As of 2026-09-11 · the last 10 years
Neodymium’s research intensity currently sits at about 93% of its own all-time peak, a level reached within this window in 2019.
Research intensity ran from about 94% of the element's own all-time peak in 2016 to about 93% in 2026 — a rise to a mid-window peak followed by a fall back, and the all-time peak (2019) falls inside this window. Over the same span its share of research attention across all elements rose. Among the 118 elements, neodymium has a larger-than-average research literature.
The number of papers involving the element rose from about 123,097 in 2016 to about 228,306 in 2025 (1.85x). That is slower than the literature as a whole grew over the same years, so the element lost ground in the wider body of research even as its own count rose.
The largest share of neodymium’s recent research belongs to the community focused on recovering neodymium from spent NdFeB permanent magnets using deep eutectic solvents and separation techniques. In this field, neodymium is one strand of a broader community, with about 11% of its papers involving the element. This area accounts for about 29% of the element's recent research, a share that has remained steady over the last decade. A key anchor for this work is the 2023 Critical Materials Strategy, cited over 480 times, which outlines the strategic importance of these recovery methods.
A significant portion of the literature also involves using neodymium in monazite and xenotime to date metamorphic events and trace the evolution of specific geological terrains. Here, neodymium is a minor presence in a much larger community, appearing in about 7% of its papers. This research constitutes about 27% of neodymium's recent work, holding steady in share. Notable contributions include a 2024 Science paper on basalt from the Moon’s far side, cited over 140 times, and a 2016 Geostandards and Geoanalytical Research study on geochronology standards, cited over 1,000 times.
A smaller but distinct community uses neodymium isotopic signatures to track water mass mixing and circulation patterns in the Indian Ocean and Mediterranean Sea. Neodymium is a minor presence in this much larger community, with only about 2% of its papers involving the element. This area represents about 3% of the element's recent research, a share that has remained steady. Recent work includes a 2025 Nature paper on abyssal seafloor drivers of ocean trace-metal cycles, cited about 43 times.
Across these communities, the composition of neodymium research has remained remarkably stable, with no single group gaining or losing significant ground. The "Other research communities" category, which holds about 40% of the element's recent work, also shows a steady direction. This stability suggests that while the total volume of papers is growing, the core areas of scientific interest for neodymium have not shifted dramatically in the last ten years.
For a deeper dive into the current state of play, you can explore the element's Last 12 Months report or Executive Brief.
What changed in the past year: new papers, shifting applications, emerging collaborators. See the momentum over a shorter window than the decade view.
Personal →See recent trends — Personal.
A by-topic status read of what changed and what's new — built for decision-makers, not search engines. Citation clusters, emerging applications, and the papers that matter most.
Professional →See the executive read — Professional.
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Showing Neodymium's three strongest connections. Personal opens the slider and the whole 118-element graph.