Australia retained the third place in the Asia-Pacific region, with its greatest strengths still in earth and environmental sciences, according to the Nature Publishing Index 2013 Asia-Pacific released as a supplement to Nature.
The country improved its NPI score by almost every measure, with the second highest level of international collaboration in the region. Its contribution to Nature journals grew by more than 50 percent in 2013.
In the life sciences, Australia ranked third in the NPI Asia-Pacific behind China and Japan. However, it is persistently strong in immunology. Four of the top five regional institutions contributing to Nature Immunology were Australian.
The University of Melbourne held top spot in Australia for the third consecutive year, followed by Australian National University (ANU) and the University of Queensland (UQ) in second and third places, respectively - the same positions as 2012.
Australia recorded 29 institutions in the Asia-Pacific Top 200, with the University of Melbourne coming in at number eight. Those that also came in the NPI Asia-Pacific top 10 institutions include: the University of New South Wales (UNSW); the University of Sydney; Monash University; CSIRO; the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute for Medical Research (WEHI); the University of Western Australia (UWA); and Macquarie University.
Overall, Australia earned about one third of its NPI output from papers in the earth and environmental field, led by CSIRO, ANU and UQ. The University of Western Australia and James Cook University, which both dropped out of the top 10, joined CSIRO and UQ in the top five contributors to Nature Climate Change.
The big movers this year among Australian institutions were WEHI (up to 33 from 68) and the two that just missed Australia's top 10: Swinburne University of Technology (up to 64 from 100) and the University of Adelaide (up to 66 from 125).
The Nature Publishing Index 2013 Asia-Pacific has been released as a supplement to Nature. It measures the output of research articles from nations and institutes published in the 18 Nature-branded primary research journals over the calendar year to provide a snapshot of research in the Asia-Pacific in 2013.
