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Topic · Management Science and Operations Research

Multi-Criteria Decision Making

Multi-Criteria Decision Making is a research topic within Management Science and Operations Research. Science Explorer counts 49k 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 focuses on the application and development of Multi-Criteria Decision Making (MCDM) methods, including Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP), Technique for Order of Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS), and various fuzzy set theories. The papers cover topics such as group decision making, supplier selection, environmental decision making, and the use of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) in decision analysis.

  • Analytic Hierarchy Process
  • TOPSIS
  • Fuzzy Sets
  • Group Decision Making
  • Supplier Selection
  • MCDM Methods
  • Intuitionistic Fuzzy Sets
  • Environmental Decision Making
  • GIS-based Decision Analysis
  • Belief Functions
Research works
49k
fractional, since 1950
In the world top 10%
4.9k
per year above
Top-10% rate
10.0%
share of its works in the world top 10%
Growth, 2018-21 → 2022-25
-6%
the tick is no change
Largest producer
China
33% of the 10 largest, 2022-now
Multi-Criteria Decision Making

Which countries lead Multi-Criteria Decision Making research?

By volume, China and India publish the most (2.2k and 1.3k works in 2022-now).

By volume, 2022-now

  1. 1 China 2.2k works
  2. 2 India 1.3k works
  3. 3 Türkiye 1.1k works
  4. 4 United States 393 works
  5. 5 Pakistan 385 works
  6. 6 Iran 352 works
  7. 7 Brazil 251 works
  8. 8 Indonesia 235 works
  9. 9 Poland 223 works
  10. 10 Spain 220 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: 33.4%India: 19.7%Türkiye: 16.0%United States: 5.9%6 others listed: 24.9%33%largest
China2,233 · 33.4%India1,318 · 19.7%Türkiye1,072 · 16.0%United States393 · 5.9%6 others listed1,666 · 24.9%

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

Which institutions lead Multi-Criteria Decision Making research?

By volume in 2022-now, Islamic Azad University, Tehran publishes the most Multi-Criteria Decision Making research, followed by Sichuan University and Istanbul Technical University.

By volume, 2022-now

  1. 1 Islamic Azad University, TehranIran 99 works
  2. 2 Sichuan UniversityChina 71 works
  3. 3 Istanbul Technical UniversityTürkiye 62 works
  4. 4 University of the PunjabPakistan 51 works
  5. 5 Vellore Institute of Technology UniversityIndia 48 works
  6. 6 Riphah International UniversityPakistan 45 works
  7. 7 University of BelgradeSerbia 44 works
  8. 8 Vidyasagar UniversityIndia 37 works
  9. 9 Yıldız Technical UniversityTürkiye 37 works
  10. 10 King Abdulaziz UniversitySaudi Arabia 36 works

Who are the leading researchers in Multi-Criteria Decision Making?

The most-cited researchers publishing on Multi-Criteria Decision Making include Robert John Tibshirani, Amos Tversky and Donald B. Rubin.

  1. 1 Robert John Tibshirani United States 396k citations
  2. 2 Amos Tversky United States 327k citations
  3. 3 Donald B. Rubin United States 301k citations
  4. 4 Trevor Hastie United States 301k citations
  5. 5 Peter M. Bentler United States 233k citations
  6. 6 Kai You Wang China 224k citations
  7. 7 Marko Sarstedt Germany 221k citations
  8. 8 Christian M. Ringle Germany 215k citations
  9. 9 Guangming Zeng China 204k 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 Multi-Criteria Decision Making?

The most cited paper in Multi-Criteria Decision Making is "Evaluating Structural Equation Models with Unobservable Variables and Measurement Error" (Claes Fornell, David F. Larcker, 1981), with 71,613 citations. Next come "A Coefficient of Agreement for Nominal Scales" (42,415) and "Alternative Ways of Assessing Model Fit" (25,414).

Most cited papers
#PaperReleasedCitations
1 Evaluating Structural Equation Models with Unobservable Variables and Measurement Error Claes Fornell, David F. Larcker · Journal of Marketing Research Feb 1981 71,613
2 A Coefficient of Agreement for Nominal Scales Jacob Cohen · Educational and Psychological Measurement Apr 1960 42,415
3 Alternative Ways of Assessing Model Fit Michael W. Browne, Robert A. Cudeck · Sociological Methods & Research Nov 1992 25,414
4 Comparative fit indexes in structural models. Peter M. Bentler · Psychological Bulletin 1990 24,151
5 Interrater reliability: the kappa statistic Marry L. McHugh · Biochemia Medica Open access 2012 19,382
All 96 most cited papers, with filters and sorting

Where is Multi-Criteria Decision Making research done?

The largest centres of Multi-Criteria Decision Making research in 2022-now are Istanbul (Türkiye), Beijing (China), Chengdu (China) and Tehran (Iran). Among places with at least 20 works in it, it is an unusually large share of all research in Medinīpur, Lahore and Agartala.

Largest cities, 2022-now

  1. 1 IstanbulTürkiye 322 works
  2. 2 BeijingChina 228 works
  3. 3 ChengduChina 175 works
  4. 4 TehranIran 149 works
  5. 5 Xi'anChina 132 works
  6. 6 ShanghaiChina 124 works
  7. 7 NanjingChina 123 works
  8. 8 ChennaiIndia 107 works
  9. 9 LahorePakistan 93 works
  10. 10 AnkaraTürkiye 91 works

Where it is the local speciality

  1. MedinīpurIN · 42.0 works43×
  2. LahorePK · 30.5 works36×
  3. AgartalaIN · 35.3 works29×
← less than its size predicts1×more →

Location quotient: how much more of its research is in Multi-Criteria Decision Making than the world average.

See Multi-Criteria Decision Making on the map

Where is the best place to study Multi-Criteria Decision Making?

Among universities, judged by research, Riphah International University, University Canada West and Naval Academy 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%50%100%mean 37.28%fractional works in this field (log) →share of work in the world top 10% →University Canada WestNaval AcademyRiphah International…University of Belgrade
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
1Riphah International UniversityPakistan 59.427.7%38.8×45 +481.4%
2University Canada WestCanada 57.878.1%59.6×8 -
3Naval AcademyTürkiye 55.747.9%140.1×13 +165.1%
4University of BelgradeSerbia 54.625.7%7.9×44 +53.0%
5Lebanese American UniversityLebanon 51.838.8%12.1×11 +586.6%
6Kohat University of Science and TechnologyPakistan 51.743.9%39.1×11 +506.6%
7Minzu University of ChinaChina 50.737.5%7.9×19 +66.1%
8Yuan Ze UniversityTaiwan 50.037.2%29.0×17 +1022.9%
9Istanbul Technical UniversityTürkiye 47.016.4%20.7×62 -15.2%
10King Saud UniversitySaudi Arabia 46.919.6%3.4×28 +163.2%

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 Multi-Criteria Decision Making, country by country

Is Multi-Criteria Decision Making research growing?

Output in 2022-2025 was 6% lower than in 2018-2021, peaking in 2021.

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 Multi-Criteria Decision Making as a percentage of every work published that year, 0.041% in 2024.

still counting0.020%0.040%0.060%Multi-Criteria Decision Making0.033% in 202519801990200020102020

Fractional works of Multi-Criteria Decision Making 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%Multi-Criteria Decision Making10.2% 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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