Nobelium

Nobelium (No) — 10-Year Trends

As of 2026-09-25 · the last 10 years

Research intensity has held steady at about 58% of the element's own all-time peak, a level that has remained consistent since the window began in 2016.

Research intensity ran from about 57% of the element's own all-time peak in 2016 to about 58% in 2026 — flat overall, with some movement in between, 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 vast majority of nobelium research belongs to the community of Superheavy Nuclei, Heavy-Ion Collisions, and Nuclear Structure. This work focuses on the nuclear properties of the element, with distinctive attention to nobelium isotopes and fermium-nobelium systems. Nobelium is a minor presence in this much larger community, with under 1% of its papers involving nobelium. However, this community accounts for about 84% of nobelium's recent research, a share that has remained steady over the last decade. A key paper in this area is "Atom-at-a-time laser resonance ionization spectroscopy of nobelium" (2016), cited over 120 times, which established foundational techniques for studying the element. More recent work, such as "Cascade of high- K isomers in No 102 255 153" (2024), cited about 14 times, continues to explore the complex nuclear structure of these heavy isotopes.

A smaller portion of the literature, about 4% of recent research, falls within Lanthanide and Actinide Coordination Chemistry for Magnetic and Optical Applications. Here, nobelium is also a minor presence, with under 1% of the community's papers involving it. This share has been steady, though it represents a small but consistent stream of work on the element's chemical behavior. An example is the 2024 study "Hydration Structure of 102 No 2+ : A Density Functional Theory-Molecular Dynamics Study," cited about 2 times, which examines the element's interaction with water.

A third community, Laser-Controlled Atomic Systems for Precision Metrology and Quantum Control, has seen a decline in its share of nobelium research, dropping from about 7.7% in the earlier period to 0% in the current period. Nobelium is a minor presence here as well, with under 1% of the community's papers involving it. The remaining 12% of research is spread across other communities, holding steady in share.

The window's most-cited paper, "Search for μs-isomers in 251 − 254 No" (2026), cited about 3 times, belongs to the Superheavy Nuclei community and is part of the ongoing effort to characterize the element's nuclear states.

For a deeper look at nobelium's current standing, see the Last 12 Months and Executive Brief reports.