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Topic · Clinical Psychology

Psychedelics and Drug Studies

Psychedelics and Drug Studies is a research topic within Clinical Psychology. Science Explorer counts 13k research works in it since 1950. 25.6% of them reached the world's top 10% most cited for their field and year.

This cluster of papers explores the therapeutic potential of psychedelic therapy, particularly focusing on the use of substances like psilocybin and MDMA for the treatment of depression, anxiety, and substance dependence. The research delves into the neurobiology, serotonin receptors, and brain function underlying the effects of these psychedelics, as well as their ability to induce mystical experiences and promote long-lasting positive changes in psychological functioning.

  • Psilocybin
  • Psychedelics
  • Depression
  • Anxiety
  • Therapeutic
  • Neurobiology
  • Serotonin
  • Mystical Experiences
  • Treatment
  • Brain Function
Research works
13k
fractional, since 1950
In the world top 10%
3.3k
per year above
Top-10% rate
25.6%
share of its works in the world top 10%
Growth, 2013–17 → 2018–22
+61%
the tick is no change

Which countries lead Psychedelics and Drug Studies research?

By volume, the United States and the United Kingdom publish the most (1.2k and 248 works in 2022–2025).

By volume, 2022–2025

  1. 1 United States 1.2k works
  2. 2 United Kingdom 248 works
  3. 3 Canada 222 works
  4. 4 Brazil 145 works
  5. 5 Germany 142 works
  6. 6 Australia 138 works
  7. 7 China 99 works
  8. 8 France 91 works
  9. 9 Spain 89 works
  10. 10 Netherlands 84 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: 48.0%United Kingdom: 10.2%Canada: 9.2%Brazil: 6.0%6 others listed: 26.6%48%largest
United States1,163 · 48.0%United Kingdom248 · 10.2%Canada222 · 9.2%Brazil145 · 6.0%6 others listed644 · 26.6%

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

Which institutions lead Psychedelics and Drug Studies research?

By volume in 2022–2025, Johns Hopkins University publishes the most Psychedelics and Drug Studies research, followed by Imperial College London and University of Toronto.

By volume, 2022–2025

  1. 1 Johns Hopkins University United States 29 works
  2. 2 Imperial College London United Kingdom 22 works
  3. 3 University of Toronto Canada 21 works
  4. 4 University of California, San Francisco United States 21 works
  5. 5 Yale University United States 21 works
  6. 6 Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies United States 18 works
  7. 7 University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill United States 18 works
  8. 8 King's College London United Kingdom 17 works
  9. 9 Maastricht University Netherlands 16 works
  10. 10 University of Zurich Switzerland 14 works

Who are the leading researchers in Psychedelics and Drug Studies?

The most-cited researchers publishing on Psychedelics and Drug Studies include Louisa Degenhardt, Félix Carvalho and Eduarda Fernandes.

  1. 1 Louisa Degenhardt 5.7k citations
  2. 2 Félix Carvalho 4.6k citations
  3. 3 Eduarda Fernandes 4.4k citations
  4. 4 Trevor W. Robbins 3.1k citations

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

Where is Psychedelics and Drug Studies research done?

The largest centres of Psychedelics and Drug Studies research in 2022–2025 are London (United Kingdom), New York (United States), Baltimore (United States) and Toronto (Canada). Among places with at least 20 works in it, it is an unusually large share of all research in Basel, San Francisco and Baltimore.

Largest cities, 2022–2025

  1. 1 London United Kingdom 103 works
  2. 2 New York United States 69 works
  3. 3 Baltimore United States 53 works
  4. 4 Toronto Canada 50 works
  5. 5 San Francisco United States 39 works
  6. 6 Melbourne Australia 38 works
  7. 7 Paris France 34 works
  8. 8 São Paulo Brazil 30 works
  9. 9 Montreal Canada 28 works
  10. 10 Berlin Germany 27 works

Where it is the local speciality

  1. BaselCH · 21.4 works11×
  2. San FranciscoUS · 39.3 works9.4×
  3. BaltimoreUS · 52.9 works6.9×
  4. New HavenUS · 23.5 works6.3×
← less than its size predicts1×more →

Location quotient: how much more of its research is in Psychedelics and Drug Studies than the world average.

See Psychedelics and Drug Studies on the map

Where is the best place to study Psychedelics and Drug Studies?

Among universities, judged by research, Imperial College London, Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies and University of Basel 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%25%50%75%mean 54.08%fractional works in this node (log) →share in the world top 10% →Imperial College London: 22, 62.1%Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies: 18, 63.2%University of Basel: 9, 64.9%University of California, San Francisco: 21, 57.0%Maastricht University: 16, 41.0%Johns Hopkins University: 29, 47.6%University of Zurich: 14, 42.7%University of Auckland: 10, 59.6%Yale University: 21, 43.7%University of Oxford: 13, 59.0%University of BaselMultidisciplinary As…Imperial College Lon…University of Califo…
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
1Imperial College London United Kingdom 79.562.1%7.7×22 +97.9%
2Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies United States 76.963.2%1808.5×18 —
3University of Basel Switzerland 71.664.9%9.7×9 +92.5%
4University of California, San Francisco United States 70.457.0%10.4×21 -2.8%
5Maastricht University Netherlands 69.841.0%14.8×16 +124.5%
6Johns Hopkins University United States 69.647.6%8.4×29 +79.0%
7University of Zurich Switzerland 64.242.7%8.5×14 +136.0%
8University of Auckland New Zealand 63.859.6%6.0×10 +218.9%
9Yale University United States 53.443.7%6.5×21 +48.8%
10University of Oxford United Kingdom 50.459.0%3.3×13 +50.5%

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 Psychedelics and Drug Studies research growing?

Output in 2018–2022 was 61% higher than in 2013–2017, peaking in 2025. The fastest-growing topics are Psychedelics and Drug Studies.

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.