World's Best Scientists 2026 revealed!
Medical Physics
H-index 45

Medical Physics

Ranking & Metrics

Discipline name Position Best Scientists Publications D-Index
Medicine 495 182 412 35

Additional Metrics

Number of Best Scientists*: 608
Documents by Best Scientists*: 1064
Top 100 Ranked Scientists*: 19
SCIMAGO H-index: 218
SCIMAGO SJR: 0.986
Impact Factor: 3.2

Overview

Top Research Topics at Medical Physics?

The primary areas of discussion in the journal are Nuclear medicine, Dosimetry, Medical imaging, Imaging phantom and Optics. While Medical Physics focused on Nuclear medicine, it was also able to explore topics like Image registration and Radiation treatment planning, Radiation therapy, Image-guided radiation therapy. It facilitates discussions on Radiation therapy that incorporate concepts from other fields like Cancer and Prostate.

Issues in Dosimetry were discussed, taking into consideration concepts from other disciplines like Ionization chamber, Monte Carlo method, Brachytherapy and Medical physics. Cone beam computed tomography, Computed tomography and Computer vision are some topics wherein Medical imaging research discussed in it have an impact. The research on Imaging phantom featured in Medical Physics combines topics in other fields like Image quality, Image resolution, Calibration, Iterative reconstruction and Biomedical engineering.

Medical Physics focuses on Iterative reconstruction but the discussions also offer insight into other areas such as Algorithm and Tomography. Medical Physics facilitated presentations on Optics research, particularly Beam (structure), Detector, Photon, Linear particle accelerator and Image sensor. Image processing and Segmentation are some of the facets of Artificial intelligence tackled in the journal.

  • Nuclear medicine (42.02%)
  • Dosimetry (35.16%)
  • Medical imaging (26.52%)

What are the most cited papers published in the journal?

  • A technique for the quantitative evaluation of dose distributions (2050 citations)
  • Dosimetry of interstitial brachytherapy sources: Recommendations of the AAPM Radiation Therapy Committee Task Group No. 43 (1673 citations)
  • The management of respiratory motion in radiation oncology report of AAPM Task Group 76. (1623 citations)

Research areas of the most cited articles at Medical Physics:

The journal articles are organized to address concerns in the fields of Dosimetry, Medical imaging, Nuclear medicine, Optics and Imaging phantom. The journal papers explore issues in Dosimetry which can be linked to other research areas like Beam (structure), Medical physics, Ionization chamber, Monte Carlo method and Radiation therapy. While Medical imaging is the focus of the journal papers, it also provides insights into the studies of Image processing, Tomography, Computed radiography and Iterative reconstruction.

Papers citation over time

A key indicator for each journal is its effectiveness in reaching other researchers with the papers published at that venue.

The chart below presents the interquartile range (first quartile 25%, median 50% and third quartile 75%) of the number of citations of articles over time.

The top authors publishing in Medical Physics (based on the number of publications) are:

  • Fang-Fang Yin (419 papers) published 3 papers at the last edition,
  • Lei Xing (411 papers) published 9 papers at the last edition, 1 more than at the previous edition,
  • Daniel A. Low (374 papers) published 6 papers at the last edition, 1 more than at the previous edition,
  • C. M. Ma (332 papers) absent at the last edition,
  • Paul J. Keall (312 papers) published 7 papers at the last edition, 4 more than at the previous edition.

The overall trend for top authors publishing in this journal is outlined below. The chart shows the number of publications at each edition of the journal for top authors.

Only papers with recognized affiliations are considered

The top affiliations publishing in Medical Physics (based on the number of publications) are:

  • University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center (2160 papers) published 33 papers at the last edition, 3 more than at the previous edition,
  • University of Wisconsin-Madison (1301 papers) published 20 papers at the last edition, 3 less than at the previous edition,
  • Duke University (1127 papers) published 14 papers at the last edition, 4 more than at the previous edition,
  • Harvard University (1117 papers) published 12 papers at the last edition, 3 less than at the previous edition,
  • Stanford University (1086 papers) published 27 papers at the last edition, 8 more than at the previous edition.

The overall trend for top affiliations publishing in this journal is outlined below. The chart shows the number of publications at each edition of the journal for top affiliations.

Publication chance based on affiliation

The publication chance index shows the ratio of articles published by the best research institutions in the journal edition to all articles published within that journal. The best research institutions were selected based on the largest number of articles published during all editions of the journal.

The chart below presents the percentage ratio of articles from top institutions (based on their ranking of total papers).Top affiliations were grouped by their rank into the following tiers: top 1-10, top 11-20, top 21-50, and top 51+. Only articles with a recognized affiliation are considered.

During the most recent 2021 edition, 5.06% of publications had an unrecognized affiliation. Out of the publications with recognized affiliations, 23.70% were posted by at least one author from the top 10 institutions publishing in the journal. Another 9.33% included authors affiliated with research institutions from the top 11-20 affiliations. Institutions from the 21-50 range included 13.04% of all publications and 53.93% were from other institutions.

Returning Authors Index

A very common phenomenon observed among researchers publishing scientific articles is the intentional selection of journals they have already attended in the past. In particular, it is worth analyzing the case when the authors participate in the same journal from year to year.

The Returning Authors Index presented below illustrates the ratio of authors who participated in both a given as well as the previous edition of the journal in relation to all participants in a given year.

Returning Institution Index

The graph below shows the Returning Institution Index, illustrating the ratio of institutions that participated in both a given and the previous edition of the conference in relation to all affiliations present in a given year.

The experience to innovation index

Our experience to innovation index was created to show a cross-section of the experience level of authors publishing in a journal. The index includes the authors publishing at the last edition of a journal, grouped by total number of publications throughout their academic career (P) and the total number of citations of these publications ever received (C).

The group intervals were selected empirically to best show the diversity of the authors' experiences, their labels were selected as a convenience, not as judgment. The authors were divided into the following groups:

  • Novice - P < 5 or C < 25 (the number of publications less than 5 or the number of citations less than 25),
  • Competent - P < 10 or C < 100 (the number of publications less than 10 or the number of citations less than 100),
  • Experienced - P < 25 or C < 625 (the number of publications less than 25 or the number of citations less than 625),
  • Master - P < 50 or C < 2500 (the number of publications less than 50 or the number of citations less than 2500),
  • Star - P ≥ 50 and C ≥ 2500 (both the number of publications greater than 50 and the number of citations greater than 2500).

The chart below illustrates experience levels of first authors in cases of publications with multiple authors.

Further Study Path After Medical Physics

For prospective students who are considering diving into the world of Medical Physics, there are a number of paths you could take after completing your study in this dynamic field. Upon obtaining your degree, you might choose to expand your research and dedicate your career to pushing the boundaries of science and technology in this field. But for some, further specialization may be desired to work in more specific areas of healthcare. For instance, a natural and rewarding career pathway after Medical Physics could be pursuing a degree in the nursing field.

A nursing degree can help medical physicists translate their knowledge and understanding of complex medical technology into direct patient care. And if you're located in the Midwest, you're in luck. There are some of the best nursing schools in the US located in Minnesota. Here, you can expand and apply your understanding of Medical Physics in a direct, practical, and patient-oriented way. You can explore some of these programs and opportunities at the best nursing schools in Minnesota.

Above all, it's essential to remember that the field of Medical Physics is vast and continuously evolving, so there’s always room for advanced study, pushing boundaries, and making groundbreaking discoveries that can revolutionize the way we understand and approach healthcare.

Top Publications

  • Principles and applications of multienergy CT: Report of AAPM Task Group 291.

    Cynthia H. McCollough;Kirsten Boedeker;Dianna Cody;Xinhui Duan

    (2020)
    157 Citations
  • Low-dose CT image and projection dataset

    Taylor R. Moen;Baiyu Chen;David R. Holmes;Xinhui Duan

    (2021)
    155 Citations
  • CBCT-based synthetic CT generation using deep-attention cycleGAN for pancreatic adaptive radiotherapy.

    Yingzi Liu;Yang Lei;Tonghe Wang;Yabo Fu

    (2020)
    154 Citations
  • A framework for defining FLASH dose rate for pencil beam scanning

    (2020)
    153 Citations
  • Synthetic CT generation from CBCT images via deep learning

    Liyuan Chen;Xiao Liang;Chenyang Shen;Steve Jiang

    (2020)
    142 Citations
  • CT prostate segmentation based on synthetic MRI-aided deep attention fully convolution network.

    Yang Lei;Xue Dong;Zhen Tian;Yingzi Liu

    (2020)
    127 Citations
  • LungRegNet: An unsupervised deformable image registration method for 4D-CT lung.

    Yabo Fu;Yang Lei;Tonghe Wang;Kristin Higgins

    (2020)
    122 Citations
  • Breast tumor segmentation in 3D automatic breast ultrasound using Mask scoring R-CNN.

    Yang Lei;Xiuxiu He;Jincao Yao;Tonghe Wang

    (2021)
    107 Citations
  • Strategies for effective physics plan and chart review in radiation therapy: Report of AAPM Task Group 275

    Eric Ford;Leigh Conroy;Lei Dong;Luis Fong de Los Santos

    (2020)
    97 Citations
  • Introduction to machine and deep learning for medical physicists

    Sunan Cui;Huan-Hsin Tseng;Julia Pakela;Randall K Ten Haken

    (2020)
    92 Citations

Related Online Degrees & Career Pathways

For those interested in the healthcare field but not pursuing a traditional medical degree, there are several related online programs that offer valuable career opportunities. For example, an ultrasound tech school online provides specialized training in diagnostic imaging, essential for many medical settings.

Similarly, radiology tech online programs are becoming increasingly popular. They offer affordable pathways to becoming certified radiologic technologists, a vital role in medical diagnostics.

Nutrition plays a critical role in patient care, and the best dietetics programs equip students with advanced knowledge in dietary planning and health promotion, opening doors to careers in clinical nutrition and wellness.

For entry-level positions in healthcare settings, online medical assisting school offers flexible courses to prepare students for administrative and clinical support roles, often with financial aid options.

Exploring these related online degrees can be a strategic way to enter or advance in the medical field, providing diverse opportunities without the lengthy commitment of traditional medical school.

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