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Topic · Pharmacology

Cannabis and Cannabinoid Research

Cannabis and Cannabinoid Research is a research topic within Pharmacology. Science Explorer counts 32k 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 explores the endocannabinoid system, including the role of cannabinoid receptors, the effects of cannabis use on health, and the potential therapeutic applications of cannabinoids in neurological and psychiatric disorders. It covers topics such as synaptic transmission, neuroprotection, metabolic disorders, and the use of medical marijuana.

  • Endocannabinoid System
  • Cannabinoid Receptors
  • Cannabis Use
  • Neurological Disorders
  • Psychiatric Effects
  • Metabolic Disorders
  • CB1 and CB2 Receptors
  • Medical Marijuana
  • Synaptic Transmission
  • Neuroprotection
Research works
32k
fractional, since 1950
In the world top 10%
3.2k
per year above
Top-10% rate
10.0%
share of its works in the world top 10%
Growth, 2018-21 → 2022-25
+15%
the tick is no change
Largest producer
United States
50% of the 10 largest, 2022-now
Cannabis and Cannabinoid Research

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

Which countries lead Cannabis and Cannabinoid Research research?

By volume, the United States and Canada publish the most (2.9k and 591 works in 2022-now).

By volume, 2022-now

  1. 1 United States 2.9k works
  2. 2 Canada 591 works
  3. 3 China 468 works
  4. 4 Brazil 358 works
  5. 5 Italy 313 works
  6. 6 Australia 266 works
  7. 7 United Kingdom 245 works
  8. 8 Germany 240 works
  9. 9 India 218 works
  10. 10 Spain 216 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: 49.8%Canada: 10.2%China: 8.1%Brazil: 6.2%6 others listed: 25.8%50%largest
United States2,892 · 49.8%Canada591 · 10.2%China468 · 8.1%Brazil358 · 6.2%6 others listed1,498 · 25.8%

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

Which institutions lead Cannabis and Cannabinoid Research research?

By volume in 2022-now, University of Toronto publishes the most Cannabis and Cannabinoid Research research, followed by Harvard University and Johns Hopkins University.

By volume, 2022-now

  1. 1 University of TorontoCanada 90 works
  2. 2 Harvard UniversityUnited States 69 works
  3. 3 Johns Hopkins UniversityUnited States 50 works
  4. 4 University of California San DiegoUnited States 41 works
  5. 5 University of WashingtonUnited States 40 works
  6. 6 National Institutes of HealthUnited States 39 works
  7. 7 University of MichiganUnited States 37 works
  8. 8 Yale UniversityUnited States 36 works
  9. 9 University of California, San FranciscoUnited States 35 works
  10. 10 United States Department of Veterans AffairsUnited States 35 works

Who are the leading researchers in Cannabis and Cannabinoid Research?

The most-cited researchers publishing on Cannabis and Cannabinoid Research include Theo Vos, George Davey Smith and Mark J. Daly.

  1. 1 Theo Vos United States 439k citations
  2. 2 George Davey Smith United Kingdom 435k citations
  3. 3 Mark J. Daly United States 403k citations
  4. 4 Julian P. T. Higgins United Kingdom 390k citations
  5. 5 Guido Kroemer France 386k citations
  6. 6 Ronald C. Kessler United States 360k citations
  7. 7 Giuseppe Remuzzi Italy 328k citations
  8. 8 Matthias Egger Switzerland 326k citations
  9. 9 Gordon Henry Guyatt Canada 315k citations
  10. 10 Dan J. Stein South Africa 306k 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 Cannabis and Cannabinoid Research?

The most cited paper in Cannabis and Cannabinoid Research is "Autophagy: Renovation of Cells and Tissues" (Noboru Mizushima, Masaaki Komatsu, 2011), with 6,527 citations. Next come "Autophagy fights disease through cellular self-digestion" (6,507) and "Isolation and Structure of a Brain Constituent That Binds to the Cannabinoid Receptor" (5,666).

Most cited papers
#PaperReleasedCitations
1 Autophagy: Renovation of Cells and Tissues Noboru Mizushima, Masaaki Komatsu · Cell Open access Nov 2011 6,527
2 Autophagy fights disease through cellular self-digestion Noboru Mizushima, Beth Levine, Ana María Cuervo et al. · Nature Open access Feb 2008 6,507
3 Isolation and Structure of a Brain Constituent That Binds to the Cannabinoid Receptor William A. Devane, Lumir Hanuš, Aviva Breuer et al. · Science 18 Dec 1992 5,666
4 Molecular characterization of a peripheral receptor for cannabinoids Sean Munro, Kerrie L. Thomas, Muna Abu-Shaar · Nature Sep 1993 5,110
5 Structure of a cannabinoid receptor and functional expression of the cloned cDNA Lisa A. Matsuda, Stephen J. Lolait, Michael Brownstein et al. · Nature 9 Aug 1990 5,040
All 100 most cited papers, with filters and sorting

Where is Cannabis and Cannabinoid Research research done?

The largest centres of Cannabis and Cannabinoid Research research in 2022-now are New York (United States), Toronto (Canada), London (United Kingdom) and São Paulo (Brazil).

Largest cities, 2022-now

  1. 1 New YorkUnited States 123 works
  2. 2 TorontoCanada 117 works
  3. 3 LondonUnited Kingdom 102 works
  4. 4 São PauloBrazil 80 works
  5. 5 BaltimoreUnited States 76 works
  6. 6 MontrealCanada 72 works
  7. 7 Los AngelesUnited States 72 works
  8. 8 San DiegoUnited States 71 works
  9. 9 BostonUnited States 69 works
  10. 10 BeijingChina 69 works
See Cannabis and Cannabinoid Research on the map

Where is the best place to study Cannabis and Cannabinoid Research?

Among universities, judged by research, University of Toronto, Université Laval and The University of Queensland 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%mean 15.19%fractional works in this field (log) →share of work in the world top 10% →The University of Qu…Université LavalHebrew University of…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.

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 of TorontoCanada 73.510.7%6.5×90 +18.3%
2Université LavalCanada 73.215.9%9.2×27 +64.3%
3The University of QueenslandAustralia 70.820.5%4.1×26 +47.7%
4Hebrew University of JerusalemIsrael 68.614.9%7.8×28 +13.3%
5University of BathUnited Kingdom 68.319.3%6.5×11 +98.2%
6University of California, San FranciscoUnited States 67.413.3%7.3×35 +23.9%
7The University of SydneyAustralia 67.317.6%3.9×32 +18.0%
8Harvard UniversityUnited States 66.412.4%3.2×69 +0.4%
9University of OttawaCanada 65.017.4%5.7×26 +50.6%
10University of WashingtonUnited States 63.99.9%5.2×40 +35.3%

Universities only. The score blends 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 Cannabis and Cannabinoid Research, country by country

Is Cannabis and Cannabinoid Research research growing?

Output in 2022-2025 was 15% higher than in 2018-2021, peaking in 2025. The fastest-growing topics are Cannabis and Cannabinoid 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 Cannabis and Cannabinoid Research as a percentage of every work published that year, 0.032% in 2024.

still counting0.020%0.040%0.060%Cannabis and Cannabinoid Research0.032% in 202519801990200020102020

Fractional works of Cannabis and Cannabinoid 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%Cannabis and Cannabinoid Research9.9% 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 leads cannabis research?

By volume in 2022-now, University of Toronto publishes the most Cannabis and Cannabinoid Research research, followed by Harvard University and Johns Hopkins University. By volume, the United States and Canada publish the most (2.9k and 591 works in 2022-now).

All 1,273 questions in the Question Catalogue

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