a co-author abroad
5%
Each slider sets a weight; the share it gets of the score is beside it.
#UniversityScoreRank in field (all time)Top 10%SpecialisationWorksGrowth
1Harvard UniversityUnited States 85.9#1 (#1)15.5%1.9×233 +3.8%
2University College LondonUnited Kingdom 70.4#2 (#5)13.2%2.9×176 +10.7%
3University of TorontoCanada 70.0#3 (#4)12.9%2.2×168 +13.7%
4Johns Hopkins UniversityUnited States 65.2#6 (#2)13.3%1.8×104 -18.0%
5Northwestern UniversityUnited States 55.1- (#3)15.5%2.2×69 -17.0%
6University of WashingtonUnited States 54.3#5 (#11)13.1%1.9×81 -0.0%
7The University of MelbourneAustralia 53.3#11 (#15)17.7%1.8×75 +2.1%
8Columbia UniversityUnited States 52.0#7 (#10)11.0%1.7×72 -0.1%
9University of Hong KongChina 51.7- (#18)25.5%1.4×51 +14.4%
10Cornell UniversityUnited States 50.9#9 (#13)12.1%1.4×70 +11.2%

Universities only. The score blends standing (50%), citation excellence (20%), size (15%), specialisation (5%), growth (5%), international reach (5%), 2022-now; growth compares 2018-21 with 2022-25 and counts up to +20%, since a jump from a small base is mostly noise. Standing is the score in this field's institution ranking, three quarters over all time and a quarter 2022-now; excellence averages the two windows too. Four years alone undercount fields such as AI, where many conference and arXiv papers from 2022 on carry no affiliation in the data.

Every institution in Speech and Hearing, country by country

Is Speech and Hearing research growing?

Output in 2022-2025 was 16% higher than in 2018-2021, peaking in 2025. The fastest-growing topics are Veterinary Practice and Education Studies, Digital Storytelling and Education and Problem Solving Skills Development.

still counting19801990200020102020
grewheldshrank

The same series as a ribbon: one cell per year, darker for more. The line above answers how much; this answers when.

Its share of all research

Growing output can still be a shrinking share: all of science grows. This is Speech and Hearing as a percentage of every work published that year, 0.19% in 2024.

still counting0.10%0.20%Speech and Hearing0.18% in 202519801990200020102020

Fractional works of Speech and Hearing over all fractional works that year. How the balance of science has shifted.

How much of it reaches the world top 10%

Year by year.

still counting5%10%15%Speech and Hearing10.2% in 2025200020102020

Of each year's works in it, the share that reached the world's 10% most cited for their field and year. A field is the world for its own topics, so there is no other line to hold it against.

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. Veterinary Practice and Education Studies+50%
  2. Digital Storytelling and Education+37%
  3. Problem Solving Skills Development+32%
  4. Neonatal skin health care+26%
  5. Noise Effects and Management+20%
  6. Oral and Craniofacial Lesions+16%
  7. History, Culture, and Society-15%
← shrinkingno changegrowing →

Growth in output from 2018-21 to 2022-25. Every topic is a page of its own.

What does Speech and Hearing include?

Noise Effects and Manage…46kNoise Effects and Management: 46k fractional worksDysphagia Assessment and Management: 33k fractional worksAdolescent and Pediatric Healthcare: 25k fractional worksSchool Health and Nursing Education: 23k fractional worksDigital Storytelling and Education: 17k fractional worksVeterinary Practice and …11kVeterinary Practice and Education Studies: 11k fractional worksHistory, Culture, and Society: 10k fractional worksOral and Craniofacial Lesions: 8,275 fractional worksNeonatal skin health care: 8,271 fractional worksProblem Solving Skills Development: 7,462 fractional works

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

Share who leads Speech and Hearing

Who leads Speech and Hearing, on Science Explorer

A card with the countries and institutions that lead Speech and Hearing, for a post or a slide.

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1200 × 630 PNG, sized for social posts, drawn from the latest snapshot.

The leading institutions' badges6Each links to that institution's page and updates with every snapshot

Discussion

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