Nature Index’s latest research rankings show that China continues to be the clear leader in contributions to scientific journals, with a 22% increase between 2024 and 2025. While China remains well ahead of the rest of the top 10, nearly 10% growth in journal contributions from Japan and South Korea outpaced higher-ranked Western countries such as the U.S., Germany and the U.K.
China’s share of journal contributions jumped by nearly 10,000 between 2024 and 2025, but growth among its East Asian neighbors was enough to make Japan the fifth-ranked research contributor and South Korea the seventh, close behind No. 6 France.
This year’s rankings included 22,000 more articles than the previous year, following Nature Index’s incorporation of applied sciences and social sciences journals into its database.
While nearly every country lost ground relative to China because of the country’s explosive growth, the U.S., Germany and the U.K. were also outperformed by Japan and South Korea in terms of year-over-year increases in journal contributions.
For the first time in a decade, Harvard University was unseated as the leading university in the Nature Index by Zhejiang University in Hangzhou, China. According to the Boston-based university, Harvard’s sponsored research fell 8%, from $686 million in 2024 to $629 million in 2025.
Meanwhile, Japan is looking to climb out of its research funding slump, which saw sharp declines in its adjusted share in the Nature Index from 2015 through the early 2020s. Policy changes have led to stronger support for early-career researchers, eased regulations governing spin-off companies and increased salaries. In 2023, the Japanese government launched a $63 billion fund modeled on the U.S. system, in which endowments are invested to generate steady returns and support long-term research.
In South Korea, Nature Index reported that the increase in share is linked to a stronger science ecosystem, with applied sciences journal contributions rising 14% between 2024 and 2025 and natural sciences contributions increasing 11%. In 2023, South Korea spent nearly 5% of its economic output on research and development, second only to Israel among members of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development. Additionally, South Korea’s 2025 research budget was more than 16% higher than its 2024 budget.
Like the U.S., Japan and South Korea are grappling with how to keep pace with China’s dominance in research and debating the extent to which they should collaborate with Chinese institutions, according to the report. South Korea has leaned into cooperation with China, with joint journal articles increasing by about 50% between 2023 and 2024. Japan, by contrast, has been more cautious and is seeking greater collaboration with partners in Southeast Asia and India.