Science Explorer Interactive view Map
Subfield · Medicine

Surgery research

Surgery is a subfield of Medicine. Science Explorer counts 2.8M research works in it since 1950. 14.4% of them reached the world's top 10% most cited for their field and year.

In short: medical specialty.

Research works
2.8M
fractional, since 1950
In the world top 10%
405k
per year above
Top-10% rate
14.4%
share of its works in the world top 10%
Topics
96
Growth, 2013–17 → 2018–22
+23%
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 Surgery research about, and what is growing?

By the world's output in 2019–23, its most used keywords are Epidemiology, Complications, Surgical Management, Guidelines, Treatment, Revision Surgery. Gaining share since 2009–13: Rehabilitation, Rotator Cuff Tears, Shoulder Pathology, Arthroplasty, Total Knee Replacement. Losing share: Atherosclerosis, Liver Transplantation.

▲ 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. Epidemiology97k◆ 1.09×12 topics
  2. Complications71k◆ 1.09×9 topics
  3. Surgical Management61k◆ 1.02×10 topics
  4. Guidelines34k◆ 1.04×5 topics
  5. Treatment33k◆ 1.00×7 topics
  6. Revision Surgery32k◆ 1.09×2 topics
  7. Total Hip Replacement32k◆ 1.09×2 topics
  8. Quality of Life31k◆ 1.10×7 topics
  9. Perioperative Care28k◆ 1.13×3 topics
  10. Rehabilitation26k▲ 1.23×2 topics
  11. Diagnosis26k◆ 1.03×5 topics
  12. Patient Satisfaction25k▲ 1.19×3 topics
  13. Atherosclerosis25k▼ 0.82×4 topics
  14. Shoulder Function22k◆ 1.13×2 topics
  15. Surgery22k▲ 1.18×3 topics
  16. Prognostic Factors22k◆ 1.04×3 topics
  17. Risk Factors21k◆ 1.02×4 topics
  18. Diagnostic Imaging21k◆ 1.02×3 topics
  19. Chronic Pain21k◆ 1.08×2 topics
  20. Pain Management20k◆ 1.03×2 topics
  21. Chemotherapy20k◆ 1.05×3 topics
  22. Diabetes20k◆ 1.10×3 topics
  23. Neoadjuvant Therapy19k◆ 1.11×2 topics
  24. Robotic Surgery19k◆ 1.04×3 topics
  25. Palliative Treatment18k◆ 1.05×2 topics
  26. Inflammation18k◆ 0.89×3 topics
  27. Meta-Analysis17k◆ 1.03×2 topics
  28. Laparoscopic Surgery17k◆ 1.14×3 topics
  29. Adults17k◆ 1.00×2 topics
  30. Children17k◆ 1.00×2 topics
  31. Radiotherapy17k◆ 0.99×3 topics
  32. Mortality17k◆ 1.13×2 topics
  33. Liver Transplantation17k▼ 0.84×2 topics
  34. Rotator Cuff Tears16k▲ 1.21×1 topic
  35. Shoulder Pathology16k▲ 1.21×1 topic
  36. Chemoradiation16k◆ 1.14×2 topics
  37. Management16k◆ 1.13×5 topics
  38. Arthroplasty16k▲ 1.21×1 topic
  39. Total Knee Replacement16k▲ 1.21×1 topic
  40. Hip Arthroplasty16k◆ 0.99×1 topic

Which countries lead Surgery research?

On research quality in 2022–2025, the United States, China and the United Kingdom rank highest in Surgery. By volume, the United States and China publish the most (114k and 65k works in 2022–2025).

By research quality, 2022–2025

  1. 1 United States · #1 all time 13.9% top 10% · 114k works
  2. 2 China · #3 all time 19.4% top 10% · 65k works
  3. 3 United Kingdom · #2 all time 14.0% top 10% · 22k works
  4. 4 Italy · #6 all time 21.0% top 10% · 17k works
  5. 5 Germany · #4 all time 13.7% top 10% · 19k works
  6. 6 France · #7 all time 13.9% top 10% · 12k works
  7. 7 Australia · #10 all time 17.3% top 10% · 8.5k works
  8. 8 Canada · #5 all time 17.6% top 10% · 9.4k works
  9. 9 Japan · #9 all time 9.0% top 10% · 27k works
  10. 10 Netherlands · #8 all time 23.3% top 10% · 6.3k 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 88 countries ranked in Surgery. Composite of field-normalised excellence (50%), output (30%) and citations (20%); the bracket is the all-time rank.

All countries ranked in Surgery

By volume, 2022–2025

  1. 1 United States 114k works
  2. 2 China 65k works
  3. 3 India 33k works
  4. 4 Japan 27k works
  5. 5 United Kingdom 22k works
  6. 6 Germany 19k works
  7. 7 Italy 17k works
  8. 8 Türkiye 14k works
  9. 9 South Korea 13k works
  10. 10 Spain 12k 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: 34.0%China: 19.3%India: 9.8%Japan: 8.2%6 others listed: 28.7%34%largest
United States114k · 34.0%China65k · 19.3%India33k · 9.8%Japan27k · 8.2%6 others listed96k · 28.7%

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

Which institutions lead Surgery research?

Harvard University (United States) ranks first in Surgery on research quality in 2022–2025, followed by Sichuan University and Cleveland Clinic.

By research quality, 2022–2025

  1. 1 Harvard University United States · Cambridge · #1 all time 23.3% top 10% · 1.2k works
  2. 2 Sichuan University China · Chengdu 22.2% top 10% · 1.3k works
  3. 3 Cleveland Clinic United States · Cleveland · #4 all time 15.5% top 10% · 1.5k works
  4. 4 Johns Hopkins University United States · Baltimore · #6 all time 20.2% top 10% · 943 works
  5. 5 Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & Peking Union Medical College China · Beijing · #91 all time 17.4% top 10% · 1.4k works
  6. 6 Sun Yat-sen University China · Guangzhou 21.5% top 10% · 908 works
  7. 7 Mayo Clinic United States · Rochester · #3 all time 22.7% top 10% · 1k works
  8. 8 Massachusetts General Hospital United States · Boston · #7 all time 18.4% top 10% · 1k works
  9. 9 Shanghai Jiao Tong University China · Shanghai 21.9% top 10% · 850 works
  10. 10 University College London United Kingdom · London · #18 all time 18.9% top 10% · 737 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 1,816 institutions above the floor of 40 fractional works in Surgery.

Top 100 Surgery institutions

By volume, 2022–2025

  1. 1 Cleveland Clinic United States 1.5k works
  2. 2 All India Institute of Medical Sciences India 1.5k works
  3. 3 Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & Peking Union Medical College China 1.4k works
  4. 4 Sichuan University China 1.3k works
  5. 5 Harvard University United States 1.2k works
  6. 6 Mayo Clinic in Arizona United States 1.2k works
  7. 7 Ain Shams University Egypt 1.1k works
  8. 8 Sağlık Bilimleri Üniversitesi Türkiye 1.1k works
  9. 9 Mayo Clinic United States 1k works
  10. 10 Massachusetts General Hospital United States 1k works

Who are the leading researchers in Surgery?

Among the most productive authors in Surgery, Reza Malekzadeh, Maciej Banach and Victor Aboyans rank highest on the composite score.

  1. 1 Reza Malekzadeh Iran · #24 worldwide 6.7k citations · 167 works
  2. 2 Maciej Banach Poland · #49 worldwide 5.2k citations · 199 works
  3. 3 Victor Aboyans France · #74 worldwide 4.9k citations · 135 works
  4. 4 Jasvinder A. Singh United States · #79 worldwide 4.7k citations · 154 works
  5. 5 Patrizio Lancellotti Belgium · #86 worldwide 4.1k citations · 241 works
  6. 6 Stuart Pocock United Kingdom · #122 worldwide 4.3k citations · 148 works
  7. 7 Salim S. Virani United States · #125 worldwide 3.9k citations · 163 works
  8. 8 E. Murat Tuzcu United States · #142 worldwide 4.7k citations · 124 works
  9. 9 Cyrus Cooper United Kingdom · #144 worldwide 7.2k citations · 486 works
  10. 10 Rachelle Buchbinder Australia · #147 worldwide 3.5k citations · 131 works

Re-ranked on the composite score from the 5,887 highest-output authors in Surgery. Identities come from OpenAlex author disambiguation, which occasionally merges or splits people.

Top 100 Surgery researchers

Where is Surgery research done?

The largest centres of Surgery research in 2022–2025 are Beijing (China), New York (United States), Seoul (South Korea) and Tokyo (Japan). Among places with at least 20 works in it, it is an unusually large share of all research in Westmont, Eisenberg and Vail.

Largest cities, 2022–2025

  1. 1 Beijing China 9.5k works
  2. 2 New York United States 6.5k works
  3. 3 Seoul South Korea 6.3k works
  4. 4 Tokyo Japan 6.1k works
  5. 5 London United Kingdom 5.9k works
  6. 6 Shanghai China 5.6k works
  7. 7 Guangzhou China 4.2k works
  8. 8 Istanbul Türkiye 4.2k works
  9. 9 Boston United States 3.9k works
  10. 10 Moscow Russia 3.8k works

Where it is the local speciality

  1. WestmontUS · 135.5 works31×
  2. EisenbergDE · 24.0 works24×
  3. VailUS · 169.9 works23×
  4. OrangeUS · 34.5 works22×
← less than its size predicts1×more →

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

See Surgery on the map

Surgery research by country

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

Where is the best place to study Surgery?

Among universities, judged by research, Humanitas University, Harvard University and Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & Peking Union Medical College 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%10%20%30%mean 18.26%fractional works in this node (log) →share in the world top 10% →Humanitas University: 220, 24.0%Harvard University: 1,173, 23.3%Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & Peking Union Medical College: 1,378, 17.4%Sichuan University: 1,274, 22.2%Karolinska Institutet: 471, 25.8%Sağlık Bilimleri Üniversitesi: 1,088, 4.8%Carol Davila University of Medicine and Pharmacy: 313, 20.1%Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai: 818, 15.7%Capital Medical University: 996, 16.7%Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College: 320, 12.6%Humanitas UniversityHarvard UniversitySichuan UniversityChinese Academy of M…
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
1Humanitas University Italy 57.124.0%5.9×220 +159.1%
2Harvard University United States 53.223.3%2.0×1,173 +16.0%
3Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & Peking Union Medical College China 50.817.4%3.0×1,378 +48.0%
4Sichuan University China 50.822.2%1.6×1,274 +41.9%
5Karolinska Institutet Sweden 49.825.8%2.2×471 +18.5%
6Sağlık Bilimleri Üniversitesi Türkiye 49.04.8%4.0×1,088 +3122.2%
7Carol Davila University of Medicine and Pharmacy Romania 48.620.1%4.1×313 +148.6%
8Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai United States 48.415.7%3.5×818 +83.5%
9Capital Medical University China 47.416.7%3.6×996 +34.1%
10Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College India 46.712.6%5.7×320 +274.9%

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 Surgery research growing?

Output in 2018–2022 was 23% higher than in 2013–2017, peaking in 2025. The fastest-growing topics are Knee injuries and reconstruction techniques, Shoulder Injury and Treatment and Total Knee Arthroplasty Outcomes.

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. Knee injuries and reconstruction techniques+117%
  2. Shoulder Injury and Treatment+114%
  3. Total Knee Arthroplasty Outcomes+110%
  4. Cardiac Structural Anomalies and Repair+96%
  5. Peripheral Artery Disease Management+95%
  6. Bladder and Urothelial Cancer Treatments+92%
← shrinkingno changegrowing →

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

What does Surgery include?

Pancreatic function and diabetes: 73k fractional worksOrthopedic Surgery and Rehabilitation: 69k fractional worksOrthopaedic implants and arthroplasty: 69k fractional worksShoulder Injury and Treatment: 64k fractional worksAnesthesia and Pain Management: 63k fractional worksTotal Knee Arthroplasty …62kTotal Knee Arthroplasty Outcomes: 62k fractional worksOrgan Transplantation Techniques and Outcomes: 60k fractional worksEsophageal and GI Pathology: 58k fractional worksCoronary Interventions a…55kCoronary Interventions and Diagnostics: 55k fractional worksHelicobacter pylori-related gastroenterology studies: 55k fractional worksPancreatitis Pathology and Treatment: 51k fractional worksGastrointestinal disorde…49kGastrointestinal disorders and treatments: 49k fractional works

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