For the third straight year, China has topped the "Nature Index," which measures worldwide scientific research performance. South Korea stayed at 7th position, consistent with the previous year's placement.
The global academic publishing house Springer Nature, which publishes the journal *Nature*, revealed the list of "2026 Nature Index Research Leaders" on the 10th.
The Nature Index is a ranking system developed by Springer Nature that assesses the quantity of research articles published in prestigious scholarly journals, including those focused on natural sciences, along with their influence.
Although the Nature Index mainly focused on fundamental science and medicine disciplines, this year it broadened its coverage by adding 17 applied science journals and 15 social science journals.
China remained the leading nation for global research production this year. Its output rose by 22.4% between 2024 and 2025.
The United States came in second place, with Germany, the United Kingdom, Japan, France, South Korea, India, Canada, and Italy following closely behind.
Among the leading countries, China was the sole nation to achieve growth surpassing 10%. Japan and South Korea also experienced research output increases within the 9% bracket, reflecting strong expansion trends across Eastern Asia.
South Korea placed third in applied sciences, achieving a 14% increase in research production within this area, reflecting significant progress. Nevertheless, it came in eighth for natural sciences, highlighting that it continues to trail somewhat in fundamental scientific disciplines.
In terms of institutions, the Chinese Academy of Sciences was ranked number one. For the first time since the rankings started in 2015, Harvard University from the United States dropped from the top position to be replaced by Zhejiang University from China.
Apart from Harvard University, all entities ranked from 1st to 12th were Chinese institutes or universities. The German Max Planck Society dropped to 13th position, exiting the top 10.
At Seoul National University in South Korea, the institution secured the 58th position, moving down six positions compared to the previous year. Meanwhile, KAIST climbed two ranks to reach 80th spot.
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