Circadian rhythm and melatonin

Circadian rhythm and melatonin is a research topic within Endocrine and Autonomic Systems. Science Explorer counts 46k 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 focuses on the molecular, genetic, and physiological aspects of mammalian circadian rhythms, including the role of the circadian clock, melatonin, retinal ganglion cells, metabolism, peripheral clocks, phototransduction, gene expression, oxidative stress, and the health effects of sleep disruption.

Circadian Clock
Melatonin
Retinal Ganglion Cells
Metabolism
Peripheral Clocks
Phototransduction
Gene Expression
Oxidative Stress
Sleep Disruption
Health Effects

Research works: 46k
In the world top 10%: 4.6k
Top-10% rate: 9.9%
Growth, 2018-21 → 2022-25: +12%
Largest producer: United States

Circadian rhythm and melatonin

Which countries lead Circadian rhythm and melatonin research?

By volume, the United States and China publish the most (2k and 1.7k works in 2022-now).

By volume, 2022-now

1 United States 2k works
2 China 1.7k works
3 Japan 432 works
4 Germany 352 works
5 India 351 works
6 United Kingdom 324 works
7 Russia 223 works
8 France 222 works
9 Italy 212 works
10 Brazil 210 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 States2,008 · 33.4%China1,671 · 27.8%Japan432 · 7.2%Germany352 · 5.9%6 others listed1,542 · 25.7%

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

Which institutions lead Circadian rhythm and melatonin research?

By volume in 2022-now, Harvard University publishes the most Circadian rhythm and melatonin research, followed by Russian Academy of Sciences and Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique.

By volume, 2022-now

1 Harvard UniversityUnited States 103 works
2 Russian Academy of SciencesRussia 71 works
3 Centre National de la Recherche ScientifiqueFrance 65 works
4 Chinese Academy of SciencesChina 47 works
5 InsermFrance 39 works
6 Stanford UniversityUnited States 35 works
7 University of FloridaUnited States 34 works
8 University of MichiganUnited States 34 works
9 Sun Yat-sen UniversityChina 33 works
10 University of PittsburghUnited States 33 works

Who are the leading researchers in Circadian rhythm and melatonin?

The most-cited researchers publishing on Circadian rhythm and melatonin include Rob Knight, George Davey Smith and Walter Churchill Willett.

1 Rob Knight United States 468k citations
2 George Davey Smith United Kingdom 435k citations
3 Walter Churchill Willett United States 411k citations
4 Mark J. Daly United States 403k citations
5 Guido Kroemer France 386k citations
6 Ronald C. Kessler United States 360k citations
7 Jost Bruno Jonas Germany 350k citations
8 Hermann Brenner Germany 343k citations
9 Jun Wang China 340k citations
10 Giuseppe Remuzzi Italy 328k 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 Circadian rhythm and melatonin?

The most cited paper in Circadian rhythm and melatonin is "Protective and Damaging Effects of Stress Mediators" (Bruce S. McEwen, 1998), with 6,716 citations. Next come "Hallmarks of aging: An expanding universe" (6,477) and "The structure of the nervous system of the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans" (5,884).

Most cited papers
#	Paper	Released	Citations
1	Protective and Damaging Effects of Stress Mediators Bruce S. McEwen · New England Journal of Medicine	15 Jan 1998	6,716
2	Hallmarks of aging: An expanding universe Carlos López-Otı́n, Marı́a A. Blasco, Linda Partridge et al. · Cell Open access	2023	6,477
3	The structure of the nervous system of the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans JG White, Eileen Southgate, J. Nichol Thomson et al. · Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences	12 Nov 1986	5,884
4	Orexins and Orexin Receptors: A Family of Hypothalamic Neuropeptides and G Protein-Coupled Receptors that Regulate Feeding Behavior Takeshi Sakurai et al. · Cell Open access	Feb 1998	5,551
5	Inflamm‐aging: An Evolutionary Perspective on Immunosenescence Claudio Franceschi, Massimiliano Bonafè, Silvana Valensin et al. · Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences	Jun 2000	5,391

All 99 most cited papers, with filters and sorting

Where is Circadian rhythm and melatonin research done?

The largest centres of Circadian rhythm and melatonin research in 2022-now are Beijing (China), Shanghai (China), Tokyo (Japan) and Guangzhou (China). Among places with at least 20 works in it, it is an unusually large share of all research in Birmingham.

Largest cities, 2022-now

1 BeijingChina 248 works
2 ShanghaiChina 132 works
3 TokyoJapan 115 works
4 GuangzhouChina 115 works
5 ParisFrance 99 works
6 SeoulSouth Korea 83 works
7 New YorkUnited States 82 works
8 LondonUnited Kingdom 78 works
9 MoscowRussia 77 works
10 WuhanChina 77 works

Where it is the local speciality

BirminghamUS · 27.8 works6.0×

← less than its size predicts1×more →

Location quotient: how much more of its research is in Circadian rhythm and melatonin than the world average.

See Circadian rhythm and melatonin on the map

Where is the best place to study Circadian rhythm and melatonin?

Among universities, judged by research, Harvard University, University of Geneva and Stanford University 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.

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.

#	University	Score	Top 10%	Specialisation	Works	Growth
1	Harvard UniversityUnited States	86.2	20.3%	4.3×	103	+5.3%
2	University of GenevaSwitzerland	63.6	27.7%	3.2×	10	+12.7%
3	Stanford UniversityUnited States	63.0	13.1%	3.2×	35	+23.7%
4	Washington University in St. LouisUnited States	57.9	15.3%	4.7×	25	+8.2%
5	University of BaselSwitzerland	56.6	14.7%	5.6×	16	+26.3%
6	Heinrich Heine University DüsseldorfGermany	56.5	22.7%	4.4×	12	+30.0%
7	Jinan UniversityChina	56.1	20.9%	3.5×	14	+33.5%
8	Southeast UniversityChina	55.6	31.6%	0.8×	9	+186.1%
9	University of FreiburgGermany	55.5	21.1%	3.8×	13	+27.4%
10	California Institute of TechnologyUnited States	55.0	18.5%	3.0×	8	+17.7%
11	Sun Yat-sen UniversityChina	54.4	13.8%	2.2×	34	+44.4%
12	University of FloridaUnited States	54.3	12.0%	4.2×	34	+40.7%
13	Huazhong University of Science and TechnologyChina	54.0	16.5%	2.0×	27	+33.0%
14	Johns Hopkins UniversityUnited States	53.6	14.0%	2.1×	24	+35.1%
15	University of ManchesterUnited Kingdom	53.4	14.9%	3.6×	22	+5.7%
16	China Agricultural UniversityChina	53.0	11.4%	5.4×	22	+43.0%
17	Peking UniversityChina	52.8	13.8%	2.1×	33	+80.3%
18	Karolinska InstitutetSweden	52.4	17.9%	3.4×	14	+1.5%
19	University of SurreyUnited Kingdom	52.4	10.1%	7.5×	14	+2.5%
20	University of CoimbraPortugal	52.4	26.1%	2.4×	8	+71.5%
21	University of California, IrvineUnited States	52.3	12.8%	4.3×	20	+3.0%
22	Southern Medical UniversityChina	52.1	16.5%	3.5×	16	+145.9%
23	Soochow UniversityChina	52.0	13.3%	4.5×	33	+93.4%
24	Zhejiang UniversityChina	52.0	15.4%	1.4×	28	+40.6%
25	Shanghai Jiao Tong UniversityChina	51.9	14.5%	1.4×	29	+39.7%
26	Anhui Medical UniversityChina	51.9	10.4%	8.4×	29	+125.3%
27	University of Alabama at BirminghamUnited States	51.9	14.8%	7.1×	26	+1.5%
28	Sichuan UniversityChina	51.3	17.1%	1.7×	29	+139.4%
29	University of OxfordUnited Kingdom	51.2	15.2%	2.4×	26	-31.8%
30	University of PennsylvaniaUnited States	49.7	14.2%	3.5×	27	-32.8%
31	University of PittsburghUnited States	49.6	9.4%	5.5×	33	-11.4%
32	University of BernSwitzerland	49.5	11.1%	4.2×	17	+70.4%
33	University of California San DiegoUnited States	49.4	15.7%	3.5×	25	-16.4%
34	University of Massachusetts Chan Medical SchoolUnited States	49.2	10.6%	9.0×	11	+17.8%
35	Oregon Health & Science UniversityUnited States	49.1	13.0%	7.1×	17	+1.3%
36	University of MichiganUnited States	48.9	7.6%	3.0×	34	+12.2%
37	University of CopenhagenDenmark	48.9	12.1%	3.3×	23	+10.7%
38	University of CincinnatiUnited States	48.9	11.2%	4.1×	18	+12.0%
39	The University of Texas at San AntonioUnited States	48.9	21.8%	4.9×	12	-50.1%
40	University of California, San FranciscoUnited States	48.3	9.2%	3.2×	17	-9.0%
41	West Virginia UniversityUnited States	47.0	21.6%	4.1×	10	-8.8%
42	Chinese University of Hong KongChina	41.1	6.5%	2.2×	12	+71.6%
43	The University of Texas Health Science Center at HoustonUnited States	40.3	11.0%	6.8×	15	-18.8%
44	King Saud UniversitySaudi Arabia	40.1	9.6%	1.4×	10	+76.7%
45	University of Hong KongChina	36.9	14.3%	1.3×	9	+1.1%
46	University of LübeckGermany	36.2	8.8%	8.9×	10	-36.1%
47	Comenius University BratislavaSlovakia	35.4	9.1%	8.6×	12	+0.5%
48	Medical University of LodzPoland	34.0	9.7%	8.8×	10	+63.3%
49	Universidade de São PauloBrazil	33.6	3.8%	2.1×	32	-5.6%
50	KU LeuvenBelgium	31.8	8.1%	1.4×	10	+4.0%
51	Imperial College LondonUnited Kingdom	31.3	7.0%	1.4×	10	-12.0%
52	Taipei Medical UniversityTaiwan	29.6	5.8%	6.7×	10	-2.0%

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 Circadian rhythm and melatonin, country by country

Is Circadian rhythm and melatonin research growing?

Output in 2022-2025 was 12% higher than in 2018-2021, peaking in 2025. The fastest-growing topics are Circadian rhythm and melatonin.

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 Circadian rhythm and melatonin as a percentage of every work published that year, 0.034% in 2024.

Fractional works of Circadian rhythm and melatonin 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.

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 melatonin and the body clock, and is it growing?

Output in 2022-2025 was 12% higher than in 2018-2021, peaking in 2025. The fastest-growing topics are Circadian rhythm and melatonin.

Is Circadian rhythm and melatonin research growing?

All 1,273 questions in the Question Catalogue

Discussion

Ask a question or share a note about Circadian rhythm and melatonin. Posts are plain text and can be reported.

Which countries lead Circadian rhythm and melatonin research?

By volume, 2022-now

How concentrated that is

Which institutions lead Circadian rhythm and melatonin research?

By volume, 2022-now

Who are the leading researchers in Circadian rhythm and melatonin?

What are the most cited papers in Circadian rhythm and melatonin?

Where is Circadian rhythm and melatonin research done?

Largest cities, 2022-now

Where it is the local speciality

Where is the best place to study Circadian rhythm and melatonin?

Is Circadian rhythm and melatonin research growing?

Its share of all research

How much of it reaches the world top 10%

Which topics inside it are moving

Related research

Questions people ask

How much research is there on melatonin and the body clock, and is it growing?

Discussion