Moscow fell to 22nd place in the world ranking of scientific cities

According to the index, the number of articles published by Moscow scientific institutions and published in international peer-reviewed and indexed journals decreased by 35%, from 749 to 552.

The first two places in the ranking were occupied by Beijing and Shanghai. China has consistently surpassed American universities in number of publications since 2019, but New York ranked second until 2024. "The number of Chinese studies in journals tracked by Nature Index continues to grow strongly, as evidenced by the fact that Beijing has maintained its leadership in the ranking of scientific cities," said Simon Baker, editor-in-chief of Nature Index.

At the same time, Russia remains the leader in the number and quality of publications in the regions of Eastern and Southern Europe, the productivity of Russian scientists is two times higher than that of Slovenians and six times higher than that of Poles, says the Nature report. According to him, in the Eastern European region there is still a preference for the physical sciences, which account for up to 70% of publications. The overall figure is around 40%.

The leading universities in Eastern Europe, according to the compilers of the Nature Index, are the University of Warsaw, Moscow State University and Charles University in Prague. However, Nature experts predict a decline in the scientific efficiency of Russian research institutions due to pressure from the authorities on the Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS) and the severing of scientific contacts with NASA.

In summer, Nature published a ranking of the main scientific institutions specialized in exact and natural sciences. Over the year, the Russian Academy of Sciences dropped 23 places to 94th place, and Moscow State University dropped 7 places to 420th place. The number of RAS publications in international journals fell by 17, 2%, up to 507 articles in the year.