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Topic · Epidemiology

Ophthalmology and Visual Impairment Studies

Ophthalmology and Visual Impairment Studies is a research topic within Epidemiology. Science Explorer counts 42k research works in it since 1950. 9.9% of them reached the world's top 10% most cited for their field and year.

This cluster of papers focuses on the global epidemiology of myopia and visual impairment, including the prevalence, risk factors, progression, and treatment of myopia, refractive errors, and related conditions. It also explores the impact of environmental factors, genetic influences, and interventions such as orthokeratology and atropine therapy.

  • Myopia
  • Visual Impairment
  • Epidemiology
  • Refractive Error
  • Global Prevalence
  • Childhood Myopia
  • Uncorrected Refractive Errors
  • Amblyopia
  • Ocular Aberrations
  • Orthokeratology
Research works
42k
fractional, since 1950
In the world top 10%
4.2k
per year above
Top-10% rate
9.9%
share of its works in the world top 10%
Growth, 2018-21 → 2022-25
+23%
the tick is no change
Largest producer
China
28% of the 10 largest, 2022-now
Ophthalmology and Visual Impairment Studies

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

Which countries lead Ophthalmology and Visual Impairment Studies research?

By volume, China and the United States publish the most (2k and 1.7k works in 2022-now).

By volume, 2022-now

  1. 1 China 2k works
  2. 2 United States 1.7k works
  3. 3 India 707 works
  4. 4 United Kingdom 593 works
  5. 5 Spain 457 works
  6. 6 Germany 413 works
  7. 7 Japan 347 works
  8. 8 Australia 285 works
  9. 9 South Korea 267 works
  10. 10 Türkiye 256 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: 28.0%United States: 24.8%India: 10.0%United Kingdom: 8.4%6 others listed: 28.7%28%largest
China1,973 · 28.0%United States1,749 · 24.8%India707 · 10.0%United Kingdom593 · 8.4%6 others listed2,026 · 28.7%

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

Which institutions lead Ophthalmology and Visual Impairment Studies research?

By volume in 2022-now, Wenzhou Medical University publishes the most Ophthalmology and Visual Impairment Studies research, followed by Sun Yat-sen University and Fudan University.

By volume, 2022-now

  1. 1 Wenzhou Medical UniversityChina 134 works
  2. 2 Sun Yat-sen UniversityChina 109 works
  3. 3 Fudan UniversityChina 96 works
  4. 4 Capital Medical UniversityChina 93 works
  5. 5 Harvard UniversityUnited States 76 works
  6. 6 Tianjin Medical UniversityChina 74 works
  7. 7 University College LondonUnited Kingdom 67 works
  8. 8 Peking UniversityChina 60 works
  9. 9 He Eye HospitalChina 57 works
  10. 10 All India Institute of Medical SciencesIndia 55 works

Who are the leading researchers in Ophthalmology and Visual Impairment Studies?

The most-cited researchers publishing on Ophthalmology and Visual Impairment Studies include Christopher J L Murray, Theo Vos and George Davey Smith.

  1. 1 Christopher J L Murray United States 583k citations
  2. 2 Theo Vos United States 439k citations
  3. 3 George Davey Smith United Kingdom 435k citations
  4. 4 Ali H. Mokdad United States 429k citations
  5. 5 Walter Churchill Willett United States 411k citations
  6. 6 Mark J. Daly United States 403k citations
  7. 7 Jost Bruno Jonas Germany 350k citations
  8. 8 Cyrus Cooper United Kingdom 342k citations
  9. 9 Jun Wang China 340k citations
  10. 10 Gordon Henry Guyatt Canada 315k 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 Ophthalmology and Visual Impairment Studies?

The most cited paper in Ophthalmology and Visual Impairment Studies is "The number of people with glaucoma worldwide in 2010 and 2020" (Harry A. Quigley, 2006), with 7,489 citations. Next come "Global Prevalence of Glaucoma and Projections of Glaucoma Burden through 2040" (7,211) and "Ranibizumab for Neovascular Age-Related Macular Degeneration" (5,931).

Most cited papers
#PaperReleasedCitations
1 The number of people with glaucoma worldwide in 2010 and 2020 Harry A. Quigley · British Journal of Ophthalmology Open access 17 Feb 2006 7,489
2 Global Prevalence of Glaucoma and Projections of Glaucoma Burden through 2040 Yih Chung Tham, Li Xiang, Tien Yin Wong et al. · Ophthalmology 26 Jun 2014 7,211
3 Ranibizumab for Neovascular Age-Related Macular Degeneration Philip J. Rosenfeld, David M. Brown, Jeffrey S. Heier et al. · New England Journal of Medicine Open access 4 Oct 2006 5,931
4 Global Prevalence of Myopia and High Myopia and Temporal Trends from 2000 through 2050 Brien A. Holden, Tim Fricke, David A. Wilson et al. · Ophthalmology Open access 11 Feb 2016 5,676
5 Global prevalence of age-related macular degeneration and disease burden projection for 2020 and 2040: a systematic review and meta-analysis Wan Ling Wong, Xinyi Su, Xiang Li et al. · The Lancet Global Health ReviewOpen access 3 Jan 2014 5,452
All 100 most cited papers, with filters and sorting

Where is Ophthalmology and Visual Impairment Studies research done?

The largest centres of Ophthalmology and Visual Impairment Studies research in 2022-now are Beijing (China), London (United Kingdom), Shanghai (China) and Guangzhou (China). Among places with at least 20 works in it, it is an unusually large share of all research in East Melbourne, Alicante and Wenzhou.

Largest cities, 2022-now

  1. 1 BeijingChina 293 works
  2. 2 LondonUnited Kingdom 229 works
  3. 3 ShanghaiChina 226 works
  4. 4 GuangzhouChina 170 works
  5. 5 SeoulSouth Korea 146 works
  6. 6 WenzhouChina 136 works
  7. 7 TokyoJapan 130 works
  8. 8 MadridSpain 117 works
  9. 9 MoscowRussia 111 works
  10. 10 TehranIran 97 works

Where it is the local speciality

  1. East MelbourneAU · 23.1 works80×
  2. AlicanteES · 52.1 works16×
  3. WenzhouCN · 136.2 works15×
← less than its size predicts1×more →

Location quotient: how much more of its research is in Ophthalmology and Visual Impairment Studies than the world average.

See Ophthalmology and Visual Impairment Studies on the map

Where is the best place to study Ophthalmology and Visual Impairment Studies?

Among universities, judged by research, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Sun Yat-sen University and The University of Melbourne 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%10%20%30%mean 17.15%fractional works in this field (log) →share of work in the world top 10% →The University of Me…Chinese University o…Sun Yat-sen UniversityHarvard 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
1Chinese University of Hong KongChina 76.320.1%5.7×37 +72.9%
2Sun Yat-sen UniversityChina 74.217.2%5.9×110 +40.6%
3The University of MelbourneAustralia 72.527.0%4.1×41 -0.0%
4Harvard UniversityUnited States 72.016.9%2.6×76 +16.4%
5Heidelberg UniversityGermany 70.214.9%6.4×44 +21.9%
6Capital Medical UniversityChina 69.113.7%9.7×94 +60.0%
7Wenzhou Medical UniversityChina 68.111.3%29.7×134 +37.6%
8Fudan UniversityChina 66.011.0%6.8×96 +68.0%
9Medical University of ViennaAustria 65.623.8%8.2×24 -2.2%
10Tianjin Medical UniversityChina 65.515.6%22.4×74 +71.9%

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 Ophthalmology and Visual Impairment Studies, country by country

Is Ophthalmology and Visual Impairment Studies research growing?

Output in 2022-2025 was 23% higher than in 2018-2021, peaking in 2026. The fastest-growing topics are Ophthalmology and Visual Impairment Studies.

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 Ophthalmology and Visual Impairment Studies as a percentage of every work published that year, 0.036% in 2024.

still counting0.020%0.040%0.060%Ophthalmology and Visual Impairment Studies0.041% in 202519801990200020102020

Fractional works of Ophthalmology and Visual Impairment Studies 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%Ophthalmology and Visual Impairment Studies10.0% 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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