2018 Research Leaders: Leading countries/territories

The 2018 Research Leaders are based on Nature Index data from 1 January 2017 to 31 December 2017.

Table criteria

Position Country/territory Share 2016 Share 2017 Count 2017 Change in Adjusted Share* 2016–2017
1 South Africa 62.48 70.01 353 10.4% Increase
2 Egypt 9.77 12.35 173 24.7% Increase
3 Kenya 5.97 3.73 22 -38.4% Decrease
4 Morocco 8.66 2.92 89 -66.8% Decrease
5 Tunisia 2.51 2.78 21 9.2% Increase
6 Uganda 1.71 2.67 15 54.2% Increase
7 Algeria 3.23 2.59 14 -21.0% Decrease
8 Tanzania 2.01 1.82 15 -10.9% Decrease
9 Mali 0.29 1.75 13 495.7% Increase
10 Congo 0.94 1.72 9 80.4% Increase
11 Madagascar 0.58 1.69 9 188.7% Increase
12 Cameroon 0.49 1.59 16 221.9% Increase
13 Benin 2.64 1.57 7 -41.5% Decrease
14 Gabon 0.51 1.53 11 198.3% Increase
15 Malawi 0.57 1.30 10 122.2% Increase
16 Ethiopia 2.40 1.15 11 -52.9% Decrease
17 Burkina Faso 0.66 1.11 7 66.4% Increase
18 Namibia 0.47 1.02 8 114.4% Increase
19 Nigeria 1.09 1.00 14 -9.0% Decrease
20 Senegal 0.65 0.95 7 44.1% Increase
21 Sudan 0.89 0.81 3 -11.2% Decrease
22 Botswana 0.61 0.68 4 10.3% Increase
23 Niger 0.25 0.67 7 165.7% Increase
24 Seychelles 0.11 0.67 3 482.9% Increase
25 Ivory Coast 0.71 0.61 7 -14.8% Decrease
26 Ghana 1.39 0.57 6 -59.4% Decrease
27 Libya 0.13 0.57 4 322.1% Increase
28 Zimbabwe 1.07 0.43 4 -60.0% Decrease
29 Sierra Leone 0.53 0.41 3 -23.3% Decrease
30 Reunion 0.02 0.28 4 1,037.7% Increase
31 Gambia 0.07 0.23 3 240.8% Increase
32 Angola 0.09 0.21 3 132.0% Increase
33 Central African Republic 0.00 0.19 3 0.0% Increase
34 Chad 0.00 0.14 1 0.0% Increase
35 Zambia 0.66 0.13 2 -80.7% Decrease
36 Swaziland 0.17 0.13 1 -26.1% Decrease
36 Cape Verde 0.25 0.13 1 -50.7% Decrease
37 Guinea 0.27 0.11 2 -60.5% Decrease
38 Rwanda 0.03 0.10 2 201.4% Increase
39 Liberia 0.21 0.04 1 -80.0% Decrease
40 Djibouti 0.13 0.02 1 -80.8% Decrease
41 Guinea-Bissau 0.00 0.01 1 0.0% Increase
42 Mauritius 0.19 0.00 1 -98.3% Decrease
43 Eritrea 0.16 0.00 0 0.0% Increase
43 Mauritania 0.17 0.00 0 0.0% Increase
43 Mozambique 0.13 0.00 0 0.0% Increase

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.