The Microbiology field includes journals that cover the following topics:

• biology & biochemistry of microorganisms (bacterial, viral and parasitic)
• medical implications of the subsets of these organisms known to cause diseases
• biotechnology applications of microorganisms for basic science or clinical use

The top 20 Microbiology institutions are a global representation of universities and government agencies.

Harvard University takes the lead in this list, with 1,790 papers in this field cited a total of 55,695 times to date. Harvard’s most-cited papers in this field are dominated by HIV research, but also include papers on the cholera toxin, tick-borne encephalitis virus, and the arabinose P-BAD promoter.

The Institut Pasteur is the highest-ranked non-US entity in this field, placing at #2 with 2,244 papers cited a total of 47,438 times to date. Heavily cited papers from the Institut Pasteur are quite diverse in their topics, including complete genome sequences of Mycobacterium tuberculosis and gram-positive Bacillus subtilis, as well as the pesticidal crystal proteins of Bacillus thuringiensis, exploitation by bacterial pathogens of their mammalian host cells, gene decay of leprosy, and bacterial nomenclature. Other French organizations included in this ranking are the Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA), ranking at #15 with 1,383 papers cited a total of 21,220 times to date, and the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), ranking at #19 with 1,059 papers cited a total of 19,054 times to date.

The US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) ranks at #3, with 1,475 papers cited a total of 40,251 times to date. NIAID also focuses a great deal on HIV/AIDS research, but also has other topics such as herpesvirus and poxvirus proteins, chlamydial pathogenesis, gene expression in Candida albicans, and simian immunodeficiency virus. Other US government agencies making this ranking include the National Cancer Institute (NCI) at #7, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) at #8, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention at #16.

The #4 slot belongs to the University of Texas system, with 1,582 papers cited a total of 29,812 times to date. Among UT’s highly cited papers are such diverse topics as drug-resistant Candida, microbial pathogenesis in cystic fibrosis, bacterial secretion, and genome sequences of Treponema pallidum and Bacillus anthracis.

Genome sequencing, molecular microbial diversity, and manipulating genes to develop antibiotics are among the topics explored in the University of Wisconsin’s highly cited papers in the field of Microbiology. This institution ranks at #5, with 1,387 papers cited a total of 29,414 times to date.

Germany and the UK have representatives in the top 20 Microbiology institutions list as well. Germany’s Max Planck Society ranks at #6 with 1,207 papers cited a total of 25,432 times to date. Oxford University ranks at #14 with 963 papers cited a total of 21,576 times to date.