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Topic · Pulmonary and Respiratory Medicine

Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) Research

Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) Research is a research topic within Pulmonary and Respiratory Medicine. Science Explorer counts 70k research works in it since 1950. 10.2% of them reached the world's top 10% most cited for their field and year.

This cluster of papers focuses on the standardisation, diagnosis, and management of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), including the use of spirometry for lung function testing, global burden analysis, exacerbation frequency, and the development of guidelines for treatment and prevention. It also explores the relationship between COPD and systemic inflammation, comorbidities, and mortality.

  • COPD
  • spirometry
  • lung function
  • pulmonary disease
  • global burden
  • respiratory
  • obstruction
  • exacerbations
  • management
  • diagnosis
Research works
70k
fractional, since 1950
In the world top 10%
7.2k
per year above
Top-10% rate
10.2%
share of its works in the world top 10%
Growth, 2018-21 → 2022-25
+6%
the tick is no change
Largest producer
United States
29% of the 10 largest, 2022-now
Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) Research

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

Which countries lead Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) Research research?

By volume, the United States and China publish the most (3k and 2.4k works in 2022-now).

By volume, 2022-now

  1. 1 United States 3k works
  2. 2 China 2.4k works
  3. 3 United Kingdom 1.2k works
  4. 4 India 777 works
  5. 5 Spain 533 works
  6. 6 Germany 513 works
  7. 7 Italy 508 works
  8. 8 Canada 484 works
  9. 9 Japan 474 works
  10. 10 Brazil 456 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: 29.1%China: 23.4%United Kingdom: 11.6%India: 7.4%6 others listed: 28.5%29%largest
United States3,037 · 29.1%China2,438 · 23.4%United Kingdom1,213 · 11.6%India777 · 7.4%6 others listed2,968 · 28.5%

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

Which institutions lead Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) Research research?

By volume in 2022-now, Harvard University publishes the most Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) Research research, followed by Imperial College London and Sichuan University.

By volume, 2022-now

  1. 1 Harvard UniversityUnited States 152 works
  2. 2 Imperial College LondonUnited Kingdom 99 works
  3. 3 Sichuan UniversityChina 89 works
  4. 4 AstraZeneca (United Kingdom)United Kingdom 82 works
  5. 5 Mayo ClinicUnited States 72 works
  6. 6 Johns Hopkins UniversityUnited States 72 works
  7. 7 University of GroningenNetherlands 71 works
  8. 8 University of North Carolina at Chapel HillUnited States 68 works
  9. 9 InsermFrance 66 works
  10. 10 University of TorontoCanada 64 works

Who are the leading researchers in Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) Research?

The most-cited researchers publishing on Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) Research include Christopher J L Murray, Rob Knight and Simon Iain Hay.

  1. 1 Christopher J L Murray United States 583k citations
  2. 2 Rob Knight United States 468k citations
  3. 3 Simon Iain Hay United States 452k citations
  4. 4 Theo Vos United States 439k citations
  5. 5 George Davey Smith United Kingdom 435k citations
  6. 6 Ali H. Mokdad United States 429k citations
  7. 7 Walter Churchill Willett United States 411k citations
  8. 8 Stacey L. Gabriel United States 402k citations
  9. 9 Jost Bruno Jonas Germany 350k citations
  10. 10 John J.V. McMurray United Kingdom 349k 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 Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) Research?

The most cited paper in Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) Research 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 "The American-European Consensus Conference On Ards. Definitions, Mechanisms, Relevant Outcomes, And Clinical Trial Coordination" (6,812).

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 The American-European Consensus Conference On Ards. Definitions, Mechanisms, Relevant Outcomes, And Clinical Trial Coordination Gordon R. Bernard, Antonio Artigas, Kenneth L. Brigham et al. · American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine Mar 1994 6,812
4 Global Strategy for the Diagnosis, Management, and Prevention of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease ROMAIN A. PAUWELS, A. Sonia Buist, PETER M. A. CALVERLEY et al. · American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine Apr 2001 6,616
5 Interpretative strategies for lung function tests Raffaello Pellegrino, Giovanni Viegi, Vito Brusasco et al. · European Respiratory Journal Open access Nov 2005 6,062
All 100 most cited papers, with filters and sorting

Where is Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) Research research done?

The largest centres of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) Research research in 2022-now are London (United Kingdom), Beijing (China), Guangzhou (China) and Seoul (South Korea). Among places with at least 20 works in it, it is an unusually large share of all research in Aryanah.

Largest cities, 2022-now

  1. 1 LondonUnited Kingdom 388 works
  2. 2 BeijingChina 342 works
  3. 3 GuangzhouChina 216 works
  4. 4 SeoulSouth Korea 193 works
  5. 5 ShanghaiChina 173 works
  6. 6 BostonUnited States 156 works
  7. 7 ChengduChina 155 works
  8. 8 ParisFrance 155 works
  9. 9 MadridSpain 148 works
  10. 10 IstanbulTürkiye 121 works

Where it is the local speciality

  1. AryanahTN · 40.8 works24×
← less than its size predicts1×more →

Location quotient: how much more of its research is in Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) Research than the world average.

See Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) Research on the map

Where is the best place to study Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) Research?

Among universities, judged by research, Imperial College London, Harvard University and University of Groningen 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%10%20%mean 16.24%fractional works in this field (log) →share of work in the world top 10% →Imperial College Lon…Harvard UniversityUniversity of Leices…University of Gronin…
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
1Imperial College LondonUnited Kingdom 78.622.4%7.2×99 -5.2%
2Harvard UniversityUnited States 75.518.0%3.5×152 -0.8%
3University of GroningenNetherlands 69.315.0%7.5×71 +2.7%
4University of LeicesterUnited Kingdom 67.315.4%15.8×60 +1.3%
5University of Alabama at BirminghamUnited States 66.514.4%8.6×58 +35.4%
6Johns Hopkins UniversityUnited States 65.412.7%3.4×72 +16.6%
7Sichuan UniversityChina 64.117.6%2.8×88 +103.8%
8Maastricht UniversityNetherlands 63.715.0%6.3×34 -0.5%
9McMaster UniversityCanada 63.515.1%4.2×34 +17.9%
10KU LeuvenBelgium 63.216.8%3.4×45 -5.8%

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 Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) Research, country by country

Is Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) Research research growing?

Output in 2022-2025 was 6% higher than in 2018-2021, peaking in 2025. The fastest-growing topics are Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) 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 Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) Research as a percentage of every work published that year, 0.063% in 2024.

still counting0.050%0.10%Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) Research0.071% in 202519801990200020102020

Fractional works of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) 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%Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) Research10.3% 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.

Questions people ask

Who is researching a cure for COPD?

By volume in 2022-now, Harvard University publishes the most Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) Research research, followed by Imperial College London and Sichuan University. By volume, the United States and China publish the most (3k and 2.4k works in 2022-now).

All 1,273 questions in the Question Catalogue

Discussion

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