This AI tool claims to pick the top 1% of preprints. Should researchers trust it?
QED Science says that its metrics reduce bias by assessing papers solely on the basis of their originality and validity.
Your gateway to scientific excellence
Discover the world’s leading research institutions, explore collaborations, compare research performance, track top papers with Nature Index.
Institution search supports local language names.
(Examples: Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, 筑波大学)
2026 Research Leaders
Leading institutions Leading academic institutions Leading countries/territories
Discover the top-performing institutions and countries/territories in scientific research with the Nature Index Research Leaders.
Nature Index author gender ratio
Female authorship at leading institutions Author gender ratio by subject area and research topic
This dataset highlights the progress made towards achieving gender parity in authorship of papers tracked by the Nature Index.
Nature Index 2026 Nanoscience and nanotechnology
From programmable RNA architectures to next-generation materials for energy and healthcare, researchers are harnessing the unusual properties of the nanoscale to tackle some of society's biggest challenges. This supplement explores the discoveries that are driving the field, the hurdles that remain and the institutions that are leading in nanoscience and nanotechnology research.
Nature Index 2026 Chemistry
Chemistry research is undergoing a period of transformation, driven by new technologies and mounting environmental pressures. In this supplement, we explore the trends behind China’s extraordinary rise in chemistry output, and why efforts to curb the use of PFASs are accelerating worldwide. We also look at the innovations that could redefine how chemicals are designed, produced and recycled.
Most viewed institution profiles
The following institution profiles have been the most viewed on the Nature Index in the past 28 days.
- Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS)
- Max Planck Society
- Zhejiang University (ZJU)
- Harvard University
- French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS)
- Indian Institute of Science (IISc)
- Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Kolkata (IISER Kolkata)
- Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science (IACS)
- Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres
- Tsinghua University
Most viewed news articles
The following Nature Index news articles have been the most viewed in the past 28 days.
- Could small-team science be dying out?
- The dark horse of biology: how RNA is becoming a nanotool maker’s dream | Nature
- Three rising stars of nanoscience and nanotechnology | Nature
- Major changes to the Nature Index for 2026
- What’s behind China’s historically high counts of corresponding authors? | Nature
- Papers with open peer-review reports are less likely to be retracted | Nature
- Harvard loses first place in Nature Index
- Papers with open peer-review reports are less likely to be retracted
- Nature Index 2025: The world’s top 10 institutions for neuroscience research
- To help children with rare diseases, we must solve drug delivery | Nature
The Nature Research Intelligence Topics are created from networks of articles that cite each other, or articles that are very similar to each other, and we have over 30,000 topics at the most granular level, grouped into a 4-level hierarchy.
-
View trending research topics in the current window of the Nature Index.
-
Each level 2 topic page included in the Nature Index contains an auto-generated summary, leading institutions, leading countries/territories, a 5-year trend and top collaborators.
-
Institution profiles display leading research topics based on the institution's Share in the topic.
Institution collaboration
Nature Index collaborations highlight the most fruitful institutional collaborations that lead to high quality research around the world. Naturally, proximate institutions collaborate the most, which hides the many benefits from collaboration further afield. To address this, the overall leading international collaborators are shown as well as the leading collaborations involving countries/territories outside the top 50 (broadening collaborators).
Country/territory collaboration
Country/territory collaboration looks at the leading collaborators around the world, as well as within and between between regions and equatorial hemispheres. To show trends in collaboration between any two countries/territories over the past 10 years we've introduced historical country/territory collaboration.
-
Choose the institutions to benchmark against.
-
Use the powerful comparison feature to view side-by-side data on research output across subject areas.
-
Gain valuable insights to inform your decision-making process and download table data for further analysis for free.
Turn complex research questions into confident strategic decisions
When you're under pressure to set direction, justify investment, or understand your competitive position, you need more than raw data — you need trusted insights you can act on.
Benchmark your performance against global peers using robust, methodologically sound analysis.
Combine quantitative metrics with qualitative expert insight to uncover strengths, gaps and emerging opportunities.
Gain tailored, decision-ready recommendations aligned to your strategic priorities.
Talk to us to learn more about our data dashboards and bespoke strategy reports.
Grow research skills, confidence and careers with training built for every stage of the research lifecycle.
Developed with Nature Portfolio journal Editors and internationally renowned experts. Discover three ways to learn:
Self-paced, online courses in convenient bite-sized units, covering key skills across scientific writing, publishing, grant writing, data analysis, and more.
Expert trainer-led workshops with hands-on exercises and real-time feedback across core research skills, delivered via interactive group sessions.
Editor-led workshops combining core principles in writing and publishing, personalised 1:1 feedback from Nature Portfolio Editors and hands-on exercises.
Explore course catalogues and workshop agendas, enquire about the options or request institutional pricing.
Need to hire scientific researchers?
Nature Careers is visited by over 180,000 active job seekers per month that you can target directly with your role. Application response rates have increased by 28% on average over 2022 averages.
