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Topic · Social Psychology

Ergonomics and Musculoskeletal Disorders

Ergonomics and Musculoskeletal Disorders is a research topic within Social Psychology. Science Explorer counts 28k research works in it since 1950. 10.1% of them reached the world's top 10% most cited for their field and year.

This cluster of papers explores the impact of technology use on human health and comfort, with a focus on ergonomics, musculoskeletal symptoms, visual fatigue, and the relationship between technology design and human factors. It covers topics such as computer vision syndrome, seating comfort, digital eye strain, smartphone use, and ergonomic interventions in work environments.

  • Computer Vision Syndrome
  • Musculoskeletal Symptoms
  • Visual Fatigue
  • Anthropometric Measurements
  • Seating Comfort
  • Digital Eye Strain
  • Workstation Ergonomics
  • Smartphone Use
  • Posture Analysis
  • Human Motion Simulation
Research works
28k
fractional, since 1950
In the world top 10%
2.8k
per year above
Top-10% rate
10.1%
share of its works in the world top 10%
Growth, 2018-21 → 2022-25
+19%
the tick is no change
Largest producer
China
21% of the 10 largest, 2022-now
Ergonomics and Musculoskeletal Disorders

Which countries lead Ergonomics and Musculoskeletal Disorders research?

By volume, China and the United States publish the most (810 and 680 works in 2022-now).

By volume, 2022-now

  1. 1 China 810 works
  2. 2 United States 680 works
  3. 3 India 670 works
  4. 4 Indonesia 417 works
  5. 5 Japan 386 works
  6. 6 Türkiye 243 works
  7. 7 South Korea 196 works
  8. 8 Germany 177 works
  9. 9 United Kingdom 156 works
  10. 10 Italy 148 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.

China: 20.9%United States: 17.5%India: 17.3%Indonesia: 10.7%6 others listed: 33.6%21%largest
China810 · 20.9%United States680 · 17.5%India670 · 17.3%Indonesia417 · 10.7%6 others listed1,306 · 33.6%

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

Which institutions lead Ergonomics and Musculoskeletal Disorders research?

By volume in 2022-now, Hong Kong Polytechnic University publishes the most Ergonomics and Musculoskeletal Disorders research, followed by Universiti Teknologi MARA and Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique.

By volume, 2022-now

  1. 1 Hong Kong Polytechnic UniversityChina 21 works
  2. 2 Universiti Teknologi MARAMalaysia 19 works
  3. 3 Centre National de la Recherche ScientifiqueFrance 18 works
  4. 4 Indian Institute of Information Technology Design and Manufacturing JabalpurIndia 17 works
  5. 5 University of IndonesiaIndonesia 16 works
  6. 6 SRM Institute of Science and TechnologyIndia 16 works
  7. 7 Purdue University West LafayetteUnited States 16 works
  8. 8 United States Department of DefenseUnited States 15 works
  9. 9 University of WaterlooCanada 15 works
  10. 10 Southeast UniversityChina 15 works

Who are the leading researchers in Ergonomics and Musculoskeletal Disorders?

The most-cited researchers publishing on Ergonomics and Musculoskeletal Disorders include Jost Bruno Jonas, Cyrus Cooper and Mika Kivimäki.

  1. 1 Jost Bruno Jonas Germany 350k citations
  2. 2 Cyrus Cooper United Kingdom 342k citations
  3. 3 Mika Kivimäki United Kingdom 318k citations
  4. 4 Luigi Ferrucci United States 281k citations
  5. 5 Rahman Shiri Finland 238k citations
  6. 6 Tien Yin Wong Singapore 237k 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 Ergonomics and Musculoskeletal Disorders?

The most cited paper in Ergonomics and Musculoskeletal Disorders is "Standardised Nordic questionnaires for the analysis of musculoskeletal symptoms" (Ilkka Kuorinka, Björn G. Jonsson, Åsa Kilbom et al., 1987), with 5,161 citations. Next come "RULA: a survey method for the investigation of work-related upper limb disorders" (3,344) and "Rapid Entire Body Assessment (REBA)" (2,215).

Most cited papers
#PaperReleasedCitations
1 Standardised Nordic questionnaires for the analysis of musculoskeletal symptoms Ilkka Kuorinka, Björn G. Jonsson, Åsa Kilbom et al. · Applied Ergonomics Sep 1987 5,161
2 RULA: a survey method for the investigation of work-related upper limb disorders Lynn McAtamney, E. Nigel Corlett · Applied Ergonomics Apr 1993 3,344
3 Rapid Entire Body Assessment (REBA) Sue M. Hignett, Lynn McAtamney · Applied Ergonomics Apr 2000 2,215
4 Revised NIOSH equation for the design and evaluation of manual lifting tasks Thomas Waters, Vern Putz‐Anderson, Arun Garg et al. · Ergonomics Jul 1993 2,055
5 Cumulative Sleepiness, Mood Disturbance, and Psychomotor Vigilance Performance Decrements During a Week of Sleep Restricted to 4–5 Hours per Night David F. Dinges, Frances M. Pack, Katherine E. Williams et al. · SLEEP Open access Apr 1997 2,042
All 100 most cited papers, with filters and sorting

Where is Ergonomics and Musculoskeletal Disorders research done?

The largest centres of Ergonomics and Musculoskeletal Disorders research in 2022-now are Beijing (China), Tokyo (Japan), Shanghai (China) and Seoul (South Korea).

Largest cities, 2022-now

  1. 1 BeijingChina 143 works
  2. 2 TokyoJapan 126 works
  3. 3 ShanghaiChina 78 works
  4. 4 SeoulSouth Korea 71 works
  5. 5 ChennaiIndia 65 works
  6. 6 TehranIran 63 works
  7. 7 IstanbulTürkiye 60 works
  8. 8 JakartaIndonesia 52 works
  9. 9 NanjingChina 51 works
  10. 10 LahorePakistan 50 works
See Ergonomics and Musculoskeletal Disorders on the map

Where is the best place to study Ergonomics and Musculoskeletal Disorders?

Among universities, judged by research, Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Delft University of Technology and University of Waterloo 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 21.21%fractional works in this field (log) →share of work in the world top 10% →Hong Kong Polytechni…Delft University of …University of WaterlooSoutheast University
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
1Hong Kong Polytechnic UniversityChina 88.631.1%4.6×21 -15.2%
2Delft University of TechnologyNetherlands 63.520.3%3.7×13 +6.3%
3University of WaterlooCanada 61.617.4%5.2×15 -24.4%
4Southeast UniversityChina 60.416.5%1.9×15 +54.4%
5Politecnico di MilanoItaly 58.124.5%2.8×11 +12.4%
6Nanjing Forestry UniversityChina 57.431.7%3.9×9 +150.0%
7University of MinhoPortugal 53.418.1%6.3×12 -23.8%
8Universidade do PortoPortugal 53.223.0%2.6×9 +8.2%
9SRM Institute of Science and TechnologyIndia 53.19.4%2.9×16 +166.2%
10Zhejiang UniversityChina 53.020.1%0.9×12 +191.1%

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 Ergonomics and Musculoskeletal Disorders, country by country

Is Ergonomics and Musculoskeletal Disorders research growing?

Output in 2022-2025 was 19% higher than in 2018-2021, peaking in 2025. The fastest-growing topics are Ergonomics and Musculoskeletal Disorders.

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 Ergonomics and Musculoskeletal Disorders as a percentage of every work published that year, 0.028% in 2024.

still counting0.020%0.040%Ergonomics and Musculoskeletal Disorders0.027% in 202519801990200020102020

Fractional works of Ergonomics and Musculoskeletal Disorders 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%Ergonomics and Musculoskeletal Disorders10.3% 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.

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