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Japan vs Singapore

On research quality in 2022-now, Singapore ranks #13 in the world and Japan #16, of 189 countries. Japan stands higher in 9 of the 26 fields both publish in, Singapore in 17.

Research profiles alike: 0.37somewhat alike shapes of research, whatever their size. How it is measured

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Japan

World rank, 2022-now
#16
#17 all time
Works, 2022-now
558k
fractional
Top-10% rate
6.0%
share of its work among the world's most cited
Open access
42%
of its works free to read

Strongest relative focus: Condensed Matter Physics, Structural Biology, Gastroenterology.

Singapore

World rank, 2022-now
#13
#11 all time
Works, 2022-now
70k
fractional
Top-10% rate
16.7%
share of its work among the world's most cited
Open access
33%
of its works free to read

Strongest relative focus: Health Informatics, Hardware and Architecture, Acoustics and Ultrasonics.

Who leads, measure by measure?

Singapore leads on 7 of 9 measures: research quality, excellence for its fields, top-10% rate, citations per work, institutions in the world top 100, international co-authorship and growth. Japan leads on 2 of 9 measures: output and open access.

Japan 27 Singapore
  1. #16Research qualityworld rank of 189 countries, 2022-now#13
  2. 0.64×Excellence for its fieldsits top-10% rate against what its topics predict; 1.00× is as expected1.42×
  3. 558kOutputfractional works, 2022-now70k
  4. 6.0%Top-10% rateshare of its works among the world's most cited16.7%
  5. 17.2Citations per workall time, per fractional work30.0
  6. 1World top 100institutions it holds among the world's best 1002
  7. 42%Open accessof its works free to read, all time33%
  8. 12%Internationalof its works written with co-authors abroad, all time34%
  9. -5%Growthworks in 2022-25 against 2018-21; half a bar is no change+7%

A rank is drawn as its standing: the longer the bar, the nearer the top. Anything else is drawn against the larger of the two, and two values a hair apart are called level. Quality, excellence and the top-10% rate are explained in the methodology.

Who leads in each field?

Japan stands higher in 9 of 26 fields, Singapore in 17. Singapore leads most in Energy (#5 against #21); Japan leads most in Dentistry (#12 against #20). Each bar is that side's standing among all countries ranked in the field: the full bar is first place.

Japan 917 Singapore
  1. #16Agricultural and Biological Sciences#20
  2. #22Arts and Humanities#29
  3. #13Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology#14
  4. #26Business, Management and Accounting#17
  5. #13Chemical Engineering#8
  6. #14Chemistry#9
  7. #16Computer Science#9
  8. #25Decision Sciences#15
  9. #12Dentistry#20
  10. #15Earth and Planetary Sciences#21
  11. #17Economics, Econometrics and Finance#14
  12. #21Energy#5
  13. #16Engineering#6
  14. #20Environmental Science#15
  15. #22Health Professions#15
  16. #15Immunology and Microbiology#13
  17. #12Materials Science#5
  18. #14Mathematics#20
  19. #18Medicine#15
  20. #16Neuroscience#15
  21. #18Nursing#14
  22. #13Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics-
  23. #10Physics and Astronomy#17
  24. #23Psychology#15
  25. #26Social Sciences#16
  26. #17Veterinary-

Standing is the percentile of world rank within each field, 2022-now; the printed number is the rank itself. A dash means the field is too small there to rank. How sides are compared.

The numbers behind each field

Click a heading to sort. The side that does better in a pair of columns is shaded: a lower rank, a higher rate, more works.

Field Japan rankSingapore rank Japan top 10%Singapore top 10% Japan worksSingapore works
Agricultural and Biological Sciences #16 #20 6.4% 17.3% 16k 1.1k
Arts and Humanities #22 #29 9.5% 16.9% 5.2k 892
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology #13 #14 5.5% 15.2% 41k 3.7k
Business, Management and Accounting #26 #17 6.2% 14.4% 5.2k 1.6k
Chemical Engineering #13 #8 4.8% 20.9% 2.5k 311
Chemistry #14 #9 4.8% 18.6% 12k 1.1k
Computer Science #16 #9 5.1% 18.4% 37k 9.1k
Decision Sciences #25 #15 5.7% 16.3% 2.9k 724
Dentistry #12 #20 7.7% 16.6% 2.9k 224
Earth and Planetary Sciences #15 #21 6.7% 20.0% 8.7k 594
Economics, Econometrics and Finance #17 #14 7.4% 12.8% 6.1k 1.3k
Energy #21 #5 6.9% 19.7% 3.6k 797
Engineering #16 #6 4.6% 19.3% 94k 14k
Environmental Science #20 #15 6.0% 17.1% 21k 2.3k
Health Professions #22 #15 6.9% 17.5% 8.9k 1.5k
Immunology and Microbiology #15 #13 6.3% 14.8% 7k 624
Materials Science #12 #5 4.9% 19.0% 27k 3k
Mathematics #14 #20 6.3% 12.2% 6.9k 592
Medicine #18 #15 6.6% 14.1% 167k 14k
Neuroscience #16 #15 5.2% 16.3% 14k 1.2k
Nursing #18 #14 5.6% 16.7% 2.8k 236
Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics #13 - 6.5% - 2.6k -
Physics and Astronomy #10 #17 7.4% 15.7% 22k 1.7k
Psychology #23 #15 6.2% 16.0% 14k 2.2k
Social Sciences #26 #16 7.1% 15.6% 27k 6.2k
Veterinary #17 - 5.0% - 773 -

What is each known for?

The keywords that describe each side's research, by fractional works in 2022-now and weighted toward what it does more of than the world.

Japan

▲ more of its work than of the world's◆ about the world's share▼ less than the world's
All 40 words, with their numbers
  1. Epidemiology32k▲ 1.28×140 topics
  2. Inflammation21k▲ 1.54×83 topics
  3. Deep Learning18k▼ 0.85×85 topics
  4. Machine Learning14k▼ 0.67×97 topics
  5. Treatment12k▲ 1.59×52 topics
  6. Oxidative Stress12k◆ 1.15×63 topics
  7. Climate Change12k▼ 0.69×132 topics
  8. Chemotherapy11k▲ 2.6×25 topics
  9. Quality of Life11k▲ 1.17×61 topics
  10. Cancer11k▲ 1.24×59 topics
  11. Diagnosis10k▲ 1.78×41 topics
  12. Nanoparticles9,087◆ 1.14×44 topics
  13. Biomedical Applications8,930▲ 1.20×36 topics
  14. Cardiovascular Disease8,839▲ 1.23×39 topics
  15. Immunotherapy8,823▲ 1.94×19 topics
  16. Neural Networks8,643◆ 0.89×42 topics
  17. Risk Factors8,023▲ 1.16×37 topics
  18. Clinical Practice Guidelines7,936▲ 2.3×14 topics
  19. Management7,655▲ 1.52×40 topics
  20. Mechanical Properties6,915◆ 1.12×39 topics
  21. Prognostic Factors6,756▲ 2.5×14 topics
  22. Surgical Management6,288▲ 2.4×20 topics
  23. Neurological Disorders5,916▲ 1.64×20 topics
  24. Tumor Microenvironment5,642▲ 1.98×8 topics
  25. Genetic Mutations5,620▲ 2.0×23 topics
  26. Clinical Trials5,573▲ 1.32×19 topics
  27. Guidelines5,493▲ 1.84×13 topics
  28. Aging5,443▲ 1.58×19 topics
  29. Complications5,433▲ 1.73×17 topics
  30. Heart Failure5,273▲ 1.87×14 topics
  31. Radiotherapy5,136▲ 2.1×13 topics
  32. Neoadjuvant Therapy4,824▲ 3.2×5 topics
  33. Prognosis4,800▲ 2.3×9 topics
  34. Surgery4,267▲ 1.94×12 topics
  35. Survival Analysis4,083▲ 2.4×7 topics
  36. Echocardiography4,000▲ 2.3×8 topics
  37. Modernization3,683▲ 3.2×5 topics
  38. Molecular Characterization3,645▲ 3.3×6 topics
  39. Endoscopic Resection3,093▲ 4.9×2 topics
  40. Adjuvant Therapy3,069▲ 3.9×2 topics

Singapore

▲ more of its work than of the world's◆ about the world's share▼ less than the world's
All 40 words, with their numbers
  1. Deep Learning5,202▲ 1.91×85 topics
  2. Machine Learning3,492▲ 1.33×97 topics
  3. Epidemiology3,267◆ 1.04×137 topics
  4. Neural Networks2,630▲ 2.2×40 topics
  5. Inflammation1,732◆ 1.03×83 topics
  6. Sustainability1,359▼ 0.71×122 topics
  7. Globalization1,296▼ 0.84×141 topics
  8. Biomedical Applications1,179▲ 1.26×36 topics
  9. Nanoparticles1,138◆ 1.15×44 topics
  10. Quality of Life1,134◆ 1.00×58 topics
  11. Artificial Intelligence1,038◆ 0.92×65 topics
  12. Healthcare988◆ 1.10×40 topics
  13. Public Health972▼ 0.85×72 topics
  14. Convolutional Neural Networks965▲ 1.68×14 topics
  15. Nanomaterials954▲ 1.16×21 topics
  16. Treatment951◆ 0.99×52 topics
  17. Cardiovascular Disease949◆ 1.06×39 topics
  18. Mechanical Properties890◆ 1.15×39 topics
  19. Security859▲ 1.63×28 topics
  20. Energy Efficiency849▲ 1.17×46 topics
  21. Risk Factors845◆ 0.97×37 topics
  22. Big Data843◆ 1.12×35 topics
  23. Energy Storage803▲ 1.57×13 topics
  24. Catalysis791▲ 1.51×29 topics
  25. Nanocomposites746▲ 1.20×22 topics
  26. Graphene733▲ 1.38×12 topics
  27. Tissue Engineering674▲ 1.41×13 topics
  28. Biosensors673▲ 1.74×12 topics
  29. Aging661▲ 1.54×19 topics
  30. Medical Imaging624▲ 1.50×9 topics
  31. Precision Medicine603▲ 1.54×8 topics
  32. Cathode Materials596▲ 1.95×3 topics
  33. Additive Manufacturing565▲ 2.3×8 topics
  34. Representation Learning507▲ 4.1×3 topics
  35. Unsupervised Learning478▲ 4.0×3 topics
  36. Semi-Supervised Learning415▲ 4.3×3 topics
  37. Authoritarianism333▲ 4.8×5 topics
  38. Social Cohesion283▲ 6.0×6 topics
  39. State Intervention282▲ 11×3 topics
  40. Singapore254▲ 37×1 topic

Size is fractional works in the topics tagged with each word; colour is the word's share of the side's work against its share of the world's. Each word links to the topic it comes from most.

How has their output grown?

Japan has out-published Singapore every year since 1980.

still counting50k100k150kJapan144k in 2025Singapore19k in 20251990200020102020

Fractional works per year.

Their share of all research

Growing output can still be a shrinking share, because all of science grows. Each line is a side as a percentage of every work published that year.

still counting5.0%10%Japan2.5% in 2025Singapore0.32% in 202519801990200020102020

Fractional works over all fractional works that year. How the balance of science has shifted.

How much of it reaches the world top 10%

The share of each side's works, year by year, that reached the world's 10% most cited for their field and year. The average of all institutions is 10.0% (why not 10%).

still counting10%20%Singapore15.6% in 2025Japan6.4% in 2025200020102020

A year with under 1% of the side's peak output is left out: a rate over a handful of papers says nothing. The latest years are still being cited.

Who holds more of the world's best institutions?

A country's average quality and the number of institutions it holds at the very top can disagree, and both are worth knowing. The counts are nested: an institution in the top 50 is also in the top 100.

Japan 32 Singapore
  1. 0In the world top 502
  2. 1In the top 1002
  3. 8In the top 5003
  4. 16In the top 1,0006
  5. #13Elite capacityrank among 204 countries#15

Institutions ranked on research quality, 2022-now. Elite capacity counts a country's institutions by their worldwide rank, weighted so a place at #1 counts for more than one at #480.

Which publishes more research, Japan or Singapore?

Japan publishes 8.0× as much research as Singapore in 2022-now (558k against 70k fractional works).

Whose research has more impact, Japan or Singapore?

16.7% of Singapore's research reaches the world's top 10% most cited, against 6.0% for Japan.

Is Japan or Singapore growing faster?

Output in 2022-25 was +7% against 2018-21 for Singapore, and -5% for Japan.

Which has more open access research, Japan or Singapore?

42% of Japan's research is free to read, against 33% of Singapore's.

Which has more world-class institutions, Japan or Singapore?

Singapore holds 2 of the world's top 100 research institutions and Japan 1; in the top 1,000 it is 6 against 16.

Which institutions lead in each country?

The highest-ranked institutions on each side on research quality, 2022-now. The percentage is each institution's own top-10% rate: the share of its works that are among the world's 10% most cited for their field and year. Every figure stands alone, so they do not add up to 100%.

Japan

  1. 1The University of Tokyo8.1% top 10% · 26k works
  2. 2Kyoto University7.5% top 10% · 16k works
  3. 3RIKEN11.4% top 10% · 4.7k works
  4. 4The University of Osaka7.0% top 10% · 13k works
  5. 5Nagoya University6.8% top 10% · 10k works
  6. 6Tohoku University7.6% top 10% · 14k works

Singapore

  1. 1National University of Singapore17.6% top 10% · 25k works
  2. 2Nanyang Technological University20.6% top 10% · 17k works
  3. 3Agency for Science, Technology and Research17.8% top 10% · 6.9k works
  4. 4Singapore University of Technology and Design18.2% top 10% · 1.9k works
  5. 5National University Health System18.2% top 10% · 1.3k works
  6. 6Singapore Management University16.9% top 10% · 2.2k works

The number is the rank inside the country. The track on each row is the top-10% rate; the tick is the average of all institutions, 10.0% (how it is set): teal above it, red below. The ranking is the quality score, which compares the rate with what each institution's own topics predict and adds a small reward for size, so the rates do not fall in order.

Who are the top researchers on each side?

The most cited researchers on each side, among those ranked.

Japan

  1. 1 Md. Rabiul Awual #6 worldwide 41k citations · 208 works
  2. 2 Ayyoob Sharifi #295 worldwide 23k citations · 468 works
  3. 3 A. S. Bell #544 worldwide 76k citations · 479 works
  4. 4 Noboru Mizushima #728 worldwide 143k citations · 420 works
  5. 5 Haoshen S. Zhou #1,003 worldwide 71k citations · 809 works

Singapore

  1. 1 Xiong Wen Lou #2 worldwide 155k citations · 583 works
  2. 2 Chen Change Loy #50 worldwide 86k citations · 611 works
  3. 3 Florent Ginhoux #118 worldwide 98k citations · 704 works
  4. 4 Kanyi Pu #240 worldwide 52k citations · 393 works
  5. 5 Cheng‐Wei Qiu #607 worldwide 67k citations · 973 works

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