Science Explorer Back to mapMap
Discussion
Topic · Psychiatry and Mental health

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder is a research topic within Psychiatry and Mental health. Science Explorer counts 43k 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 focuses on the worldwide prevalence, neurobiology, treatment, executive function, and comorbidity of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). It includes meta-analyses, genetic studies, brain imaging research, and discussions on the impact of ADHD on individuals across the lifespan.

  • ADHD
  • Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder
  • prevalence
  • neurobiology
  • treatment
  • executive function
  • meta-analysis
  • genetics
  • comorbidity
  • brain imaging
Research works
43k
fractional, since 1950
In the world top 10%
4.3k
per year above
Top-10% rate
10.0%
share of its works in the world top 10%
Growth, 2018-21 → 2022-25
+10%
the tick is no change
Largest producer
United States
42% of the 10 largest, 2022-now
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

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

Which countries lead Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder research?

By volume, the United States and China publish the most (2.4k and 727 works in 2022-now).

By volume, 2022-now

  1. 1 United States 2.4k works
  2. 2 China 727 works
  3. 3 United Kingdom 509 works
  4. 4 India 323 works
  5. 5 Canada 321 works
  6. 6 Brazil 313 works
  7. 7 Spain 309 works
  8. 8 Türkiye 292 works
  9. 9 Germany 291 works
  10. 10 Australia 239 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: 41.6%China: 12.8%United Kingdom: 8.9%India: 5.7%6 others listed: 31.0%42%largest
United States2,365 · 41.6%China727 · 12.8%United Kingdom509 · 8.9%India323 · 5.7%6 others listed1,764 · 31.0%

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

Which institutions lead Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder research?

By volume in 2022-now, Harvard University publishes the most Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder research, followed by Islamic Azad University, Tehran and University of Toronto.

By volume, 2022-now

  1. 1 Harvard UniversityUnited States 120 works
  2. 2 Islamic Azad University, TehranIran 60 works
  3. 3 University of TorontoCanada 52 works
  4. 4 University of CincinnatiUnited States 46 works
  5. 5 University of North Carolina at Chapel HillUnited States 43 works
  6. 6 King's College LondonUnited Kingdom 41 works
  7. 7 Johns Hopkins UniversityUnited States 36 works
  8. 8 University College LondonUnited Kingdom 32 works
  9. 9 The Ohio State UniversityUnited States 31 works
  10. 10 Tel Aviv UniversityIsrael 31 works

Who are the leading researchers in Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder?

The most-cited researchers publishing on Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder include David Moher, Theo Vos and George Davey Smith.

  1. 1 David Moher Canada 898k citations
  2. 2 Theo Vos United States 439k citations
  3. 3 George Davey Smith United Kingdom 435k citations
  4. 4 Mark J. Daly United States 403k citations
  5. 5 Ronald C. Kessler United States 360k citations
  6. 6 Mika Kivimäki United Kingdom 318k citations
  7. 7 John P. A. Ioannidis United States 317k citations
  8. 8 Karl John Friston United Kingdom 310k citations
  9. 9 Dan J. Stein South Africa 306k citations
  10. 10 Peter Christian Gøtzsche Denmark 292k 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 Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder?

The most cited paper in Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder is "Executive Functions" (Adele Diamond, 2012), with 12,954 citations. Next come "Cognitive-Behavioral Treatment of Borderline Personality Disorder" (6,357) and "REGIONAL STUDIES OF CATECHOLAMINES IN THE RAT BRAIN‐I" (5,441).

Most cited papers
#PaperReleasedCitations
1 Executive Functions Adele Diamond · Annual Review of Psychology ReviewOpen access 30 Sep 2012 12,954
2 Cognitive-Behavioral Treatment of Borderline Personality Disorder Gene L. Cary · American Journal of Psychotherapy 1994 6,357
3 REGIONAL STUDIES OF CATECHOLAMINES IN THE RAT BRAIN‐I Jacques Glowinski, Leslie Lars Iversen · Journal of Neurochemistry Aug 1966 5,441
4 Concurrent and Predictive Validity of a Self-reported Measure of Medication Adherence Donald Edward Morisky, Lawrence W. Green, David Michael Levine · Medical Care 1986 5,389
5 The Worldwide Prevalence of ADHD: A Systematic Review and Metaregression Analysis Guilherme V. Polanczyk, Maurício Silva de Lima, Bernardo Lessa Horta et al. · American Journal of Psychiatry Review Jun 2007 5,375
All 99 most cited papers, with filters and sorting

Where is Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder research done?

The largest centres of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder research in 2022-now are London (United Kingdom), Beijing (China), Boston (United States) and New York (United States). Among places with at least 20 works in it, it is an unusually large share of all research in Syracuse.

Largest cities, 2022-now

  1. 1 LondonUnited Kingdom 166 works
  2. 2 BeijingChina 115 works
  3. 3 BostonUnited States 104 works
  4. 4 New YorkUnited States 100 works
  5. 5 TehranIran 98 works
  6. 6 SeoulSouth Korea 79 works
  7. 7 IstanbulTürkiye 76 works
  8. 8 TorontoCanada 74 works
  9. 9 MadridSpain 70 works
  10. 10 MelbourneAustralia 67 works

Where it is the local speciality

  1. SyracuseUS · 31.5 works11×
← less than its size predicts1×more →

Location quotient: how much more of its research is in Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder than the world average.

See Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder on the map

Where is the best place to study Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder?

Among universities, judged by research, Karolinska Institutet, Harvard University and Hong Kong Polytechnic 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 20.47%fractional works in this field (log) →share of work in the world top 10% →Curtin UniversityHong Kong Polytechni…Karolinska InstitutetHarvard 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
1Karolinska InstitutetSweden 68.618.2%7.1×31 +1.0%
2Harvard UniversityUnited States 66.49.2%4.9×120 -6.0%
3Hong Kong Polytechnic UniversityChina 65.025.7%1.8×12 +90.2%
4Curtin UniversityAustralia 64.525.8%3.7×9 +116.5%
5Chinese University of Hong KongChina 64.129.1%2.1×12 +62.2%
6King's College LondonUnited Kingdom 63.118.0%6.1×40 -27.2%
7University College LondonUnited Kingdom 62.815.4%2.6×32 +21.8%
8University of NottinghamUnited Kingdom 61.223.6%2.5×15 +23.1%
9Örebro UniversitySweden 60.419.2%12.1×10 +32.0%
10University of SouthamptonUnited Kingdom 58.820.5%2.9×12 +80.4%

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 Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, country by country

Is Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder research growing?

Output in 2022-2025 was 10% higher than in 2018-2021, peaking in 2025. The fastest-growing topics are Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder.

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 Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder as a percentage of every work published that year, 0.036% in 2024.

still counting0.020%0.040%0.060%Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder0.037% in 202519801990200020102020

Fractional works of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder 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%Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder10.0% 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.

Questions people ask

Who is researching a cure for ADHD?

By volume in 2022-now, Harvard University publishes the most Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder research, followed by Islamic Azad University, Tehran and University of Toronto. By volume, the United States and China publish the most (2.4k and 727 works in 2022-now).

How much research is there on ADHD, and is it growing?

Output in 2022-2025 was 10% higher than in 2018-2021, peaking in 2025. The fastest-growing topics are Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder.

Is Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder research growing?

Who is the leading expert on ADHD research?

The most-cited researchers publishing on Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder include David Moher, Theo Vos and George Davey Smith.

Who are the leading researchers in Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder?
All 1,273 questions in the Question Catalogue

Discussion

Ask a question or share a note about Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. Keep it to the research: no personal attacks, advertising or links. Any reader can report a post, which collapses it for everyone until it is opened.