Beijing a champion in global research output: Nature Index

Cover of Nature published on Oct. 19, 2017.

Beijing was selected by the Nature Index 2017 Science Cities as a champion in global research output, which is believed to flex China’s scientific advancement in recent years.

The supplement released on Oct. 19 showed that Beijing tops the list of global cities for research output and Shanghai ranks the fifth.

Chinese cities’ top ranking in the index is another evidence to show China’s scientific advancement, said Springer Nature, compiler of the index.

The supplement explored the top ten cities with highest research output in the method of weighted fractional count (WFC) after tracking counts of research output of 500 cities worldwide.

The top three cities are Beijing, Paris and New York, with the respective WFC of 1693, 1231 and 846, followed by Cambridge (US), Shanghai, Tokyo, London, Boston, San Diego, and Cambridge (UK).

Among the followers, Cambridge (US), Tokyo and London obtained the WFC of 812, 690 and 680 respectively. The top 10 contribute to 17 percent of the total research output worldwide.

With more of the global population living in urban areas, cities are even more distinct in the domain of knowledge and innovation, said the research.

A detailed introduction to the scientific research updates in 10 cities was offered by Nature supplement as well, including New York, London, Barcelona, Madrid, Seoul, Daejeon as well as China’s Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen and Guangzhou.

Guangzhou and Shenzhen in southern China were also included in the list, with a research output count of 228 and 103 respectively.

“The latest data shows Chinese cities are excellent in research output globally, which is new evidence for the scientific advancement of China,” said Arnout Jacobsan, president of Greater China for Springer Nature.

Jacobsan added that China’s scientific strength will advance further as a result of its non-stop endeavor in innovation-driven development.

The Nature Index, first issued in November 2014, is a database for the number of essays published by global universities and research institutes on international academic journals.

Springer Nature says the selected 68 journals included in the index account for 30 percent of all science journals’ citations.

In addition, the three factors including the number of essays published on international academic journals, fractional count and WFC are weighed to guarantee the index’s scientificity, according to Springer Nature.

By Wan Yu from People’s Daily