2018 tables: Institutions

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

Table criteria

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# Institution Share 2016 Share 2017 Count 2017 Change in Adjusted Share 2016-2017*
1 University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg (Wits University), South Africa 7.36 11.25 135 50.7%
2 Stellenbosch University (SU), South Africa 7.36 10.87 33 45.5%
3 University of Cape Town (UCT), South Africa 14.83 9.92 155 -34.1%
4 University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN), South Africa 3.71 9.38 38 149.3%
5 University of Johannesburg (UJ), South Africa 3.32 3.40 93 0.9%
6 Durban University of Technology (DUT), South Africa 0.58 2.72 7 360.0%
7 National Institute for Theoretical and Computational Sciences (NITheCS), South Africa 3.13 2.45 13 -22.9%
8 North-West University (NWU), South Africa 0.76 2.24 10 191.3%
9 University of Pretoria (UP), South Africa 3.64 1.85 19 -49.8%
10 South African Astronomical Observatory (SAAO), South Africa 0.83 1.54 14 82.2%
11 University of the Western Cape (UWC), South Africa 1.80 1.44 14 -21.3%
12 Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), South Africa 1.40 1.43 36 0.8%
13 Africa Health Research Institute, South Africa 1.29 1.18 8 -9.8%
14 Rhodes University (RU), South Africa 0.87 1.13 13 27.5%
15 University of the Free State (UFS), South Africa 2.17 1.11 7 -49.7%
16 Stellenbosch Institute for Advanced Study (STIAS), South Africa 0.05 0.71 7 1,309.1%
17 Kuruman River Reserve, South Africa 0.60 0.63 2 3.5%
18 South African Medical Research Council (SAMRC), South Africa 0.06 0.59 9 855.2%
19 National Health Laboratory Service (NHLS), South Africa 0.63 0.50 19 -22.0%
20 African Institute for Mathematical Sciences (AIMS), South Africa 0.23 0.48 4 103.4%
21 Agricultural Research Council (ARC), South Africa 0.29 0.43 4 45.8%
22 Department of Environment, Forestry and Fisheries (DEFF), South Africa 0.03 0.37 3 1,229.7%
23 Sasol Limited, South Africa – 0.34 2 N/A
24 SKA South Africa, South Africa 0.09 0.27 5 202.4%
25 University of South Africa (UNISA), South Africa 0.18 0.25 1 34.0%
25 Council for Geoscience (CGS), South Africa – 0.25 1 N/A
26 South Africa Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (DAFF), South Africa 0.04 0.17 1 346.5%
27 Department of Science and Technology (DST), South Africa 0.20 0.16 7 -23.4%
28 NRF iThemba Laboratory for Accelerator-Based Sciences (IThemba Labs), South Africa 0.42 0.15 20 -64.9%
29 NRF South African Environmental Observation Network (SAEON), South Africa 0.05 0.15 1 192.0%
30 South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI), South Africa 0.19 0.14 1 -26.4%
31 Tshwane University of Technology (TUT), South Africa – 0.12 2 N/A
32 Hartebeesthoek Radio Astronomy Observatory (HartRAO), South Africa 0.08 0.10 1 17.6%
33 University of Limpopo, South Africa 0.08 0.10 1 19.4%
34 Iziko Museums of Cape Town, South Africa 0.06 0.09 3 46.6%
35 National Metrology Institute of South Africa (NMISA), South Africa – 0.09 2 N/A
36 Females Rising through Empowerment, Support, and Health (FRESH) Study, South Africa – 0.09 1 N/A
37 South African Weather Service (SAWS), South Africa 0.31 0.08 1 -75.8%
38 Kimberley Hospital, South Africa 0.10 0.04 1 -57.1%
39 Endangered Wildlife Trust (EWT), South Africa – 0.04 1 N/A
40 South Africa Department of Arts and Culture (DAC), South Africa 0.06 0.02 1 -65.5%
40 Ditsong National Museum of Natural History (Ditsong), South Africa – 0.02 1 N/A
41 Inkosi Albert Luthuli Central Hospital, South Africa 0.04 0.02 1 -46.6%
42 Nelson Mandela University (NMU), South Africa 0.66 0.02 1 -97.2%
42 Cheetah Outreach, South Africa – 0.02 1 N/A
43 Ampath Trust, South Africa – 0.02 1 N/A
44 Southern African Research and Innovation Management Association (SARIMA), South Africa 0.02 0.01 7 -12.5%
44 South African National Blood Service (SANBS), South Africa 0.02 0.01 7 -12.5%
45 South Africa Department of Health (DOH), South Africa 0.09 0.01 2 -85.9%

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 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 82 natural-science journals, selected on reputation by an independent panel of leading scientists in their fields.
  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/.

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 annual tables.

*The change in adjusted Share accounts for the small annual variation in the total number of articles in Nature Index journals. Share values have been adjusted to 2021 levels to calculate the percentage change. For more information on the adjustment, please see the Adjusted metric explainer.


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