The Diffusion Index

Eight indexes, side by side

Every scholarly diffusion index on one shared 2006–2026 timeline, each shaded by its calibrated Rogers adoption phase. Read across the grid to see the pattern the individual charts hide: each generation crests later in calendar time but burns through its novelty premium faster than the one before. Toggle the journal tier, or normalize every curve to its own peak to compare decay rates directly.

Metric

Scale

Innovators

Early Adopters

Early Majority

Late Majority

Laggards

○ faded dots = N < 30 papers (noisy)

NGS

Laggards

Since 2006 · peak 268.9 per 1,000 in 2008

cfDNA

Late Majority

Since 2008 · peak 500.0 per 1,000 in 2007

Long-read

Early Majority

Since 2009 · peak 333.3 per 1,000 in 2009

scRNA-seq

Early Majority

Since 2011 · peak 583.3 per 1,000 in 2013

Spatial Proteo

Early Adopters

Since 2013 · peak 375.0 per 1,000 in 2014

Multi-omics

Early Majority

Since 2013 · peak 97.7 per 1,000 in 2015

Spatial Tx

Early Majority

Since 2014 · peak 500.0 per 1,000 in 2015

Hi-Plex M-O

Early Adopters

Since 2017 · peak 254.7 per 1,000 in 2021

All panels share the same 2006–2026 time axis, so peaks line up in real time. In Score mode each panel keeps its own vertical scale (magnitudes differ by more than 10×), so compare the shape and timing of the rise-and-fall, not the heights. Switch to Normalized to put every curve on a common 0–100% axis and compare how fast each premium decays after its peak.

How to read this

The diffusion score is top-tier-journal papers per 1,000 publications — a novelty premium that leads adoption and decays as a field commoditizes. The default Blended metric averages the Nature/Science/Cell and Tier 1+2 scores to smooth single-tier noise.
Phase bands come from the Adoption Index (the single source of truth), not from the score — a field can sit in Early Majority by adoption while its premium is near the floor.
cfDNA and broad multi-omics never command a high top-3 premium — clinical and methodological work rarely lands a Nature cover. That is a feature of the field, not a failure of the technology.

Data current as of June 2026. 2026 is a partial year.

← Signal hub Year-zero overlay →Adoption Index →Methodology →