China's lead in global rankings in high-quality research papers and knowledge production

Muhammad Zamir Assadi

The latest Nature Index rankings (covering the period from December 1, 2023, to November 30, 2024) were recently released by the internationally renowned academic publisher Nature. The rankings reveal China's dominance in high-quality research output, with nine of the world's top ten academic institutions coming from China. Harvard University remains the only non-Chinese institution in the top ten. In discipline-based rankings, Chinese institutions performed particularly well in Chemistry, Physical sciences, and Earth & environmental sciences.

The Nature Index is an open database of author affiliations and institutional relationships. The Index tracks contributions to research articles published in high-quality natural-science and health-science journals, chosen based on reputation by an independent group of researchers.

China's Universities Take the Lead

When the first edition of the Nature Index 2014 Global were published on November 13, 2014, only eight Chinese institutions made it into the global top 100. In contrast, the latest rankings highlight China's significant progress, with nine Chinese universities securing spots in the global top ten and 14 making it into the top 20. In the top 100, Chinese universities lead with 42 institutions, surpassing the U.S. (36 institutions) and the UK (four institutions).

The University of Science and Technology of China (USTC), Zhejiang University (ZJU), and Peking University (PKU) stood out, with USTC ranking second worldwide with a total paper count (Count) of 2,585 and a contribution share (Share) of 835.02—trailing only Harvard University (Count: 3,849, Share: 1,146.43).

The top ten global academic institutions in the latest Nature Index rankings are:

1.Harvard University

2.University of Science and Technology of China (USTC)

3.Zhejiang University (ZJU)

4.Peking University (PKU)

5.University of Chinese Academy of Sciences (UCAS)

6.Tsinghua University

7.Nanjing University (NJU)

8.Shanghai Jiao Tong University (SJTU)

9.Fudan University

10.Sun Yat-sen University (SYSU)

Beyond academic institution rankings, the Nature Index also categorizes rankings by institution type, including academic institutions, government research institutions, corporations, health care institutions, and NPO/NGO.

It is worth noting that in the Institution tables, the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), classified as a government research institution, has consistently held the top position worldwide for several years. In the latest evaluation period, CAS recorded a Count of 9,248 and a Share of 2,744.97, significantly surpassing Harvard University, which had a Count of 3,855 and a Share of 1,147.45.

Strong Performance in Fundamental Sciences

In subject-based rankings, which include Biological sciences, Chemistry, Earth & environmental sciences, Health sciences, and Physical sciences, China has demonstrated significant advantages. Chinese institutions dominate the top ten in Chemistry, with Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), University of Science and Technology of China (USTC), University of Chinese Academy of Sciences (UCAS), Zhejiang University (ZJU), Nanjing University (NJU), Tsinghua University, Shanghai Jiao Tong University (SJTU), Peking University (PKU), Sichuan University (SCU), Fudan University occupying all ten spots.

Similarly, China holds eight of the top ten positions in both Physical sciences and Earth & environmental sciences. The global top ten in Physical sciences include Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), University of Science and Technology of China (USTC), Tsinghua University, Max Planck Society, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences (UCAS), Zhejiang University (ZJU), Peking University (PKU), Nanjing University (NJU), Shanghai Jiao Tong University (SJTU), French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS).

In Earth & environmental sciences, the global ranking includes Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Nanjing University (NJU), Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres, Peking University (PKU), University of Chinese Academy of Sciences (UCAS), Tongji University, Zhejiang University (ZJU), Sun Yat-sen University (SYSU), Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (ETH Zurich), Tsinghua University.

In contrast, U.S. institutions continue to dominate Health sciences and Biological sciences, securing eight and seven spots in their respective top-ten lists. Harvard University has consistently ranked first in both fields for years. This divergence highlights differing research strategies between China and the U.S., with China excelling in engineering-oriented fundamental research while the U.S. remains a leader in biomedical and translational research. However, China is rapidly closing the gap, with CAS and Zhejiang University breaking into the global top ten in Biological sciences and Sun Yat-sen University (SYSU) making the top ten in Health sciences.

The way China has been leading in the research papers shows China's focus on scientific knowledge production.