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Topic · Toxicology

Forensic Toxicology and Drug Analysis

Forensic Toxicology and Drug Analysis is a research topic within Toxicology. Science Explorer counts 22k research works in it since 1950. 22.0% of them reached the world's top 10% most cited for their field and year.

This cluster of papers covers a wide range of topics related to forensic toxicology, including the analysis and detection of designer drugs, cannabinoids, synthetic cathinones, and other psychoactive substances. It also explores methods for validation, assessment of matrix effects, and the clinical pharmacology and toxicity of various drugs. The papers provide insights into the advancements in forensic toxicology methods and their applications in drug analysis and toxicity assessment.

  • Forensic Toxicology
  • Drug Analysis
  • Designer Drugs
  • Cannabinoids
  • Synthetic Cathinones
  • Method Validation
  • Psychoactive Substances
  • Clinical Pharmacology
  • Toxicity Assessment
  • Postmortem Toxicology
Research works
22k
fractional, since 1950
In the world top 10%
4.9k
per year above
Top-10% rate
22.0%
share of its works in the world top 10%
Growth, 2013–17 → 2018–22
+19%
the tick is no change

Which countries lead Forensic Toxicology and Drug Analysis research?

By volume, the United States and China publish the most (1.2k and 232 works in 2022–2025).

By volume, 2022–2025

  1. 1 United States 1.2k works
  2. 2 China 232 works
  3. 3 Canada 169 works
  4. 4 Australia 167 works
  5. 5 United Kingdom 166 works
  6. 6 Italy 161 works
  7. 7 France 156 works
  8. 8 Germany 134 works
  9. 9 India 118 works
  10. 10 Spain 116 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: 45.4%China: 8.9%Canada: 6.5%Australia: 6.4%6 others listed: 32.8%45%largest
United States1,181 · 45.4%China232 · 8.9%Canada169 · 6.5%Australia167 · 6.4%6 others listed852 · 32.8%

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

Which institutions lead Forensic Toxicology and Drug Analysis research?

By volume in 2022–2025, University of California, San Francisco publishes the most Forensic Toxicology and Drug Analysis research, followed by Johns Hopkins University and Institute of Forensic Science.

By volume, 2022–2025

  1. 1 University of California, San FranciscoUnited States 20 works
  2. 2 Johns Hopkins UniversityUnited States 18 works
  3. 3 Institute of Forensic ScienceChina 18 works
  4. 4 New York UniversityUnited States 15 works
  5. 5 King's College LondonUnited Kingdom 14 works
  6. 6 Yale UniversityUnited States 14 works
  7. 7 University of WashingtonUnited States 14 works
  8. 8 Monash UniversityAustralia 13 works
  9. 9 University of TorontoCanada 13 works
  10. 10 University of California San DiegoUnited States 13 works

Who are the leading researchers in Forensic Toxicology and Drug Analysis?

The most-cited researchers publishing on Forensic Toxicology and Drug Analysis include Louisa Degenhardt, Félix Carvalho and Paul I. Dargan.

  1. 1 Louisa Degenhardt Australia 5.7k citations
  2. 2 Félix Carvalho Portugal 4.6k citations
  3. 3 Paul I. Dargan United Kingdom 4.2k citations
  4. 4 Don C. Des Jarlais United States 4k citations
  5. 5 Trevor W. Robbins United Kingdom 3.1k citations

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

Where is Forensic Toxicology and Drug Analysis research done?

The largest centres of Forensic Toxicology and Drug Analysis research in 2022–2025 are New York (United States), London (United Kingdom), Paris (France) and Melbourne (Australia).

Largest cities, 2022–2025

  1. 1 New York United States 69 works
  2. 2 London United Kingdom 58 works
  3. 3 Paris France 55 works
  4. 4 Melbourne Australia 41 works
  5. 5 Beijing China 39 works
  6. 6 Baltimore United States 36 works
  7. 7 Shanghai China 36 works
  8. 8 Rome Italy 36 works
  9. 9 Toronto Canada 35 works
  10. 10 Sydney Australia 34 works
See Forensic Toxicology and Drug Analysis on the map

Where is the best place to study Forensic Toxicology and Drug Analysis?

Among universities, judged by research, University of California, San Francisco, New York University and Thomas Jefferson 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.

0%20%40%mean 33.92%fractional works in this node (log) →share in the world top 10% →University of California, San Francisco: 20, 38.6%New York University: 15, 39.9%Thomas Jefferson University: 8, 32.7%Linköping University: 10, 25.5%Johns Hopkins University: 18, 36.9%The University of Queensland: 12, 36.3%King's College London: 14, 33.1%Harvard University: 12, 41.2%Marche Polytechnic University: 8, 25.9%University of Copenhagen: 12, 29.1%New York UniversityUniversity of Califo…Thomas Jefferson Uni…Linköping University
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 University of California, San FranciscoUnited States 78.338.6%8.7×20 +55.4%
2 New York UniversityUnited States 62.239.9%5.1×15 +47.3%
3 Thomas Jefferson UniversityUnited States 61.932.7%11.3×8 +158.7%
4 Linköping UniversitySweden 60.225.5%9.2×10 +114.5%
5 Johns Hopkins UniversityUnited States 59.036.9%4.6×18 -10.3%
6 The University of QueenslandAustralia 57.436.3%3.9×12 +79.6%
7 King's College LondonUnited Kingdom 56.333.1%5.2×14 -7.1%
8 Harvard UniversityUnited States 54.241.2%2.5×12 +53.7%
9 Marche Polytechnic UniversityItaly 53.125.9%11.7×8
10 University of CopenhagenDenmark 51.929.1%4.8×12 +25.3%

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 Forensic Toxicology and Drug Analysis research growing?

Output in 2018–2022 was 19% higher than in 2013–2017, peaking in 2025. The fastest-growing topics are Forensic Toxicology and Drug Analysis.

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.