Nephrology Research in India and China, 2015–2024: Scientometrics to Healthcare Policy

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) and related renal disorders affect an estimated 788 million people globally, yet research output remains disproportionately concentrated in high-income countries relative to where the disease burden lies. This study — the fourth in a series examining the relationship between disease burden and research output in India and China, following earlier studies on cardiovascular disease, tuberculosis, and diabetes — presents a comprehensive scientometric analysis of nephrology research from six countries (India, China, USA, UK, Germany, and Italy) over the decade 2015–2024, using the OpenAlex database, fractional counting, and the Field-Normalised Citation Score (FNCS). A total of 594,545 unique nephrology papers were identified worldwide; the six study countries contributed 295,365 papers (49.7% of world total). China emerged as the most rapidly growing producer of nephrology research, with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 10.0% — compared to the world average of 1.6% — while India followed closely at 9.0%. Together, India and China increased their combined world share from 9.15% in 2015 to 18.29% in 2024. However, a striking divergence in citation impact was found: China’s mean FNCS rose steadily from 1.40 to 1.85 — consistently above the world average — while India’s remained persistently below the world average throughout the decade (range: 0.67–0.88), revealing a quantity-quality paradox. Open access publishing grew substantially across all six countries, from 43.8% to 64.7% of papers. China’s international collaboration declined — the only country among the six to show a decrease — while India’s multilateral collaboration nearly doubled. Institutional analysis reveals that India’s nephrology research rests entirely on government-funded national institutes, with corporate hospital chains contributing nothing despite treating large numbers of kidney disease patients. The paper argues that India and China together carry over one-third of the global CKD burden yet produce less than one-fifth of the world’s nephrology research — a gap that demands urgent policy attention — and concludes with 15 specific policy recommendations for India, China, and the international community.