Universities by research output

Map & ranking Trial leadership

Three layers, each disclosed. First, the external bibliometric leaders. Second, oncology publication counts pulled from OpenAlex for every institution in OnCo, with the exact query. Third, the corpus-derived score, which measures presence in this evidence base rather than output.

1. External leaders

Nature Index · high-impact journals

Nature Index: Healthcare and Cancer institutions

The Nature Index shows which institutions publish the most top-tier research. It is the best public proxy for university output in cancer science.

2025 healthcare-institution leaders include West China Hospital (Sichuan University, #4) and Memorial Sloan Kettering (#10). Open the collection page for the source tables.

SCImago · oncology subject area

SCImago Institutions Rankings: Oncology

The SCImago Institutions Rankings score research institutions in the Oncology subject area on three measures: research output drawn from Scopus, innovation measured by patents, and societal impact measured by web visibility. On OnCo it is a cross-check against the Nature Index, since the two draw on different publication sets.

2. Oncology output from OpenAlex

Query. For each institution, works in OpenAlex where the primary topic's subfield is Oncology (subfield 2730), publication year 2024 or 2025, counted with authorships.institutions.lineage so that a university's hospitals and institutes are included. Citations are OpenAlex's summed citation counts to those works, counted on 2026-09-06.

Five-year columns. The works and citations for 2022 to 2026 use the same filter over the last five publication years (the current year is in progress), from public/openalex/research-index.json, counted on 2026-10-01 for 569 institutions. Each institution page carries its per-year counts, most-cited works and most frequent authors under Research output. Click a column heading to sort.

Caveats. Universities (Johns Hopkins, Stanford, UCSF, Penn, Michigan, WashU, UCLA, Heidelberg) are matched at the university level and therefore include all their hospitals; dedicated cancer centres (MSK, MD Anderson, Dana-Farber, Gustave Roussy) are matched to the centre itself. Topic assignment is OpenAlex's machine classification and undercounts oncology work filed under haematology, radiology, surgery, or genetics. Societies and funders (ASCO, ESMO, AACR, IARC, CRUK) are excluded. Where two OnCo records share one OpenAlex id, the university table counts it once. Data licence CC0. Citation sums pending: OpenAlex rate-limited the collection run; the next refresh fills them in.

By institution (528)

#		OpenAlex match
1	MD Anderson Cancer Center University of Texas	The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center	1,375	1,336	2,711	6,742	95,559
2	Institute of Hematology and Blood Diseases Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College	Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & Peking Union Medical College	999	1,141	2,140	4,969	62,764
3	Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center	Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center	1,062	1,040	2,102	5,120	95,936
4	Mayo Clinic	Mayo Clinic	954	987	1,941	4,572	48,202
5	Dana-Farber Brigham Cancer Center Harvard University	Dana-Farber Cancer Institute	897	906	1,803	4,333	74,896
6	Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center Harvard University	Massachusetts General Hospital	770	717	1,487	3,584	55,693
7	Heidelberg University Hospital / NCT / DKFZ Heidelberg University	Heidelberg University	696	728	1,424	3,473	46,508
8	Abramson Cancer Center, University of Pennsylvania University of Pennsylvania	University of Pennsylvania	690	669	1,359	3,148	54,267
9	Stanford Health Care / Stanford Cancer Institute Stanford University	Stanford University	651	673	1,324	3,016	50,896
10	National Cancer Institute (NIH)	National Cancer Institute	594	617	1,211	2,852	46,921
11	Johns Hopkins Hospital / Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center Johns Hopkins University	Johns Hopkins University	632	567	1,199	2,962	42,161
12	UCSF Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center University of California, San Francisco	University of California, San Francisco	600	555	1,155	2,818	47,444
13	Zhongshan Hospital, Fudan University Fudan University	Fudan University	567	584	1,151	2,872	31,534
14	Moffitt Cancer Center	Moffitt Cancer Center	529	575	1,104	2,589	31,588
15	Tongji Hospital, Huazhong University of Science and Technology Huazhong University of Science and Technology	Huazhong University of Science and Technology	520	529	1,049	2,478	31,527
16	Cleveland Clinic Taussig Cancer Institute	Cleveland Clinic	516	532	1,048	2,275	29,951
17	Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center University of Washington	Fred Hutch Cancer Center	491	508	999	2,127	30,449
18	University College London Hospitals / UCL Cancer Institute University College London	University College London	493	497	990	2,376	28,940
19	Cancer Institute AP-HP Nord, Université Paris Cité Université Paris Cité	Université Paris Cité	463	451	914	2,119	36,693
20	Yale University Open Data Access (YODA) Project	Yale University	445	465	910	2,224	28,423
21	University of Michigan Rogel Cancer Center University of Michigan	University of Michigan	479	419	898	3,009	30,226
22	German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ)	German Cancer Research Center	453	429	882	2,197	32,560
23	Amsterdam UMC / Cancer Center Amsterdam University of Amsterdam / Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam	Amsterdam University Medical Centers	459	391	850	2,104	25,115
24	UCLA Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center University of California, Los Angeles	University of California, Los Angeles	418	424	842	2,039	33,523
25	West China Hospital, Sichuan University	West China Hospital of Sichuan University	361	464	825	1,943	21,320
26	LMU Klinikum München Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität	Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München	399	424	823	1,954	23,788
27	Gustave Roussy	Institut Gustave Roussy	401	397	798	1,862	31,707
28	Siteman Cancer Center, Washington University Washington University in St. Louis	Washington University in St. Louis	409	383	792	1,965	26,194
29	Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center	Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center	376	400	776	1,866	22,263
30	The Mount Sinai Hospital / Tisch Cancer Institute	Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai	419	352	771	1,722	19,564

(showing the first 30)

Grouped by university (489)

#		Institutions counted
1	Harvard University	Dana-Farber Brigham Cancer Center Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center	3,290	7,917	130,589
2	University of Texas	MD Anderson Cancer Center	2,711	6,742	95,559
3	Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College	Institute of Hematology and Blood Diseases Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences	2,140	4,969	62,764
4	Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center	Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center	2,102	5,120	95,936
5	Mayo Clinic	Mayo Clinic	1,941	4,572	48,202
6	University of Pennsylvania	Abramson Cancer Center, University of Pennsylvania Children's Hospital of Philadelphia	1,618	3,719	63,540
7	Huazhong University of Science and Technology	Tongji Hospital, Huazhong University of Science and Technology Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College	1,608	3,652	46,218
8	Heidelberg University	Heidelberg University Hospital	1,424	3,473	46,508
9	Stanford University	Stanford Health Care	1,324	3,016	50,896
10	Université Paris Cité	Cancer Institute AP-HP Nord, Université Paris Cité Institut du Cancer Paris CARPEM, AP-HP Centre Institut Pasteur	1,212	2,796	47,206
11	National Cancer Institute (NIH)	National Cancer Institute (NIH)	1,211	2,852	46,921
12	Johns Hopkins University	Johns Hopkins Hospital	1,199	2,962	42,161
13	University College London	University College London Hospitals Royal Free Hospital, Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children	1,195	2,890	33,696
14	University of California, San Francisco	UCSF Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center	1,155	2,818	47,444
15	Fudan University	Zhongshan Hospital, Fudan University	1,151	2,872	31,534
16	Moffitt Cancer Center	Moffitt Cancer Center	1,104	2,589	31,588
17	University of Washington	Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center Seattle Children's Hospital	1,104	2,382	33,470
18	Cleveland Clinic Taussig Cancer Institute	Cleveland Clinic Taussig Cancer Institute	1,048	2,275	29,951
19	Tel Aviv University	Tel Aviv University Sheba Medical Center Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center Davidoff Cancer Center, Rabin Medical Center	966	2,400	35,178
20	Seoul National University	Seoul National University Hospital Seoul National University Bundang Hospital	931	2,248	34,897
21	Yale University Open Data Access (YODA) Project	Yale University Open Data Access (YODA) Project	910	2,224	28,423
22	University of Michigan	University of Michigan Rogel Cancer Center	898	3,009	30,226
23	German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ)	German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ)	882	2,197	32,560
24	University of Amsterdam / Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam	Amsterdam UMC	850	2,104	25,115
25	University of California, Los Angeles	UCLA Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center	842	2,039	33,523
26	West China Hospital, Sichuan University	West China Hospital, Sichuan University	825	1,943	21,320
27	Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität	LMU Klinikum München	823	1,954	23,788
28	Gustave Roussy	Gustave Roussy	798	1,862	31,707
29	Washington University in St. Louis	Siteman Cancer Center, Washington University	792	1,965	26,194
30	Peking University	Peking University Cancer Hospital Peking University People's Hospital	779	1,893	21,773

(showing the first 30)

3. Corpus-derived score

Sum of OnCo institution scores for the university's affiliated centres in this corpus (Newsweek points + NCI points + 2 × linked objects). Universities appear only if one of their institutions is documented here; this table measures how well OnCo covers an institution as much as the institution itself.

271 universities

	University		Institutions in OnCo
1	Harvard University	US	Dana-Farber Brigham Cancer Center, Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center	2	112	343
2	University of Texas	US	MD Anderson Cancer Center	1	78	229
3	Johns Hopkins University	US	Johns Hopkins Hospital / Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center	1	78	221
4	University of Toronto	CA	Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, Sunnybrook Odette Cancer Centre, The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids)	3	52	155
5	University of Manchester	GB	The Christie NHS Foundation Trust, Cancer Research UK Manchester Institute, Manchester Royal Infirmary HPB Unit	3	58	153
6	University College London	GB	University College London Hospitals / UCL Cancer Institute, Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children, Royal Free Hospital, Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust	3	71	142
7	Stanford University	US	Stanford Health Care / Stanford Cancer Institute	1	38	121
8	University of Pennsylvania	US	Abramson Cancer Center, University of Pennsylvania, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia	2	45	105
9	University of California, San Francisco	US	UCSF Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center	1	30	102
10	Heidelberg University	DE	Heidelberg University Hospital / NCT / DKFZ	1	29	100
11	Tel Aviv University	IL	Sheba Medical Center, Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center, Tel Aviv University, Davidoff Cancer Center, Rabin Medical Center	4	50	100
12	Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin	DE	Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin	1	20	88
13	Hebrew University of Jerusalem	IL	Hadassah Medical Center, Shaare Zedek Medical Center, Hebrew University of Jerusalem	3	43	86
14	University of Glasgow	GB	Beatson West of Scotland Cancer Centre / CRUK Scotland Institute, Glasgow Royal Infirmary, Wolfson Wohl Cancer Research Centre, University of Glasgow	3	41	82
15	Karolinska Institutet	SE	Karolinska University Hospital	1	28	77
16	Shanghai Jiao Tong University	CN	Shanghai Chest Hospital, Ruijin Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Renji Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University	3	38	76
17	Homi Bhabha National Institute	IN	Advanced Centre for Treatment, Research and Education in Cancer, Homi Bhabha Cancer Hospital and Mahamana Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya Cancer Centre, Varanasi	2	36	72
18	Seoul National University	KR	Seoul National University Hospital, Seoul National University Bundang Hospital	2	9	70
19	University of Cambridge	GB	Cancer Research UK Cambridge Centre / CRUK Cambridge Institute, Addenbrooke's Hospital, Cambridge University Hospitals	2	35	70
20	King's College London	GB	Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust / King's Health Partners Cancer Centre, King's College Hospital, London	2	34	68
21	Utrecht University	NL	Princess Máxima Center for Pediatric Oncology, UMC Utrecht Cancer Center	2	34	68
22	The Ohio State University	US	The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center, James Cancer Hospital and Solove Research Institute, Nationwide Children's Hospital	2	26	67
23	Baylor College of Medicine	US	Dan L Duncan Comprehensive Cancer Center, Baylor College of Medicine, Texas Children's Cancer and Hematology Center	2	26	67
24	University of Leeds	GB	Leeds Cancer Centre, St James's University Hospital	1	32	64
25	University of Birmingham	GB	University Hospitals Birmingham / University of Birmingham Cancer Research Centre	1	30	60
26	Università di Bologna	IT	IRCCS Istituto Romagnolo per lo Studio dei Tumori 'Dino Amadori' (IRST), IRCCS Azienda Ospedaliero-Universitaria di Bologna, Policlinico Sant'Orsola	2	30	60
27	University of Washington	US	Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center, Institute for Protein Design (University of Washington), Seattle Children's Hospital	3	22	59
28	University of Oxford	GB	Oxford Cancer (Oxford University Hospitals and University of Oxford)	1	29	58
29	UNSW Sydney	AU	Garvan Institute of Medical Research / Kinghorn Cancer Centre, Sydney Children's Hospitals Network / Children's Cancer Institute	2	29	58
30	Cardiff University	GB	Velindre Cancer Centre, University Hospital of Wales, Cardiff	2	28	56

(showing the first 30)