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Topic · Infectious Diseases

SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19 Research

SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19 Research is a research topic within Infectious Diseases. Science Explorer counts 48k research works in it since 1950. 9.7% of them reached the world's top 10% most cited for their field and year.

This cluster of papers focuses on the research related to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), including topics such as SARS-CoV-2, vaccine development, spike protein structure, antibody responses, viral mutations, and immune protection. The papers cover various aspects of the pandemic, from virus transmission to potential therapeutic targets.

  • SARS-CoV-2
  • coronavirus
  • vaccine
  • spike protein
  • antibody
  • pandemic
  • immunity
  • mutation
  • ACE2 receptor
  • viral transmission
Research works
48k
fractional, since 1950
In the world top 10%
4.7k
per year above
Top-10% rate
9.7%
share of its works in the world top 10%
Growth, 2018-21 → 2022-25
+36%
the tick is no change
Largest producer
United States
34% of the 10 largest, 2022-now
SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19 Research

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

Which countries lead SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19 Research research?

By volume, the United States and China publish the most (4.9k and 2.6k works in 2022-now).

By volume, 2022-now

  1. 1 United States 4.9k works
  2. 2 China 2.6k works
  3. 3 India 1.7k works
  4. 4 Italy 986 works
  5. 5 United Kingdom 986 works
  6. 6 Japan 830 works
  7. 7 Germany 782 works
  8. 8 Canada 631 works
  9. 9 Spain 603 works
  10. 10 Iran 586 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: 33.5%China: 18.0%India: 11.6%Italy: 6.7%6 others listed: 30.2%34%largest
United States4,899 · 33.5%China2,630 · 18.0%India1,692 · 11.6%Italy986 · 6.7%6 others listed4,417 · 30.2%

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

Which institutions lead SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19 Research research?

By volume in 2022-now, Harvard University publishes the most SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19 Research research, followed by University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and National Institutes of Health.

By volume, 2022-now

  1. 1 Harvard UniversityUnited States 190 works
  2. 2 University of North Carolina at Chapel HillUnited States 183 works
  3. 3 National Institutes of HealthUnited States 144 works
  4. 4 Chinese Academy of SciencesChina 128 works
  5. 5 Johns Hopkins UniversityUnited States 108 works
  6. 6 United States Department of Health and Human ServicesUnited States 94 works
  7. 7 All India Institute of Medical SciencesIndia 93 works
  8. 8 Russian Academy of SciencesRussia 91 works
  9. 9 University of Hong KongChina 86 works
  10. 10 InsermFrance 85 works

Who are the leading researchers in SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19 Research?

The most-cited researchers publishing on SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19 Research include David Moher, Christopher J L Murray and Freddie Bray.

  1. 1 David Moher Canada 898k citations
  2. 2 Christopher J L Murray United States 583k citations
  3. 3 Freddie Bray France 550k citations
  4. 4 Eric S. Lander United States 524k citations
  5. 5 Zhong Lin Wang United States 491k citations
  6. 6 Rob Knight United States 468k citations
  7. 7 Simon Iain Hay United States 452k citations
  8. 8 Theo Vos United States 439k citations
  9. 9 George Davey Smith United Kingdom 435k citations
  10. 10 Ali H. Mokdad United States 429k 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 SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19 Research?

The most cited paper in SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19 Research is "Clinical features of patients infected with 2019 novel coronavirus in Wuhan, China" (Chaolin Huang et al., 2020), with 52,028 citations. Next come "Clinical Characteristics of Coronavirus Disease 2019 in China" (31,256) and "A Novel Coronavirus from Patients with Pneumonia in China, 2019" (30,499).

Most cited papers
#PaperReleasedCitations
1 Clinical features of patients infected with 2019 novel coronavirus in Wuhan, China Chaolin Huang et al. · The Lancet Open access 24 Jan 2020 52,028
2 Clinical Characteristics of Coronavirus Disease 2019 in China Wei‐jie Guan et al. · New England Journal of Medicine Open access 28 Feb 2020 31,256
3 A Novel Coronavirus from Patients with Pneumonia in China, 2019 Na Zhu, Dingyu Zhang, Wenling Wang et al. · New England Journal of Medicine Open access 24 Jan 2020 30,499
4 A pneumonia outbreak associated with a new coronavirus of probable bat origin Peng Zhou et al. · Nature Open access 3 Feb 2020 23,429
5 Epidemiological and clinical characteristics of 99 cases of 2019 novel coronavirus pneumonia in Wuhan, China: a descriptive study Nanshan Chen, Min Zhou, Xuan Dong et al. · The Lancet Open access 30 Jan 2020 22,766
All 100 most cited papers, with filters and sorting

Where is SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19 Research research done?

The largest centres of SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19 Research research in 2022-now are Beijing (China), London (United Kingdom), New York (United States) and Tokyo (Japan). Among places with at least 20 works in it, it is an unusually large share of all research in De Bilt.

Largest cities, 2022-now

  1. 1 BeijingChina 543 works
  2. 2 LondonUnited Kingdom 357 works
  3. 3 New YorkUnited States 274 works
  4. 4 TokyoJapan 263 works
  5. 5 TehranIran 257 works
  6. 6 MoscowRussia 233 works
  7. 7 ParisFrance 233 works
  8. 8 SeoulSouth Korea 226 works
  9. 9 ShanghaiChina 218 works
  10. 10 RomeItaly 216 works

Where it is the local speciality

  1. De BiltNL · 22.3 works19×
← less than its size predicts1×more →

Location quotient: how much more of its research is in SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19 Research than the world average.

See SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19 Research on the map

Where is the best place to study SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19 Research?

Among universities, judged by research, Harvard University, University of Hong Kong and London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine 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 20.07%fractional works in this field (log) →share of work in the world top 10% →The University of Te…London School of Hyg…Harvard UniversityUniversity of Hong K…
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
1Harvard UniversityUnited States 81.018.7%2.9×190 +31.6%
2University of Hong KongChina 79.918.3%4.5×86 +54.5%
3London School of Hygiene & Tropical MedicineUnited Kingdom 72.420.0%10.8×35 +18.6%
4The University of Texas Medical Branch at GalvestonUnited States 72.224.0%9.0×33 +42.1%
5Erasmus University RotterdamNetherlands 68.325.0%2.4×26 +20.2%
6Johns Hopkins UniversityUnited States 67.313.4%3.4×108 +35.4%
7Emory UniversityUnited States 67.219.0%3.6×59 +25.4%
8University of WashingtonUnited States 67.021.1%2.3×53 +25.1%
9Sichuan UniversityChina 66.924.3%1.0×46 +44.7%
10University of OxfordUnited Kingdom 65.816.9%2.9×84 +2.7%

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 SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19 Research, country by country

Is SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19 Research research growing?

Output in 2022-2025 was 36% higher than in 2018-2021, peaking in 2021. The fastest-growing topics are SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19 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 SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19 Research as a percentage of every work published that year, 0.078% in 2024.

still counting0.10%0.20%SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19 Research0.051% in 202519801990200020102020

Fractional works of SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19 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%SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19 Research9.8% in 202520102020

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.

Questions people ask

Who leads COVID-19 research?

By volume in 2022-now, Harvard University publishes the most SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19 Research research, followed by University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and National Institutes of Health. By volume, the United States and China publish the most (4.9k and 2.6k works in 2022-now).

All 1,273 questions in the Question Catalogue

Discussion

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