List of cities by scientific output

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The following article lists the cities and metropolitan areas with the greatest scientific output, according to the Nature Index. The Nature Index attempts to objectively measure the scientific output of institutions, cities and countries by the amount of scientific articles and papers published in leading journals. Differences in quality are taken into account. Only articles published in 82 [note 1] selected quality journals are counted. All these journals are in the English language. They were selected by a committee. If authors from several institutions from different cities are involved in a scientific article, it is divided accordingly, assuming that all researchers were equally involved in the article.

Contents

In 2019, Beijing was the city in the world with the largest scientific output, accounting for 2.8% of the world's total. [2] New York City was second in the world, with about 2% of the world's total. Overall, the United States has the most cities in the top 100 list, followed by China.

List

Listed below are the top 100 cities and metropolitan areas with the highest share of articles published in scientific journals in 2023, according to the Nature Index 2024 Science Cities: [3]

RankCity/Metro areaCountry/Region
1 Beijing Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg  China
2 Shanghai Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg  China
3 New York metropolitan area Flag of the United States (23px).png  United States
4 Boston metropolitan area Flag of the United States (23px).png  United States
5 Nanjing Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg  China
6 San Francisco Bay Area Flag of the United States (23px).png  United States
7 Baltimore-Washington Flag of the United States (23px).png  United States
8 Guangzhou Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg  China
9 Wuhan Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg  China
10 Tokyo Flag of Japan.svg  Japan
11 Paris Flag of France.svg  France
12 Seoul Flag of South Korea.svg  South Korea
13 Hangzhou Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg  China
14 London Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  United Kingdom
15 Hefei Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg  China
16 Los Angeles Flag of the United States (23px).png  United States
17 Chicago Flag of the United States (23px).png  United States
18 Tianjin Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg  China
19 Hong Kong Flag of Hong Kong.svg  Hong Kong
20 Xi'an Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg  China
21 Shenzhen Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg  China
22 Chengdu Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg  China
23 Changsha Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg  China
24 Philadelphia Flag of the United States (23px).png  United States
25 Zürich Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg  Switzerland
26 Singapore Flag of Singapore.svg  Singapore
27 Cambridge Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  United Kingdom
28 San Diego Flag of the United States (23px).png  United States
29 Munich Flag of Germany.svg  Germany
30 Changchun Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg  China
31 Jinan Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg  China
32 Berlin Flag of Germany.svg  Germany
33 Copenhagen Flag of Denmark.svg  Denmark
34 Houston Flag of the United States (23px).png  United States
35 Seattle Flag of the United States (23px).png  United States
36 Oxford Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  United Kingdom
37 Toronto Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg  Canada
38 Qingdao Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg  China
39 Ann Arbor Flag of the United States (23px).png  United States
40 Chongqing Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg  China
41 Melbourne Flag of Australia (converted).svg  Australia
42 Suzhou Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg  China
43 Atlanta Flag of the United States (23px).png  United States
44 Dalian Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg  China
45 Xiamen Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg  China
46 Barcelona Flag of Spain.svg  Spain
47 Fuzhou Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg  China
48 Sydney Flag of Australia (converted).svg  Australia
49 Stockholm Flag of Sweden.svg  Sweden
50 Ithaca Flag of the United States (23px).png  United States
51 Harbin Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg  China
52 Montreal Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg  Canada
53 Daejeon Flag of South Korea.svg  South Korea
54 St. Louis Flag of the United States (23px).png  United States
55 Kyoto Flag of Japan.svg  Japan
56 Lausanne Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg  Switzerland
57 Madrid Flag of Spain.svg  Spain
58 Vienna Flag of Austria.svg  Austria
59 Lanzhou Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg  China
60 Osaka Flag of Japan.svg  Japan
61 Pittsburgh Flag of the United States (23px).png  United States
62 Amsterdam metropolitan area Flag of the Netherlands.svg  Netherlands
63 Dallas–Fort Worth Flag of the United States (23px).png  United States
64 Taipei Flag of the Republic of China.svg  Taiwan [note 2]
65 Madison Flag of the United States (23px).png  United States
66 Tsukuba Flag of Japan.svg  Japan
67 Heidelberg Flag of Germany.svg  Germany
68 Boulder Flag of the United States (23px).png  United States
69 Zhengzhou Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg  China
70 Durham Flag of the United States (23px).png  United States
71 Nagoya metropolitan area Flag of Japan.svg  Japan
72 Austin Flag of the United States (23px).png  United States
73 Brisbane Flag of Australia (converted).svg  Australia
74 Chapel Hill Flag of the United States (23px).png  United States
75 Rome Flag of Italy.svg  Italy
76 Minneapolis–Saint Paul Flag of the United States (23px).png  United States
77 Vancouver Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg  Canada
78 State College Flag of the United States (23px).png  United States
79 Urbana Flag of the United States (23px).png  United States
80 Milan Flag of Italy.svg  Italy
81 Hamburg Flag of Germany.svg  Germany
82 Moscow Flag of Russia.svg  Russia
83 Denver Flag of the United States (23px).png  United States
84 Kolkata Flag of India.svg  India
85 Bengaluru Flag of India.svg  India
86 Geneva Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg  Switzerland
87 Dresden Flag of Germany.svg  Germany
88 Edinburgh Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  United Kingdom
89 Nanchang Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg  China
90 Santa Barbara Flag of the United States (23px).png  United States
91 Columbus Flag of the United States (23px).png  United States
92 Leuven Flag of Belgium (civil).svg  Belgium
93 Rehovot Flag of Israel.svg  Israel
94 Grenoble Flag of France.svg  France
95 Nashville Flag of the United States (23px).png  United States
96 West Lafayette Flag of the United States (23px).png  United States
97 Helsinki Flag of Finland.svg  Finland
98 Mumbai Flag of India.svg  India
99 Manchester Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  United Kingdom
100 Kunming Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg  China

Leading cities in different fields

The 10 cities and metropolitan areas with the highest share of articles published in the fields of biological sciences, Earth & environmental sciences, chemistry and physical sciences:

RankBiological sciences [4] Earth & environmental sciences [5] Chemistry [6] Physical sciences [7]
1 Flag of the United States.svg New York metropolitan area Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg Beijing Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg Beijing Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg Beijing
2 Flag of the United States.svg Boston metropolitan area Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg Nanjing Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg Shanghai Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg Shanghai
3 Flag of the United States.svg San Francisco Bay Area Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg Guangzhou Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg Nanjing Flag of the United States.svg New York metropolitan area
4 Flag of the United States.svg Baltimore-Washington Flag of the United States.svg Baltimore-Washington Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg Guangzhou Flag of the United States.svg Boston metropolitan area
5 Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg Beijing Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg Shanghai Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg Hefei Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg Nanjing
6 Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg Shanghai Flag of the United States.svg New York metropolitan area Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg Tianjin Flag of South Korea.svg Seoul metropolitan area
7 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg London metropolitan area Flag of the United States.svg San Francisco Bay Area Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg Wuhan Flag of the United States.svg San Francisco Bay Area
8 Flag of France.svg Paris metropolitan area Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg Wuhan Flag of Japan.svg Tokyo metropolitan area Flag of Japan.svg Tokyo metropolitan area
9 Flag of the United States.svg San Diego metropolitan area Flag of the United States.svg Los Angeles metropolitan area Flag of the United States.svg New York metropolitan area Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg Hefei
10 Flag of the United States.svg Los Angeles metropolitan area Flag of France.svg Paris metropolitan area Flag of South Korea.svg Seoul metropolitan area Flag of France.svg Paris metropolitan area

Notes

  1. The current complete list of the 82 leading scientific journals, as of September 2022, are: ACS Nano , Advanced Functional Materials , Advanced Materials , American Journal of Human Genetics , Analytical Chemistry , Angewandte Chemie International Edition , Applied Physics Letters , Astronomy & Astrophysics , Cancer Cell , Cancer Research , Cell , Cell Host & Microbe , Cell Metabolism , Cell Stem Cell , Chemical Communications , Chemical Science , Current Biology , Developmental Cell , Earth and Planetary Science Letters , Ecology Letters , eLife , Environmental Science & Technology , European Physical Journal C , Genes & Development , Genome Research , Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta , Geology , Geophysical Research Letters , Immunity , Inorganic Chemistry , Journal of Biological Chemistry , Journal of Cell Biology , Journal of Clinical Investigation , Journal of Experimental Medicine , Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres , Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth , Journal of High Energy Physics , Journal of Neuroscience , Journal of the American Chemical Society , Macromolecules , Molecular Cell , Molecular Psychiatry , Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society Letters , Nano Letters , Nature , Nature Biotechnology , Nature Cell Biology , Nature Chemical Biology , Nature Chemistry , Nature Climate Change , Nature Communications , Nature Genetics , Nature Geoscience , Nature Immunology , Nature Materials , Nature Medicine , Nature Methods , Nature Nanotechnology , Nature Neuroscience , Nature Photonics , Nature Physics , Nature Structural & Molecular Biology , Neuron , Organic Letters , Physical Review A , Physical Review B , Physical Review D , Physical Review Letters , Physical Review X , PLOS Biology , PLOS Genetics , Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America , Proceedings of the Royal Society B , Science , Science Advances , Science Translational Medicine , The Astrophysical Journal Letters , The EMBO Journal , The ISME Journal: Multidisciplinary Journal of Microbial Ecology , The Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters , The Plant Cell , and Water Research . [1]
  2. Controlled by the Flag of the Republic of China.svg  Republic of China on Taiwan. See also Political status of Taiwan and One China.

References

  1. "Revisions to the Nature Index". nature.com. 6 June 2018. Retrieved 30 August 2022.
  2. Jia, Hepeng (2020-09-19). "Beijing, the seat of science capital". Nature. 585 (7826): S52 –S54. Bibcode:2020Natur.585S..52J. doi:10.1038/d41586-020-02577-x.
  3. "Leading 200 science cities | | Supplements | Nature Index". www.nature.com. Retrieved 2025-10-10.
  4. "Leading 50 science cities in biological sciences | | Supplements | Nature Index". www.nature.com. Retrieved 2024-05-05.
  5. "Leading 50 science cities in Earth & environmental sciences | | Supplements | Nature Index". www.nature.com. Retrieved 2024-05-05.
  6. "Leading 50 science cities in chemistry | | Supplements | Nature Index". www.nature.com. Retrieved 2024-05-05.
  7. "Leading 50 science cities in physical sciences | | Supplements | Nature Index". www.nature.com. Retrieved 2024-05-05.