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Topic · Cognitive Neuroscience

Autism Spectrum Disorder Research

Autism Spectrum Disorder Research is a research topic within Cognitive Neuroscience. Science Explorer counts 57k research works in it since 1950. 9.9% of them reached the world's top 10% most cited for their field and year.

This cluster of papers encompasses a wide range of research on Autism Spectrum Disorders, including genetics, neurodevelopmental aspects, social skills interventions, brain connectivity, epidemiology, executive functioning, early intervention, emotion recognition, and neuroanatomy.

  • Autism Spectrum Disorders
  • Genetics
  • Neurodevelopmental Disorders
  • Social Skills Interventions
  • Brain Connectivity
  • Epidemiology
  • Executive Functioning
  • Early Intervention
  • Emotion Recognition
  • Neuroanatomy
Research works
57k
fractional, since 1950
In the world top 10%
5.6k
per year above
Top-10% rate
9.9%
share of its works in the world top 10%
Growth, 2018-21 → 2022-25
+16%
the tick is no change
Largest producer
United States
41% of the 10 largest, 2022-now
Autism Spectrum Disorder Research

Which countries lead Autism Spectrum Disorder Research research?

By volume, the United States and China publish the most (4.3k and 1.2k works in 2022-now).

By volume, 2022-now

  1. 1 United States 4.3k works
  2. 2 China 1.2k works
  3. 3 United Kingdom 1.1k works
  4. 4 India 927 works
  5. 5 Brazil 673 works
  6. 6 Canada 524 works
  7. 7 Italy 498 works
  8. 8 Australia 452 works
  9. 9 Türkiye 385 works
  10. 10 Spain 385 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: 41.2%China: 11.6%United Kingdom: 10.7%India: 8.8%6 others listed: 27.7%41%largest
United States4,336 · 41.2%China1,226 · 11.6%United Kingdom1,123 · 10.7%India927 · 8.8%6 others listed2,918 · 27.7%

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

Which institutions lead Autism Spectrum Disorder Research research?

By volume in 2022-now, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill publishes the most Autism Spectrum Disorder Research research, followed by Harvard University and University of Toronto.

By volume, 2022-now

  1. 1 University of North Carolina at Chapel HillUnited States 128 works
  2. 2 Harvard UniversityUnited States 124 works
  3. 3 University of TorontoCanada 91 works
  4. 4 Center for Autism and Related DisordersUnited States 86 works
  5. 5 University College LondonUnited Kingdom 71 works
  6. 6 King's College LondonUnited Kingdom 67 works
  7. 7 Vanderbilt UniversityUnited States 66 works
  8. 8 University of California, DavisUnited States 58 works
  9. 9 University of California, Los AngelesUnited States 53 works
  10. 10 Centre National de la Recherche ScientifiqueFrance 50 works

Who are the leading researchers in Autism Spectrum Disorder Research?

The most-cited researchers publishing on Autism Spectrum Disorder Research include Rob Knight, George Davey Smith and Ali H. Mokdad.

  1. 1 Rob Knight United States 468k citations
  2. 2 George Davey Smith United Kingdom 435k citations
  3. 3 Ali H. Mokdad United States 429k citations
  4. 4 Mark J. Daly United States 403k citations
  5. 5 Stacey L. Gabriel United States 402k citations
  6. 6 Albert Bandura United States 370k citations
  7. 7 Ronald C. Kessler United States 360k citations
  8. 8 Jun Wang China 340k citations
  9. 9 John P. A. Ioannidis United States 317k citations
  10. 10 Karl John Friston United Kingdom 310k 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 Autism Spectrum Disorder Research?

The most cited paper in Autism Spectrum Disorder Research is "Accuracy of clinical diagnosis of idiopathic Parkinson's disease: a clinico-pathological study of 100 cases." (Andrew Jerome Hughes, S. E. Daniel, Linda Kilford et al., 1992), with 10,504 citations. Next come "Autism Diagnostic Interview-Revised: A revised version of a diagnostic interview for caregivers of individuals with possible pervasive developmental disorders" (9,189) and "Movement Disorder Society‐sponsored revision of the Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale (MDS‐UPDRS): Scale presentation and clinimetric testing results" (7,783).

Most cited papers
#PaperReleasedCitations
1 Accuracy of clinical diagnosis of idiopathic Parkinson's disease: a clinico-pathological study of 100 cases. Andrew Jerome Hughes, S. E. Daniel, Linda Kilford et al. · Journal of Neurology Neurosurgery & Psychiatry Open access Mar 1992 10,504
2 Autism Diagnostic Interview-Revised: A revised version of a diagnostic interview for caregivers of individuals with possible pervasive developmental disorders Catherine Lord, Michael L. Rutter, Ann Le Couteur · Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders Oct 1994 9,189
3 Movement Disorder Society‐sponsored revision of the Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale (MDS‐UPDRS): Scale presentation and clinimetric testing results Christopher G. Goetz et al. · Movement Disorders Open access 15 Nov 2008 7,783
4 The Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule—Generic: A Standard Measure of Social and Communication Deficits Associated with the Spectrum of Autism Catherine Lord, Susan Risi, Linda Lambrecht et al. · Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders Jun 2000 7,623
5 The Autism-Spectrum Quotient (AQ): Evidence from Asperger Syndrome/High-Functioning Autism, Males and Females, Scientists and Mathematicians Simon Baron‐Cohen, Sally J Wheelwright, Richard H. Skinner et al. · Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders Feb 2001 6,610
All 98 most cited papers, with filters and sorting

Where is Autism Spectrum Disorder Research research done?

The largest centres of Autism Spectrum Disorder Research research in 2022-now are London (United Kingdom), New York (United States), Boston (United States) and Beijing (China). Among places with at least 20 works in it, it is an unusually large share of all research in Seal Beach, San Fernando and Beverly Cove.

Largest cities, 2022-now

  1. 1 LondonUnited Kingdom 303 works
  2. 2 New YorkUnited States 175 works
  3. 3 BostonUnited States 154 works
  4. 4 BeijingChina 149 works
  5. 5 TorontoCanada 134 works
  6. 6 Chapel HillUnited States 129 works
  7. 7 São PauloBrazil 125 works
  8. 8 TehranIran 125 works
  9. 9 ChennaiIndia 123 works
  10. 10 PhiladelphiaUnited States 114 works

Where it is the local speciality

  1. Seal BeachUS · 23.0 works450×
  2. San FernandoUS · 86.4 works257×
  3. Beverly CoveUS · 21.0 works142×
← less than its size predicts1×more →

Location quotient: how much more of its research is in Autism Spectrum Disorder Research than the world average.

See Autism Spectrum Disorder Research on the map

Where is the best place to study Autism Spectrum Disorder Research?

Among universities, judged by research, University College London, Saveetha University and King's College London 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 21.6%fractional works in this field (log) →share of work in the world top 10% →Saveetha UniversityUniversity of Califo…University College L…King's College London
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
1University College LondonUnited Kingdom 69.320.8%3.4×71 -0.9%
2Saveetha UniversityIndia 69.226.2%2.5×32 +960.4%
3King's College LondonUnited Kingdom 66.020.8%5.9×67 -18.1%
4University of California, DavisUnited States 64.722.4%5.5×58 -25.1%
5Harvard UniversityUnited States 64.411.7%2.9×124 -5.6%
6Hamad bin Khalifa UniversityQatar 63.927.2%7.5×12 +78.0%
7Australian Catholic UniversityAustralia 63.535.2%6.4×9 +23.1%
8University of TorontoCanada 60.813.1%3.4×91 -5.6%
9Chinese University of Hong KongChina 59.019.2%2.4×24 +46.8%
10University of CambridgeUnited Kingdom 58.719.4%2.2×35 -26.6%

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 Autism Spectrum Disorder Research, country by country

Is Autism Spectrum Disorder Research research growing?

Output in 2022-2025 was 16% higher than in 2018-2021, peaking in 2025. The fastest-growing topics are Autism Spectrum Disorder Research.

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 Autism Spectrum Disorder Research as a percentage of every work published that year, 0.066% in 2024.

still counting0.025%0.050%0.075%Autism Spectrum Disorder Research0.065% in 202519801990200020102020

Fractional works of Autism Spectrum Disorder Research 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%Autism Spectrum Disorder Research10.0% 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

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

Output in 2022-2025 was 16% higher than in 2018-2021, peaking in 2025. The fastest-growing topics are Autism Spectrum Disorder Research.

Is Autism Spectrum Disorder Research research growing?

Who is researching a cure for autism?

By volume in 2022-now, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill publishes the most Autism Spectrum Disorder Research research, followed by Harvard University and University of Toronto. By volume, the United States and China publish the most (4.3k and 1.2k works in 2022-now).

Which centres lead autism research?

By volume in 2022-now, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill publishes the most Autism Spectrum Disorder Research research, followed by Harvard University and University of Toronto.

Which institutions lead Autism Spectrum Disorder Research research?
All 1,273 questions in the Question Catalogue

Discussion

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