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Water-Energy-Food Nexus Studies

Water-Energy-Food Nexus Studies is a research topic within Water Science and Technology. Science Explorer counts 24k research works in it since 1950. 10.2% of them reached the world's top 10% most cited for their field and year.

This cluster of papers explores the interconnectedness of water, energy, and food resources, with a focus on integrated modeling, sustainability, and the impact of climate change. It addresses the challenges and opportunities in managing these essential resources through an interdisciplinary approach, aiming to inform policy and decision-making for sustainable resource management.

  • Nexus
  • Water
  • Energy
  • Food
  • Sustainability
  • Climate Change
  • Integrated Modeling
  • Resource Management
  • Policy
  • Interdisciplinary Approach
Research works
24k
fractional, since 1950
In the world top 10%
2.4k
per year above
Top-10% rate
10.2%
share of its works in the world top 10%
Growth, 2018-21 → 2022-25
+19%
the tick is no change
Largest producer
China
32% of the 10 largest, 2022-now
Water-Energy-Food Nexus Studies

Which countries lead Water-Energy-Food Nexus Studies research?

By volume, China and the United States publish the most (1.4k and 932 works in 2022-now).

By volume, 2022-now

  1. 1 China 1.4k works
  2. 2 United States 932 works
  3. 3 India 636 works
  4. 4 Brazil 297 works
  5. 5 Iran 255 works
  6. 6 United Kingdom 241 works
  7. 7 Spain 195 works
  8. 8 Italy 166 works
  9. 9 Australia 159 works
  10. 10 Germany 156 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: 32.2%United States: 20.8%India: 14.2%Brazil: 6.6%6 others listed: 26.2%32%largest
China1,445 · 32.2%United States932 · 20.8%India636 · 14.2%Brazil297 · 6.6%6 others listed1,172 · 26.2%

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

Which institutions lead Water-Energy-Food Nexus Studies research?

By volume in 2022-now, Chinese Academy of Sciences publishes the most Water-Energy-Food Nexus Studies research, followed by Hohai University and University of Tehran.

By volume, 2022-now

  1. 1 Chinese Academy of SciencesChina 97 works
  2. 2 Hohai UniversityChina 59 works
  3. 3 University of TehranIran 42 works
  4. 4 Beijing Normal UniversityChina 33 works
  5. 5 Indian Council of Agricultural ResearchIndia 31 works
  6. 6 Islamic Azad University, TehranIran 31 works
  7. 7 Centre National de la Recherche ScientifiqueFrance 30 works
  8. 8 China Agricultural UniversityChina 29 works
  9. 9 University of JohannesburgSouth Africa 27 works
  10. 10 Tsinghua UniversityChina 26 works

Who are the leading researchers in Water-Energy-Food Nexus Studies?

The most-cited researchers publishing on Water-Energy-Food Nexus Studies include Xiaogang Wang, Philippe Ciais and Lei Jiang.

  1. 1 Xiaogang Wang China 260k citations
  2. 2 Philippe Ciais France 237k citations
  3. 3 Lei Jiang China 214k citations
  4. 4 David Tilman United States 209k citations
  5. 5 Guangming Zeng China 204k citations
  6. 6 Paul M. Thompson United States 196k citations
  7. 7 Hua Zhang Singapore 196k citations
  8. 8 Seeram Ramakrishna Singapore 186k citations
  9. 9 Edward Hartley Sargent Canada 185k citations
  10. 10 F. Stuart Chapin United States 185k 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 Water-Energy-Food Nexus Studies?

The most cited paper in Water-Energy-Food Nexus Studies is "Solutions for a cultivated planet" (Jonathan A. Foley et al., 2011), with 8,524 citations. Next come "Science and technology for water purification in the coming decades" (8,492) and "Global threats to human water security and river biodiversity" (7,637).

Most cited papers
#PaperReleasedCitations
1 Solutions for a cultivated planet Jonathan A. Foley et al. · Nature Open access Oct 2011 8,524
2 Science and technology for water purification in the coming decades Mark A. Shannon, Paul W. Bohn, Menachem Elimelech et al. · Nature 19 Mar 2008 8,492
3 Global threats to human water security and river biodiversity Charles J. Vörösmarty, Peter B. McIntyre, Mark O. Gessner et al. · Nature Open access 28 Sep 2010 7,637
4 The Future of Seawater Desalination: Energy, Technology, and the Environment Menachem Elimelech, William A. Phillip · Science 4 Aug 2011 6,750
5 Four billion people facing severe water scarcity Mesfin Mergia Mekonnen, Arjen Y. Hoekstra · Science Advances Open access 5 Feb 2016 5,528
All 99 most cited papers, with filters and sorting

Where is Water-Energy-Food Nexus Studies research done?

The largest centres of Water-Energy-Food Nexus Studies research in 2022-now are Beijing (China), Tehran (Iran), Nanjing (China) and Wuhan (China). Among places with at least 20 works in it, it is an unusually large share of all research in Kuwait City.

Largest cities, 2022-now

  1. 1 BeijingChina 409 works
  2. 2 TehranIran 136 works
  3. 3 NanjingChina 121 works
  4. 4 WuhanChina 67 works
  5. 5 LondonUnited Kingdom 59 works
  6. 6 Xi'anChina 56 works
  7. 7 ShanghaiChina 54 works
  8. 8 New DelhiIndia 54 works
  9. 9 ZhengzhouChina 53 works
  10. 10 Washington D.C.United States 49 works

Where it is the local speciality

  1. Kuwait CityKW · 20.6 works6.8×
← less than its size predicts1×more →

Location quotient: how much more of its research is in Water-Energy-Food Nexus Studies than the world average.

See Water-Energy-Food Nexus Studies on the map

Where is the best place to study Water-Energy-Food Nexus Studies?

Among universities, judged by research, Hohai University, China Agricultural University and Chengdu University of Technology 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%20%40%mean 20.44%fractional works in this field (log) →share of work in the world top 10% →Chengdu University o…China Agricultural U…University of TehranHohai 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
1Hohai UniversityChina 66.415.4%15.2×59 +13.5%
2China Agricultural UniversityChina 63.720.1%7.9×29 +21.1%
3Chengdu University of TechnologyChina 63.033.0%4.3×11 +749.6%
4University of TehranIran 62.017.3%11.1×42 +1.3%
5University of Chinese Academy of SciencesChina 60.125.0%1.9×20 +34.8%
6National Technical University of AthensGreece 58.016.7%13.1×22 +67.3%
7Beijing Normal UniversityChina 55.818.4%6.4×33 -11.5%
8University of Technology SydneyAustralia 54.927.5%2.9×8 +21.2%
9King Fahd University of Petroleum and MineralsSaudi Arabia 54.519.0%5.9×13 +128.6%
10IHE Delft Institute for Water EducationNetherlands 54.412.0%63.4×16 +2.5%

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 Water-Energy-Food Nexus Studies, country by country

Is Water-Energy-Food Nexus Studies research growing?

Output in 2022-2025 was 19% higher than in 2018-2021, peaking in 2024. The fastest-growing topics are Water-Energy-Food Nexus 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 Water-Energy-Food Nexus Studies as a percentage of every work published that year, 0.033% in 2024.

still counting0.020%0.040%Water-Energy-Food Nexus Studies0.031% in 202519801990200020102020

Fractional works of Water-Energy-Food Nexus 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%Water-Energy-Food Nexus Studies10.3% 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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