Springer Nature, a global publisher of scientific content, has released its 2024 data for the Nature Index Research Leaders tables, highlighting a marked shift in global research contributions. China’s Share—the Nature Index’s primary metric for author contributions to high-quality research publications—increased by 17 percent to reach 32,122, further strengthening its global leadership. Asian institutions now hold eight of the top ten positions, up from seven in 2023, while Western countries have continued to decline in standings.
Published annually, the Nature Index Research Leaders report is based on contributions to articles in 145 high-quality natural science and health science journals, selected by an independent panel. The latest data reflects broad regional changes in research activity and visibility.
Among Asian countries, South Korea and India were the only other nations in the top ten to increase their adjusted Share over 2023, with rises of 4.1 percent and 2 percent, respectively. South Korea advanced to seventh place, surpassing Canada. Singapore rose from 18th to 16th place with a 7 percent increase, the second-highest among the top 20 countries after China. In contrast, Japan recorded a 9 percent decline.
Western nations saw consistent decreases in adjusted Share for the second consecutive year. Canada, France, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States all experienced declines of at least 7 percent. Germany and Australia also registered declines, though by smaller margins of less than 3 percent.
At the institutional level, Chinese organizations now account for eight of the global top ten. The Chinese Academy of Sciences maintained its leading position, the University of Science and Technology of China held third place, and Zhejiang University moved from tenth to fourth with a Share of 819.57. Several major Western institutions lost ground in the rankings. The Max Planck Society fell from fourth to ninth, and the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) exited the top ten for the first time, ranking 13th. Harvard University retained second place but experienced an 18 percent drop in adjusted Share. Stanford University and MIT dropped to 16th and 17th places, respectively. The US National Institutes of Health fell to 24th, moving out of the top 20 altogether.
The findings underscore a growing realignment in global research leadership, with Asia—led by China—continuing to expand its influence in high-quality scientific publishing. The complete dataset and analysis are available in the Nature Index portal. While the Index offers valuable insights into publication trends, Springer Nature notes that institutional performance should not be assessed using Nature Index metrics in isolation.
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