The surge in natural sciences is being seen by China

The Nature Index.com: A Database of Author A+B Collaborations in High-Quality Natural-Science and Health-Science Journals

It is illustrative of the tectonic shifts in global science in the past decade that any assessment of the international research ecosystem is now incomplete without considering the role played by China. It produces the largest volume of international publications in science and engineering and has surpassed the United States in some measures of most-cited papers. According to the latest Nature Index data, China now has the top share in natural-science journals and it’s the main contributor to the US, South Korea, Singapore, and many other countries.

It was also a role when the COVID-19 outbreak took place. Online engagement became crucial for international collaborations, but Internet censorship in China made this much more challenging. For instance, it was difficult to make international Zoom calls and use the internet. Students and academics from outside China who attended and worked at Chinese universities had difficulty crossing the border. Many people left during that time.

A description of terminology and methodology used in this supplement, and a guide to the online features available for free are included in natureindex.com.

The Nature Index is a database of author affiliations. 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.

The adjusted share shows the annual variation in articles in the Nature Index journals. The difference between the total number of articles and the total number of articles in a base year are calculated using the Share values in a base year.

The bilateral collaboration score (CS) between two institutions A+B is the sum of each of their Shares on the papers to which both have contributed. A bilateral collaboration can include at least one article by both institutions in the same journals tracked by the Nature Index.

It is possible to find more information from the recent outputs listed on the profile page of each query. Articles can be displayed by journal, and then by article. Research outputs are organized by subject area. The pages list the institution or country’s/territory’s top collaborators, as well as its relationship with other organizations. Users can track the performance of their institution and create their own data.

The tables in this supplement show the leading institutions in different subjects, based on the adjusted Share from 2020 to 2022, while the top rising institutions are based on the adjusted Share between 2020 and 2022.