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Topic · Physiology

Asthma and respiratory diseases

Asthma and respiratory diseases is a research topic within Physiology. Science Explorer counts 87k research works in it since 1950. 10.0% of them reached the world's top 10% most cited for their field and year.

This cluster of papers represents a comprehensive exploration of global trends in asthma research, covering topics such as epidemiology, immunology, genetics, treatment strategies, airway remodeling, and the role of eosinophils and inflammation in asthma pathogenesis.

  • Asthma
  • Allergic Diseases
  • Eosinophils
  • Inflammation
  • Immunology
  • Phenotypes
  • Genetics
  • Treatment
  • Airway Remodeling
  • Epidemiology
Research works
87k
fractional, since 1950
In the world top 10%
8.7k
per year above
Top-10% rate
10.0%
share of its works in the world top 10%
Growth, 2018-21 → 2022-25
+1%
the tick is no change
Largest producer
United States
32% of the 10 largest, 2022-now
Asthma and respiratory diseases

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

Which countries lead Asthma and respiratory diseases research?

By volume, the United States and China publish the most (3k and 2.1k works in 2022-now).

By volume, 2022-now

  1. 1 United States 3k works
  2. 2 China 2.1k works
  3. 3 United Kingdom 974 works
  4. 4 Italy 598 works
  5. 5 Japan 594 works
  6. 6 Germany 508 works
  7. 7 India 498 works
  8. 8 Spain 474 works
  9. 9 Canada 411 works
  10. 10 South Korea 394 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: 31.7%China: 21.8%United Kingdom: 10.2%Italy: 6.2%6 others listed: 30.1%32%largest
United States3,033 · 31.7%China2,084 · 21.8%United Kingdom974 · 10.2%Italy598 · 6.2%6 others listed2,878 · 30.1%

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

Which institutions lead Asthma and respiratory diseases research?

By volume in 2022-now, Harvard University publishes the most Asthma and respiratory diseases research, followed by AstraZeneca (United Kingdom) and Imperial College London.

By volume, 2022-now

  1. 1 Harvard UniversityUnited States 147 works
  2. 2 AstraZeneca (United Kingdom)United Kingdom 113 works
  3. 3 Imperial College LondonUnited Kingdom 83 works
  4. 4 University of CopenhagenDenmark 69 works
  5. 5 Capital Medical UniversityChina 62 works
  6. 6 InsermFrance 62 works
  7. 7 University of North Carolina at Chapel HillUnited States 62 works
  8. 8 Johns Hopkins UniversityUnited States 62 works
  9. 9 Sanofi (France)France 56 works
  10. 10 Shanghai Jiao Tong UniversityChina 56 works

Who are the leading researchers in Asthma and respiratory diseases?

The most-cited researchers publishing on Asthma and respiratory diseases include Christopher J L Murray, Eric S. Lander and Rob Knight.

  1. 1 Christopher J L Murray United States 583k citations
  2. 2 Eric S. Lander United States 524k citations
  3. 3 Rob Knight United States 468k citations
  4. 4 Simon Iain Hay United States 452k citations
  5. 5 Theo Vos United States 439k citations
  6. 6 George Davey Smith United Kingdom 435k citations
  7. 7 Ali H. Mokdad United States 429k citations
  8. 8 Walter Churchill Willett United States 411k citations
  9. 9 Mark J. Daly United States 403k citations
  10. 10 Stacey L. Gabriel United States 402k citations

Ranked by citations received across their whole record, among researchers with at least three works on this topic.

What are the most cited papers in Asthma and respiratory diseases?

The most cited paper in Asthma and respiratory diseases is "Global Strategy for the Diagnosis, Management, and Prevention of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease" (Jørgen Vestbo, Suzanne S. Hurd, Alvar G.N. Agustí et al., 2012), with 16,116 citations. Next come "Standardisation of spirometry" (15,846) and "Multi-ethnic reference values for spirometry for the 3–95-yr age range: the global lung function 2012 equations" (6,032).

Most cited papers
#PaperReleasedCitations
1 Global Strategy for the Diagnosis, Management, and Prevention of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Jørgen Vestbo, Suzanne S. Hurd, Alvar G.N. Agustí et al. · American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine Open access 9 Aug 2012 16,116
2 Standardisation of spirometry Martin R. Miller, J. Hankinson, Vito Brusasco et al. · European Respiratory Journal Open access 29 Jul 2005 15,846
3 Multi-ethnic reference values for spirometry for the 3–95-yr age range: the global lung function 2012 equations Philip H. Quanjer, Sanja Stanojevic, Tim James Cole et al. · European Respiratory Journal Open access 27 Jun 2012 6,032
4 Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease Lynn B. Gerald, William C. Bailey · Journal of Cardiopulmonary Rehabilitation Jul 2002 5,874
5 Hay fever, hygiene, and household size. David Peter Strachan · BMJ Open access 18 Nov 1989 5,108
All 100 most cited papers, with filters and sorting

Where is Asthma and respiratory diseases research done?

The largest centres of Asthma and respiratory diseases research in 2022-now are London (United Kingdom), Beijing (China), Seoul (South Korea) and Guangzhou (China). Among places with at least 20 works in it, it is an unusually large share of all research in Tarrytown and Bridgewater.

Largest cities, 2022-now

  1. 1 LondonUnited Kingdom 320 works
  2. 2 BeijingChina 256 works
  3. 3 SeoulSouth Korea 202 works
  4. 4 GuangzhouChina 198 works
  5. 5 ShanghaiChina 175 works
  6. 6 TokyoJapan 167 works
  7. 7 ParisFrance 152 works
  8. 8 MadridSpain 151 works
  9. 9 New YorkUnited States 135 works
  10. 10 BostonUnited States 133 works

Where it is the local speciality

  1. TarrytownUS · 31.5 works64×
  2. BridgewaterUS · 25.7 works44×
← less than its size predicts1×more →

Location quotient: how much more of its research is in Asthma and respiratory diseases than the world average.

See Asthma and respiratory diseases on the map

Where is the best place to study Asthma and respiratory diseases?

Among universities, judged by research, Harvard University, Imperial College London and McMaster University score highest, combining citation 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 22.6%fractional works in this field (log) →share of work in the world top 10% →McMaster UniversityHumanitas UniversityImperial College Lon…Harvard University
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.

Citation excellenceshare of its work in the world top 10%, 2022-now and all time averaged
40%
Specialisationhow much of its work is in this field, counted up to 10× the world share
10%
Sizeits output in this field, on a log scale
30%
Growthoutput growth, counted from -20% to +20%
10%
Internationalshare of its work with a co-author abroad
10%
Each slider sets a weight; the share it gets of the score is beside it.
#UniversityScoreTop 10%SpecialisationWorksGrowth
1Harvard UniversityUnited States 73.716.2%3.8×147 -5.3%
2Imperial College LondonUnited Kingdom 73.317.0%6.8×83 +0.7%
3McMaster UniversityCanada 72.723.3%7.7×54 +3.9%
4Humanitas UniversityItaly 72.020.6%16.6×29 +39.4%
5University of LeicesterUnited Kingdom 71.025.4%10.8×36 -5.9%
6University of Naples Federico IIItaly 69.134.3%2.5×22 +48.3%
7Ghent UniversityBelgium 66.422.4%3.1×29 +5.6%
8University of DundeeUnited Kingdom 65.822.0%16.1×34 +198.7%
9King's College LondonUnited Kingdom 64.521.5%4.2×44 -3.8%
10University of Newcastle AustraliaAustralia 64.423.3%9.2×28 -22.9%

Universities only. The score blends citation excellence (40%), size (30%), specialisation (10%), growth (10%), international reach (10%), 2022-now; growth compares 2018-21 with 2022-25 and counts up to +20%, since a jump from a small base is mostly noise.

Every institution in Asthma and respiratory diseases, country by country

Is Asthma and respiratory diseases research growing?

Output in 2022-2025 was 1% higher than in 2018-2021, peaking in 2025. The fastest-growing topics are Asthma and respiratory diseases.

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 Asthma and respiratory diseases as a percentage of every work published that year, 0.057% in 2024.

still counting0.050%0.10%0.15%Asthma and respiratory diseases0.058% in 202519801990200020102020

Fractional works of Asthma and respiratory diseases 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%Asthma and respiratory diseases10.3% 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.

Discussion

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