2020 Research Leaders: Leading academic institutions

The 2020 Research Leaders are based on Nature Index data from 1 January 2019 to 31 December 2019.

Table criteria

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Position Institution Share 2018 Share 2019 Count 2019 Change in Adjusted Share* 2018–2019
1 University of New South Wales (UNSW Sydney), Australia 122.30 133.61 465 5.7% Increase
2 Monash University, Australia 125.60 131.75 526 1.5% Increase
3 The University of Queensland (UQ), Australia 150.36 116.62 451 -24.9% Decrease
4 Australian National University (ANU), Australia 100.85 104.86 381 0.6% Increase
5 The University of Melbourne (UniMelb), Australia 104.46 102.18 544 -5.3% Decrease
6 The University of Sydney (USYD), Australia 76.10 79.82 386 1.5% Increase
7 The University of Western Australia (UWA), Australia 43.86 51.78 272 14.2% Increase
8 University of Wollongong (UOW), Australia 26.67 42.14 147 52.9% Increase
9 The University of Adelaide (Adelaide Uni), Australia 35.81 39.90 233 7.8% Increase
10 Curtin University, Australia 38.00 35.89 153 -8.6% Decrease
11 Macquarie University, Australia 17.19 29.37 141 65.3% Increase
12 Queensland University of Technology (QUT), Australia 27.97 25.10 129 -13.2% Decrease
13 Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT University), Australia 27.53 24.16 73 -15.1% Decrease
14 Griffith University, Australia 20.76 23.70 88 10.5% Increase
15 University of Technology Sydney (UTS), Australia 24.12 21.31 76 -14.5% Decrease
16 University of Tasmania (UTAS), Australia 20.56 18.08 115 -14.9% Decrease
17 Swinburne University of Technology, Australia 7.95 15.23 146 85.3% Increase
18 The University of Newcastle (UON), Australia 12.40 14.76 86 15.2% Increase
19 James Cook University (JCU), Australia 16.24 14.24 65 -15.2% Decrease
20 Deakin University, Australia 13.51 12.66 52 -9.3% Decrease
21 La Trobe University, Australia 15.73 12.40 75 -23.7% Decrease
22 The University of South Australia (UniSA), Australia 11.85 9.93 75 -19.0% Decrease
23 Southern Cross University (SCU), Australia 7.60 6.23 16 -20.7% Decrease
24 Flinders University, Australia 9.10 5.21 35 -44.6% Decrease
25 Western Sydney University, Australia 6.13 4.69 43 -26.0% Decrease
26 University of New England (UNE), Australia 4.42 3.52 15 -22.9% Decrease
27 Murdoch University, Australia 4.18 2.54 22 -41.1% Decrease
28 University of Southern Queensland (USQ), Australia 1.56 2.53 15 57.2% Increase
29 Edith Cowan University (ECU), Australia 2.22 2.51 18 9.7% Increase
30 University of the Sunshine Coast (USC), Australia 1.67 1.83 18 5.7% Increase
31 Charles Darwin University (CDU), Australia 1.15 1.51 16 27.2% Increase
32 Victoria University (VU), Australia 1.45 1.06 6 -28.9% Decrease
33 University of Canberra, Australia 2.58 0.51 4 -81.1% Decrease
34 Menzies School of Health Research, Australia 0.26 0.43 5 61.0% Increase
35 Central Queensland University (CQU), Australia 0.00 0.08 4 18,941.3% Increase
36 Australian Catholic University (ACU), Australia 0.20 0.08 5 -62.0% Decrease
37 Charles Sturt University (CSU), Australia 0.51 0.08 13 -84.9% Decrease
38 The University of Notre Dame Australia (UNDA), Australia 0.14 0.05 2 -64.4% Decrease
39 Federation University Australia, Australia 0.36 0.02 3 -94.0% Decrease
40 Bond University, Australia 0.05 0.01 1 -84.2% Decrease

Footnote

Each year, the Nature Index publishes tables based on counts of high-quality research outputs in the previous calendar year. Users please note:

  1. The data behind the tables are based on a relatively small proportion of total research papers, they cover the natural sciences and health sciences only and outputs are non-normalized (that is, they don’t reflect the size of the country or institution, or its overall research output).
  2. The Nature Index is one indicator of institutional research performance. The metrics of Count and Share used to order Nature Index listings are based on an institution’s or country’s publication output in 145 natural-science and health-science journals. The journals were selected on reputation by an independent panel of leading scientists in their fields. The list is reviewed periodically and journals may be removed or added. Articles from eLife were no longer included in the Nature Index from 2023 after the journal changed its publishing model.
  3. Nature Index recognizes that many other factors must be taken into account when considering research quality and institutional performance; Nature Index metrics alone should not be used to assess institutions or individuals.
  4. Nature Index data and methods are transparent and available under a creative commons licence at nature.com/nature-index/.
  5. Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

The Nature Index database undergoes regular updating, corrections, adjustment of institutional hierarchies, and removal of retracted papers and thus the live website can differ from the frozen research leaders.


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