The Nature Index: Tracking Research Outputs, Open Access, and the Rise of Open Access in the First Five Years of the 21st Century

There is a description of the terminology and methodology used in the supplement and a guide to the online functionality that is free at natureindex.com.

The Nature Index uses Count and Share to track research output. A country/territory or an institution is given a Count of 1 for each article that has at least one author from that country/territory or institution. This applies to the number of authors and their weight in the count of multiple countries/territories.

Adjusted Share accounts for the small annual variation in the total number of articles in the Nature Index journals. It is arrived at by calculating the percentage difference in the total number of articles in the Index in a given year relative to the number of articles in a base year and adjusting Share values to the base year levels.

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 be between any two institutions or countries/territories co-authoring at least one article in the journals tracked by the Nature Index.

Each query will return a profile page which lists the country or institution recent outputs, from which it is possible to find more information. The articles can be viewed by both journal and article. Research outputs are organized by subject area. The top collaborators of the institution/country are listed on the pages. They can track an institution’s performance and then create their own data.

These charts highlight the strongest institutional players in a sector that needs to regain its footing in an increasingly competitive global research landscape.

Another stark change is the increase in open access, or free to read, papers over this time. In 2015, 65% of ARC-funded publications were pay-to-read, according to Navigator, and 28% were free to read (the status of the remaining per cent is unknown). These numbers stayed relatively consistent until 2022, at the height of the pandemic, when free-to-read papers jumped to 47%. In the first 5 years of the century, about 60% of the papers were free to read, and 29% were pay-to-read.

The biggest topic areas in ARC-funded research between 2015 and 2024 are computational models and algorithms, and clinical studies and public health, accounting for 103,840 and 101,586 publications, respectively, of the total 212,979 for the period, according to Navigator (papers can be related to one or more topic and subtopic). Computational models and algorithms include 101,866 publications related to mathematical modelling and numerical methods. Within clinical studies and public health, 77,845 publications were related to the ‘clinical interventions and health services research’ subtopic, according to Navigator.

Australia recorded the largest drop in adjusted Share among the top 20 countries in the nature index between 2012 and 2016 signalling trouble for its research sector For the first time since 2018, Australia dropped from 10th place to 12th in 2023, overtaken by India and Italy.

The institutions with the biggest change in adjusted Share for the period are shown. The changes are relatively modest, which reflects the country’s overall decline in Share in the Nature Index as it struggles to compete with the likes of China and India, which are among a small handful of top-20 countries to achieve positive growth in adjusted Share from 2022 to 2023.

The University of Melbourne leads the top collaborations between Australian institutions in 2023, forming four out of the top five partnerships. The importance of geographical proximity in research is shown by the location of each pair of collaborating institutions.