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Medical History and Research

Medical History and Research is a research topic within History. Science Explorer counts 11k research works in it since 1950. 10.0% of them reached the world's top 10% most cited for their field and year.

This cluster of papers explores the history, impact, and ethical implications of the eugenics movement, particularly during the Nazi era. It delves into topics such as genetics, race hygiene, medical ethics, sterilization, anatomy, social reform, and psychiatry. The papers provide insights into the dark legacy of eugenics and its lasting effects on society.

  • Eugenics
  • Nazi Era
  • Genetics
  • Race Hygiene
  • Medical Ethics
  • Sterilization
  • Anatomy
  • Social Reform
  • Psychiatry
  • Ethical Lessons
Research works
11k
fractional, since 1950
In the world top 10%
1.1k
per year above
Top-10% rate
10.0%
share of its works in the world top 10%
Growth, 2018-21 → 2022-25
+1%
the tick is no change
Largest producer
Germany
36% of the 10 largest, 2022-now
Medical History and Research

Which countries lead Medical History and Research research?

By volume, Germany and the United States publish the most (409 and 318 works in 2022-now).

By volume, 2022-now

  1. 1 Germany 409 works
  2. 2 United States 318 works
  3. 3 United Kingdom 112 works
  4. 4 Russia 65 works
  5. 5 Austria 45 works
  6. 6 Poland 42 works
  7. 7 France 38 works
  8. 8 Spain 33 works
  9. 9 Switzerland 33 works
  10. 10 Italy 31 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.

Germany: 36.4%United States: 28.3%United Kingdom: 9.9%Russia: 5.7%6 others listed: 19.7%36%largest
Germany409 · 36.4%United States318 · 28.3%United Kingdom112 · 9.9%Russia65 · 5.7%6 others listed222 · 19.7%

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

Which institutions lead Medical History and Research research?

By volume in 2022-now, Cambridgeshire County Council publishes the most Medical History and Research research, followed by Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf and Aristotle University of Thessaloniki.

By volume, 2022-now

  1. 1 Cambridgeshire County CouncilUnited Kingdom 24 works
  2. 2 Heinrich Heine University DüsseldorfGermany 22 works
  3. 3 Aristotle University of ThessalonikiGreece 17 works
  4. 4 Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität MünchenGermany 16 works
  5. 5 Charité - Universitätsmedizin BerlinGermany 14 works
  6. 6 Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-NürnbergGermany 13 works
  7. 7 Harvard UniversityUnited States 11 works
  8. 8 Russian Academy of SciencesRussia 10 works
  9. 9 RWTH Aachen UniversityGermany 10 works
  10. 10 University of ViennaAustria 9 works

Who are the leading researchers in Medical History and Research?

The most-cited researchers publishing on Medical History and Research include Michel Foucault.

  1. 1 Michel Foucault France 208k 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 Medical History and Research?

The most cited paper in Medical History and Research is "Medicalization and Social Control" (Peter Conrad, 1992), with 1,745 citations. Next come "In the Name of Eugenics: Genetics and the Uses of Human Heredity" (1,072) and "Homosexuality and American Psychiatry: The Politics of Diagnosis." (608).

Most cited papers
#PaperReleasedCitations
1 Medicalization and Social Control Peter Conrad · Annual Review of Sociology Aug 1992 1,745
2 In the Name of Eugenics: Genetics and the Uses of Human Heredity Charles E. Rosenberg, Daniel J. Kevles · Journal of American History Jun 1986 1,072
3 Homosexuality and American Psychiatry: The Politics of Diagnosis. Joseph W. Schneider, Ronald Bayer · Contemporary Sociology A Journal of Reviews Mar 1982 608
4 Tribute to Patrick Steptoe: beginnings of laparoscopy R. G. Edwards · Human Reproduction Nov 1989 559
5 THE LIFE HISTORY CALENDAR: A RESEARCH AND CLINICAL ASSESSMENT METHOD FOR COLLECTING RETROSPECTIVE EVENT‐HISTORY DATA Avshalom Caspi, Terrie E. Moffitt, Arland Thornton et al. · International Journal of Methods in Psychiatric Research Jul 1996 544
All 100 most cited papers, with filters and sorting

Where is Medical History and Research research done?

The largest centres of Medical History and Research research in 2022-now are Berlin (Germany), Munich (Germany), Cambridge (United Kingdom) and Vienna (Austria). Among places with at least 20 works in it, it is an unusually large share of all research in Düsseldorf, Cambridge and Berlin.

Largest cities, 2022-now

  1. 1 BerlinGermany 43 works
  2. 2 MunichGermany 31 works
  3. 3 CambridgeUnited Kingdom 30 works
  4. 4 ViennaAustria 27 works
  5. 5 DüsseldorfGermany 27 works
  6. 6 MoscowRussia 22 works
  7. 7 LondonUnited Kingdom 22 works
  8. 8 ThessalonikiGreece 17 works
  9. 9 CologneGermany 16 works
  10. 10 Saint PetersburgRussia 16 works

Where it is the local speciality

  1. DüsseldorfDE · 26.5 works36×
  2. CambridgeGB · 29.7 works13×
  3. BerlinDE · 43.3 works11×
← less than its size predicts1×more →

Location quotient: how much more of its research is in Medical History and Research than the world average.

See Medical History and Research on the map

Where is the best place to study Medical History and Research?

Among universities, judged by research, Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, Harvard University and Medizinische Hochschule Hannover 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 12.59%fractional works in this field (log) →share of work in the world top 10% →Medizinische Hochsch…Harvard UniversityHeinrich Heine Unive…Friedrich-Alexander-…
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
1Heinrich Heine University DüsseldorfGermany 71.215.9%47.8×22 -10.2%
2Harvard UniversityUnited States 67.333.8%2.8×11 +24.8%
3Medizinische Hochschule HannoverGermany 54.137.8%24.9×8 +253.2%
4Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-NürnbergGermany 49.84.9%18.8×13 +201.4%
5Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität MünchenGermany 49.48.5%14.4×16 -38.0%
6RWTH Aachen UniversityGermany 45.97.2%10.0×10 -70.6%
7University of ViennaAustria 42.53.8%14.9×10 +12.8%
8Aristotle University of ThessalonikiGreece 40.30.2%27.0×16 -
9University of GöttingenGermany 39.76.8%19.3×9 +132.6%
10Philipps University of MarburgGermany 34.97.0%27.4×9 +112.9%

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 Medical History and Research, country by country

Is Medical History and Research research growing?

Output in 2022-2025 was 1% higher than in 2018-2021, peaking in 2025. The fastest-growing topics are Medical History and 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 Medical History and Research as a percentage of every work published that year, 0.0057% in 2024.

still counting0.010%0.020%0.030%Medical History and Research0.0058% in 202519801990200020102020

Fractional works of Medical History and 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%Medical History and Research10.1% 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.

Discussion

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