Research data · Spatial learning and memory
Morris water maze
From 2021 to 2025, 5,392 animal research papers mentioned the Morris water maze in their title or abstract, more than any other of the 90 tests we track.
That is 1.6 times the 3,430 papers of 2011 to 2015. Between the same two periods, all the animal research papers that mention any of the 90 tests we count grew more slowly, to 1.2 times as many.
Papers by year
Animal research papers that mention the Morris water maze, by year, 2001 to 2026
The 2026 bar counts papers added to PubMed by November 8, 2026.
- Papers in a full year
- 2026 so far
Show the counts for each year
| Year | Papers |
|---|---|
| 2001 | 241 |
| 2002 | 278 |
| 2003 | 278 |
| 2004 | 322 |
| 2005 | 306 |
| 2006 | 364 |
| 2007 | 389 |
| 2008 | 438 |
| 2009 | 492 |
| 2010 | 471 |
| 2011 | 536 |
| 2012 | 630 |
| 2013 | 759 |
| 2014 | 693 |
| 2015 | 812 |
| 2016 | 815 |
| 2017 | 894 |
| 2018 | 914 |
| 2019 | 948 |
| 2020 | 1,024 |
| 2021 | 1,099 |
| 2022 | 1,069 |
| 2023 | 970 |
| 2024 | 1,044 |
| 2025 | 1,210 |
| 2026 (part year) | 1,008 |
Papers that mention the Morris water maze fell from 1,099 in 2021 to 970 in 2023, then rose to 1,210 in 2025. Part of this dip may come from PubMed's indexing rather than from fewer studies. When PubMed's indexing names a paper's species, we use it. Otherwise PubTator 3, NCBI's text-mining service, has to find a species in the title or abstract, or the paper is not counted. Papers that PubMed indexed under the subject heading Animals also fell and rose, from 200,221 in 2021 to 156,447 in 2023 and 235,479 in 2025.
Rats led every year from 2001 to 2023, and mice led in 2024 and 2025.
Papers that mention the Morris water maze, by species, 2001 to 2025
- Mouse
- Rat
Show the counts for each year and species
| Year | Mouse | Rat |
|---|---|---|
| 2001 | 78 | 168 |
| 2002 | 81 | 194 |
| 2003 | 86 | 201 |
| 2004 | 100 | 226 |
| 2005 | 107 | 200 |
| 2006 | 147 | 226 |
| 2007 | 144 | 248 |
| 2008 | 172 | 275 |
| 2009 | 183 | 313 |
| 2010 | 194 | 283 |
| 2011 | 230 | 318 |
| 2012 | 253 | 394 |
| 2013 | 311 | 468 |
| 2014 | 299 | 407 |
| 2015 | 320 | 504 |
| 2016 | 347 | 484 |
| 2017 | 389 | 509 |
| 2018 | 411 | 512 |
| 2019 | 434 | 526 |
| 2020 | 459 | 591 |
| 2021 | 538 | 581 |
| 2022 | 519 | 570 |
| 2023 | 487 | 507 |
| 2024 | 563 | 491 |
| 2025 | 644 | 586 |
Which species the papers used
Each bar is a share of the 5,392 papers from 2021 to 2025. A paper can use more than one species, so the shares can add to more than 100%.
Species
“Other animals” counts papers that use none of the species this chart names.
Strains and genetic lines
Strain names come from the MeSH terms PubMed adds when it indexes a paper. PubMed has indexed 4,269 of the 5,392 papers, so each bar is a share of those 4,269.
A paper indexed under two of these headings, such as knockout mice and a strain, counts under both.
Disease models in papers that mention the Morris water maze
Each bar is one disease model, with how many of the 5,392 papers from 2021 to 2025 that mention the Morris water maze use it, and what share that is. The model comes from the paper's MeSH terms, the subject headings the National Library of Medicine adds when it indexes a paper. A paper without MeSH terms gets its model from PubTator 3, NCBI's text-mining service, if PubTator 3 finds the disease in the title or abstract. A paper can count under more than one model.
Papers from 2021 to 2025 by disease model
Tests mentioned alongside the Morris water maze
Each bar is one test, with how many of the 5,392 papers from 2021 to 2025 that mention the Morris water maze also mention it, and what share that is.
Papers from 2021 to 2025 that mention both tests
To count the papers that mention three or more tests together, start from the Morris water maze in the test battery tool.
The most cited papers from 2021 to 2025
These papers from 2021 to 2025 mention the Morris water maze and have the most citations, as counted by NIH's iCite on November 5, 2026.
J Ethnopharmacol, 2022. 313 citations.
Morris water maze: a versatile and pertinent tool for assessing spatial learning and memory.
Exp Anim, 2022. 295 citations.
Exp Neurol, 2021. 281 citations.
J Neuroinflammation, 2021. 227 citations.
Phytomedicine, 2024. 220 citations.
How we counted
A count is the number of animal research papers whose title or abstract mentions one of the test's search terms. It is not a count of experiments, labs or animals.
A paper that mentions the Morris water maze only in its methods is missed, so the count runs low. The count includes 46 reviews. For 1,125 of the 5,392 papers, PubMed's indexing gave no species, so the species came from PubTator 3 finding one in the title or abstract.
The test's search terms are in the test list download. The full method, with each source and its terms of use, is on our main page, Behavioral tests in published research.
More spatial learning and memory tests
These spatial learning and memory tests also have a page, with their papers from 2021 to 2025. Each test with 30 or more papers gets one.
How to cite
APA
ConductScience. (2026, November 10). Morris water maze in published research [Data set]. https://conductscience.com/resources/data/behavioral-tests/morris-water-maze
BibTeX
@misc{conductscience_morris_water_maze_2026,
author = {{ConductScience}},
title = {Morris water maze in published research},
year = {2026},
month = nov,
url = {https://conductscience.com/resources/data/behavioral-tests/morris-water-maze},
note = {Data set, released November 10, 2026},
}Apparatus for the Morris water maze
Our store sells one product for the Morris water maze.
Shop the apparatusPapers that name our apparatus
We keep our own list of published papers whose text names our equipment. Those that mention the Morris water maze in the title or abstract are already in the counts above.
- 13 papers from 2018 to 2026 name our Morris Water Maze. See the papers
