The Nature Index is a database that tracks institutions and countries/territories and their scientific output since its introduction in November 2014. Originally released with 64 natural-science journals, the Nature Index expanded to 82 natural-science journals in 2018, then added 64 health-science journals in 2023. Each year, the Nature Index ranks the leading institutions (which can be companies, universities, government agencies, research institutes, or NGOs) and countries by the number of scientific articles and papers published in leading journals. This ranking can also be categorized by individual fields of research such as life sciences, chemistry, physics, or earth sciences, with different institutions leading in each. The Nature Index was conceived by Nature Portfolio. In total, more than 17,000 institutions are listed in the Nature Index.
Methodology The Nature Index attempts to objectively measure the scientific output of institutions and countries, taking into account differences in quality. Therefore, only articles published in 145 selected high-quality journals are counted. These journals were selected by independent committees. If authors from several institutions and/or countries are involved in a scientific article, it is divided accordingly, assuming that all researchers were equally involved in the article. For example, this "fractional count" (Share) received by each author would be 0.1 for an article with 10 authors. If an author is affiliated with more than one institution, that author's Share is then subdivided equally across their affiliated institutions. The process is similar for countries/territories and regions, though the fact that some institutions have overseas labs makes the process more complicated, with such labs being counted towards their appropriate host countries.
Top institutions The top 25 institutions with the highest share of articles published in scientific journals according to the Nature Index 2026, which is valid for the calendar year 2025: RankInstitutionCountryTotal shareCount1Chinese Academy of Sciences3655.1128222Zhejiang University1276.8532133Harvard University1259.0142464Tsinghua University1213.5940625Shanghai Jiao Tong University1191.4733016University of Science and Technology of China1128.5837637Peking University1066.4942648University of the Chinese Academy of Sciences1055.6751919Nanjing University952.65260910Sichuan University880.93172111Fudan University872.5266212Sun Yat-sen University839.24216013Max Planck Society764.09321814Stanford University711.53234815Xi'an Jiaotong University708.45152816French National Centre for Scientific Research701.98521217Huazhong University of Science and Technology (HUST)697.95152718Helmholtz Association682340619Jilin University651.71133220Shandong University615.77181321Massachusetts Institute of Technology593.59241822Wuhan University588.25134223Tianjin University565.88179224Nankai University560.46155425Tongji University551.061462
Top countries
The table here shows the countries with the highest share of articles published in scientific journals according to the Nature Index 2026, which contains data for the calendar year 2025. The per-capita figures are calculated from the population figures shown in the table.
RankCountry or territoryCountSharePopulationCount per ten million peopleShare per ten million people15947252735.171,409,670,000422374.1023799526006.15335,893,2381131774.243124835827.3384,607,0161475688.754119554819.7067,596,2811769713.01568693890.15124,000,000554313.72668552850.7868,394,0001002416.82746492827.2851,293,934906551.19836202437.381,400,744,0002617.40956472355.7740,769,8901385577.821050981971.2258,972,268864334.261151511921.3626,821,5571920716.351248831868.0248,592,9091005384.421345681766.668,960,81750981971.541439641452.5517,967,5052206808.431530721019.3010,549,2872912966.23162428900.405,917,60041031521.56172258826.605,961,24937881386.62181653752.2923,420,442706321.21191583707.859,880,0001602716.45202059688.3211,820,1171742582.33211825580.129,159,9931992633.32221550563.92203,080,7567627.77231629538.3037,620,000433143.09241019462.66146,150,7897031.66251302435.545,574,0112336781.3826658377.1384,055,0007844.87271260371.665,550,2032270669.63281210369.1110,900,5551110338.6229910318.4085,372,37710737.3030968296.5210,467,366925283.2831881268.3632,175,22427483.4132721209.925,305,6001359395.6633813181.365,281,6001539343.3834603176.17129,625,9684713.5935750175.1519,960,88937687.7536587152.349,584,000612158.9537604149.4966,090,4759122.6238724149.1962,027,50311724.0539661140.5610,413,982635134.9740503135.9246,654,58110829.1341394101.279,282,410424109.104242275.22241,499,431173.114327274.992,123,1031281353.214433974.9433,379,50010222.454539662.91104,462,545386.024621360.74100,300,000216.064737455.7219,051,56219629.254820652.76279,118,86671.894937949.5152,695,952729.405025849.113,855,641669127.37
See also Innovation Cluster Rating, top 100 science and technology clusters List of cities by scientific output List of countries by number of scientific and technical journal articles List of sovereign states by research and development spending
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