Science Explorer Interactive view Map
Topic · Complementary and alternative medicine

Traditional Chinese Medicine Studies

Traditional Chinese Medicine Studies is a research topic within Complementary and alternative medicine. Science Explorer counts 43k research works in it since 1950. 6.1% of them reached the world's top 10% most cited for their field and year.

This cluster of papers explores the integration of traditional medicine, such as Traditional Chinese Medicine and Ayurveda, with modern scientific approaches. It covers topics such as syndrome differentiation, herbal formulae, tongue diagnosis, constitutional typology, genomic analysis, and precision medicine. The focus is on understanding the principles and applications of traditional medicine in the context of contemporary healthcare.

  • Traditional Chinese Medicine
  • Ayurveda
  • Syndrome Differentiation
  • Herbal Formulae
  • Integrative Medicine
  • Tongue Diagnosis
  • Constitutional Typology
  • Genomic Analysis
  • Precision Medicine
  • Health Maintenance
Research works
43k
fractional, since 1950
In the world top 10%
2.6k
per year above
Top-10% rate
6.1%
share of its works in the world top 10%
Growth, 2013–17 → 2018–22
-52%
the tick is no change

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

Which countries lead Traditional Chinese Medicine Studies research?

By volume, China and India publish the most (2.8k and 788 works in 2022–2025).

By volume, 2022–2025

  1. 1 China 2.8k works
  2. 2 India 788 works
  3. 3 United States 283 works
  4. 4 South Korea 265 works
  5. 5 Japan 110 works
  6. 6 Indonesia 96 works
  7. 7 Taiwan 68 works
  8. 8 United Kingdom 61 works
  9. 9 Türkiye 54 works
  10. 10 Iran 39 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: 61.5%India: 17.2%United States: 6.2%South Korea: 5.8%6 others listed: 9.3%61%largest
China2,818 · 61.5%India788 · 17.2%United States283 · 6.2%South Korea265 · 5.8%6 others listed428 · 9.3%

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

Which institutions lead Traditional Chinese Medicine Studies research?

By volume in 2022–2025, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & Peking Union Medical College publishes the most Traditional Chinese Medicine Studies research, followed by Shaanxi University of Chinese Medicine and Beijing University of Chinese Medicine.

By volume, 2022–2025

  1. 1 Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & Peking Union Medical CollegeChina 102 works
  2. 2 Shaanxi University of Chinese MedicineChina 97 works
  3. 3 Beijing University of Chinese MedicineChina 95 works
  4. 4 Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese MedicineChina 59 works
  5. 5 Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese MedicineChina 53 works
  6. 6 Nanjing University of Chinese MedicineChina 49 works
  7. 7 Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese MedicineChina 41 works
  8. 8 Guangzhou University of Chinese MedicineChina 40 works
  9. 9 Changchun University of Chinese MedicineChina 38 works
  10. 10 National Institute of AyurvedaIndia 35 works

Where is Traditional Chinese Medicine Studies research done?

The largest centres of Traditional Chinese Medicine Studies research in 2022–2025 are Beijing (China), Shanghai (China), Guangzhou (China) and Xianyang (China). Among places with at least 20 works in it, it is an unusually large share of all research in Xianyang, Amloh and Nanded.

Largest cities, 2022–2025

  1. 1 Beijing China 553 works
  2. 2 Shanghai China 190 works
  3. 3 Guangzhou China 157 works
  4. 4 Xianyang China 128 works
  5. 5 Chengdu China 116 works
  6. 6 Nanjing China 116 works
  7. 7 Seoul South Korea 100 works
  8. 8 Tianjin China 93 works
  9. 9 Hangzhou China 91 works
  10. 10 Jinan China 79 works

Where it is the local speciality

  1. XianyangCN · 127.7 works112×
  2. AmlohIN · 24.2 works60×
  3. NandedIN · 29.9 works46×
  4. MalappuramIN · 28.5 works42×
← less than its size predicts1×more →

Location quotient: how much more of its research is in Traditional Chinese Medicine Studies than the world average.

See Traditional Chinese Medicine Studies on the map

Where is the best place to study Traditional Chinese Medicine Studies?

Among universities, judged by research, Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Beijing University of Chinese Medicine and Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine 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%10%20%30%mean 18.12%fractional works in this node (log) →share in the world top 10% →Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine: 59, 22.1%Beijing University of Chinese Medicine: 95, 17.3%Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine: 53, 21.4%Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine: 41, 23.0%Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & Peking Union Medical College: 102, 13.1%Zhejiang Chinese Medical University: 30, 24.1%Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine: 40, 20.5%Hunan University of Traditional Chinese Medicine: 26, 22.1%Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine: 49, 15.7%National Institute of Ayurveda: 35, 1.9%Tianjin University o…Shanghai University …Chengdu University o…Beijing University o…
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
1 Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese MedicineChina 60.922.1%61.2×59 -82.6%
2 Beijing University of Chinese MedicineChina 60.417.3%110.2×95 -66.7%
3 Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese MedicineChina 59.221.4%48.9×53 -72.3%
4 Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese MedicineChina 58.723.0%84.1×41 -68.7%
5 Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & Peking Union Medical CollegeChina 58.613.1%21.4×102 -60.3%
6 Zhejiang Chinese Medical UniversityChina 57.124.1%23.7×30 -70.7%
7 Guangzhou University of Chinese MedicineChina 56.920.5%43.7×40 -69.3%
8 Hunan University of Traditional Chinese MedicineChina 54.222.1%71.4×26 -70.5%
9 Nanjing University of Chinese MedicineChina 53.715.7%39.8×49 -73.7%
10 National Institute of AyurvedaIndia 53.01.9%126.7×35 +505.0%

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 Traditional Chinese Medicine Studies research growing?

Output in 2018–2022 was 52% lower than in 2013–2017, peaking in 2011.

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.