Provenance and Funding of Extremely Cited Biomedical Articles Published Between 2003 and 2024

Has the US, and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in particular, lost their dominance in supporting the most highly cited biomedical articles?In this cross-sectional study of the 100 top-cited biomedical publications in 2003-2004, 2013-2014, and 2023-2024, the US remained dominant, with a small decrease in corresponding authors of the top-cited publications (59 of 100 in 2003-2004, 58 of 100 in 2013-2014, and 45 of 100 in 2023-2024). Involvement of NIH funding decreased in 2023-2024, and in 2023-2024 only 2 of 100 articles were funded exclusively by the NIH.These findings suggest that as of 2024 the US remained a world leader in top-cited biomedical research, but the influence of NIH funding had decreased and influential work depended on funding from diverse funders.

Corresponding Author: John P.A. Ioannidis, MD, DSc, Stanford University, 3180 Porter Dr, Room A129, Stanford Research Park, Palo Alto, CA 94304 (jioannid@stanford.edu).

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