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Topic · Family Practice

Clinical Reasoning and Diagnostic Skills

Clinical Reasoning and Diagnostic Skills is a research topic within Family Practice. Science Explorer counts 20k research works in it since 1950. 18.2% of them reached the world's top 10% most cited for their field and year.

This cluster of papers focuses on the importance of cognitive errors in diagnosis, strategies to minimize them, and the impact of clinical reasoning on diagnostic accuracy. It explores cognitive biases, uncertainty in diagnosis, educational interventions to improve diagnostic reasoning, and the development of expertise in medical decision making. The cluster also emphasizes the role of reflective practice and the use of tools like the Script Concordance Test to enhance diagnostic accuracy and patient safety.

  • Diagnostic Error
  • Clinical Reasoning
  • Cognitive Biases
  • Uncertainty in Diagnosis
  • Medical Decision Making
  • Educational Strategies
  • Patient Safety
  • Expertise Development
  • Script Concordance Test
  • Reflective Practice
Research works
20k
fractional, since 1950
In the world top 10%
3.7k
per year above
Top-10% rate
18.2%
share of its works in the world top 10%
Growth, 2013–17 → 2018–22
+29%
the tick is no change

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

Which countries lead Clinical Reasoning and Diagnostic Skills research?

By volume, the United States and the United Kingdom publish the most (1.5k and 345 works in 2022–2025).

By volume, 2022–2025

  1. 1 United States 1.5k works
  2. 2 United Kingdom 345 works
  3. 3 Canada 230 works
  4. 4 India 215 works
  5. 5 China 173 works
  6. 6 Germany 166 works
  7. 7 Australia 155 works
  8. 8 France 132 works
  9. 9 Netherlands 119 works
  10. 10 Spain 115 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: 47.3%United Kingdom: 11.0%Canada: 7.3%India: 6.9%6 others listed: 27.5%47%largest
United States1,484 · 47.3%United Kingdom345 · 11.0%Canada230 · 7.3%India215 · 6.9%6 others listed861 · 27.5%

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

Which institutions lead Clinical Reasoning and Diagnostic Skills research?

By volume in 2022–2025, Design Intelligence (United States) publishes the most Clinical Reasoning and Diagnostic Skills research, followed by Harvard University and Johns Hopkins University.

By volume, 2022–2025

  1. 1 Design Intelligence (United States)United States 53 works
  2. 2 Harvard UniversityUnited States 23 works
  3. 3 Johns Hopkins UniversityUnited States 22 works
  4. 4 University of California, San FranciscoUnited States 22 works
  5. 5 University of TorontoCanada 22 works
  6. 6 University of MichiganUnited States 19 works
  7. 7 Brigham and Women's HospitalUnited States 16 works
  8. 8 Stanford UniversityUnited States 15 works
  9. 9 University of WashingtonUnited States 14 works
  10. 10 Yale UniversityUnited States 14 works

Who are the leading researchers in Clinical Reasoning and Diagnostic Skills?

The most-cited researchers publishing on Clinical Reasoning and Diagnostic Skills include Andrea C. Tricco, Gordon Guyatt and Wasifa Zarin.

  1. 1 Andrea C. Tricco Canada 18k citations
  2. 2 Gordon Guyatt Canada 6.8k citations
  3. 3 Wasifa Zarin Canada 4.7k citations

Ranked by citations received across their whole record, among researchers with at least three works on this topic.

Where is Clinical Reasoning and Diagnostic Skills research done?

The largest centres of Clinical Reasoning and Diagnostic Skills research in 2022–2025 are London (United Kingdom), Boston (United States), New York (United States) and Norman (United States). Among places with at least 20 works in it, it is an unusually large share of all research in Norman and San Francisco.

Largest cities, 2022–2025

  1. 1 London United Kingdom 89 works
  2. 2 Boston United States 70 works
  3. 3 New York United States 60 works
  4. 4 Norman United States 53 works
  5. 5 Toronto Canada 50 works
  6. 6 Baltimore United States 49 works
  7. 7 Philadelphia United States 48 works
  8. 8 Paris France 44 works
  9. 9 Melbourne Australia 40 works
  10. 10 Singapore Singapore 38 works

Where it is the local speciality

  1. NormanUS · 53.4 works36×
  2. San FranciscoUS · 29.4 works5.2×
← less than its size predicts1×more →

Location quotient: how much more of its research is in Clinical Reasoning and Diagnostic Skills than the world average.

See Clinical Reasoning and Diagnostic Skills on the map

Where is the best place to study Clinical Reasoning and Diagnostic Skills?

Among universities, judged by research, Maastricht University, Dokkyo Medical University and Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences 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%20%40%mean 26.39%fractional works in this node (log) →share in the world top 10% →Maastricht University: 12, 32.6%Dokkyo Medical University: 12, 27.0%Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences: 13, 22.6%University of California, San Francisco: 22, 25.5%Queen's University: 9, 29.8%Harvard University: 23, 28.7%University of Michigan: 19, 32.0%Thomas Jefferson University: 8, 12.9%Monash University: 12, 32.0%Johns Hopkins University: 22, 20.8%Maastricht UniversityDokkyo Medical Unive…University of Califo…Uniformed Services U…
above the meannear itbelow it

One dot per university in the table below. The upper left is the interesting corner: small places doing unusually strong work.

#UniversityScoreTop 10%SpecialisationWorksGrowth
1 Maastricht UniversityNetherlands 63.632.6%8.2×12 -7.1%
2 Dokkyo Medical UniversityJapan 60.227.0%56.3×12 —
3 Uniformed Services University of the Health SciencesUnited States 60.022.6%34.1×13 +71.1%
4 University of California, San FranciscoUnited States 59.525.5%8.0×22 +8.0%
5 Queen's UniversityCanada 57.729.8%5.1×9 +385.4%
6 Harvard UniversityUnited States 56.628.7%4.2×23 +52.5%
7 University of MichiganUnited States 55.632.0%3.2×19 +120.8%
8 Thomas Jefferson UniversityUnited States 53.612.9%9.7×8 +259.0%
9 Monash UniversityAustralia 50.632.0%3.2×12 +56.3%
10 Johns Hopkins UniversityUnited States 48.820.8%4.8×22 +50.4%

Universities only. Score blends excellence (30%), specialisation (25%), size (20%), growth (15%) and international reach (10%), 2015–2022; growth compares 2010–14 with 2015–19.

Is Clinical Reasoning and Diagnostic Skills research growing?

Output in 2018–2022 was 29% higher than in 2013–2017, peaking in 2025. The fastest-growing topics are Clinical Reasoning and Diagnostic Skills.

19801990200020102020
grewheldshrank

The same series as a ribbon — one cell per year, darker for more. The line above answers how much; this answers when.

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.