As of 2026-09-11 · the last 10 years
Nobelium’s research intensity currently sits at about 53% of its own all-time peak, a level that has remained essentially flat over the last decade, while its all-time high was reached in 1959.
Research intensity ran from about 50% of the element's own all-time peak in 2016 to about 53% in 2026 — essentially flat across the window, and the all-time peak (1959) lies before this window. Over the same span its share of research attention across all elements held steady. Among the 118 elements, nobelium has one of the smaller research literatures of any element.
The number of papers involving the element rose from about 32 in 2016 to about 62 in 2025 (1.94x). 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 dominant research community is Synthesis and Decay of Superheavy Elements and Heavy-Ion Collision Physics. This work focuses on the nuclear properties of nobelium isotopes and their relationship to neighboring elements like fermium. Nobelium is a minor presence in this much larger community, with only about 1% of its papers involving nobelium. Nevertheless, this community accounts for about 84% of nobelium’s recent research, a share that has remained steady over the last two five-year periods. Key work includes a 2016 study on atom-at-a-time laser resonance ionization spectroscopy of nobelium, cited over 120 times, and a 2024 paper on the cascade of high-K isomers in nobelium-255, cited about 14 times.
A second community, Actinide Chemistry and Nuclear Fuel Materials, represents a small but emerging area of study. Here, nobelium is a minor presence, involved in under 1% of the community's papers. This community accounts for about 4% of nobelium’s recent research, a share that has been steady. A 2024 study on the hydration structure of the nobelium ion, cited about 2 times, anchors this line of inquiry.
A third community, Plant Responses to Heavy Metal Contamination and Abiotic Stress, also holds about 4% of nobelium’s recent research, with a steady direction. However, nobelium’s role here is not clearly defined in the available data, and the community’s connection to nobelium appears incidental rather than central. A 2023 assessment of heavy metal pollution levels in water, soil, and plant leaves, not yet cited, is associated with this group.
Overall, the composition of nobelium research has remained remarkably stable. The core community of superheavy element physics continues to dominate, holding roughly 84% of the element's literature. The "Other research communities" category, which includes smaller or less defined groups, has seen its share decline from about 15% to 8% over the window, indicating a consolidation of research efforts into the primary nuclear physics community.
The most cited paper in the window is a 2019 entry in the Encyclopedia of Geochemistry, cited over 240 times, though it belongs to a community focused on thallium remediation and is not central to nobelium's core research narrative.
For a deeper look at nobelium's current standing, see the Last 12 Months and Executive Brief reports.
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 Nobelium's three strongest connections. Personal opens the slider and the whole 118-element graph.