A newly-published respected international report is putting Nanjing at number 2 in a top 50 of rising science cities and regions worldwide, as related to research into achieving the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SSGs).
Published on 25 September, the Nature Index supplement showcases how cities are supporting climate change and clean energy targets, as well as protecting oceans, coastal communities and food security.
With Beijing at number 1, clue to Nanjing’s runner up position lies in the term, “rising”. The supplement ranks the degree of change in the top 50 risers’ contributions to SDG research in the years between 2015 and 2020.
On a broader scale, Nanjing still performs well, ranked as number 7 on a more general list of the leading 200 science cities and metropolitan areas. Ahead of our home are Shanghai, Boston metropolitan area, Baltimore-Washington, New York metropolitan area, San Francisco Bay Area and at number 1 once again, Beijing.
How is all this calculated? What criteria are used?
For the latest report, science cities’ output, as to their research strengths and priorities related to the United Nations’ 17 SDGs, was measured by tracking articles published in natural-sciences journals.
By filtering 82 such journals for SDG-related classifiers, the Nature Index came up with a signature metric for the cities’ SDG-related article output over the last 5 years.
As stated on the Nature Index website, the metric is “a fractional count for an article allocation to an institution, city or country/region, that accounts for the proportion of authors on the article whose institutional affiliation is with that institution or location”.
Nanjing also ranks number 2 in the 25 leading science cities and metropolitan areas in Earth & Environmental Sciences. That’s way ahead of the likes of New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco, but still one step behind Beijing.
As members of the scientific community, the Nature Index is committed to curating, enhancing and disseminating research that is rigorous, reproducible and impactful. It works to promote openness and transparency, as well as the highest standards in research culture.
