Science Explorer Back to mapMap
Compare · Countries

South Korea vs Taiwan

On research quality in 2022-now, South Korea ranks #14 in the world and Taiwan #24, of 189 countries. South Korea stands higher in 26 of the 26 fields both publish in, Taiwan in 0.

Research profiles alike: 0.86very similar shapes of research, whatever their size. How it is measured

Compare other countries
vs

South Korea

World rank, 2022-now
#14
#15 all time
Works, 2022-now
358k
fractional
Top-10% rate
10.5%
share of its work among the world's most cited
Open access
43%
of its works free to read

Strongest relative focus: Leadership and Management, Polymers and Plastics, Electrical and Electronic Engineering.

Taiwan

World rank, 2022-now
#24
#24 all time
Works, 2022-now
143k
fractional
Top-10% rate
9.7%
share of its work among the world's most cited
Open access
29%
of its works free to read

Strongest relative focus: Bioengineering, Hardware and Architecture, Otorhinolaryngology.

Who leads, measure by measure?

South Korea leads on 5 of 9 measures: research quality, citation excellence for its fields, output, top-10% rate and open access. Taiwan leads on 1 of 9 measures: citations per work. The two are level on institutions in the world top 100, international co-authorship and growth.

South Korea 53 level1 Taiwan
  1. #14Research qualityworld rank of 189 countries, 2022-now#24
  2. 0.94×Citation excellence for its fieldsits top-10% rate against what its topics predict; 1.00× is as expected0.88×
  3. 358kOutputfractional works, 2022-now143k
  4. 10.5%Top-10% rateshare of its works among the world's most cited9.7%
  5. 18.2Citations per workall time, per fractional work18.9
  6. 0World top 100institutions it holds among the world's best 1000
  7. 43%Open accessof its works free to read, all time29%
  8. 17%Internationalof its works written with co-authors abroad, all time17%
  9. +7%Growthworks in 2022-25 against 2018-21; half a bar is no change+8%

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, citation excellence and the top-10% rate are explained in the methodology.

Who leads in each field?

South Korea stands higher in 26 of 26 fields, Taiwan in 0. South Korea leads most in Energy (#3 against #26). Each bar is that side's standing among all countries ranked in the field: the full bar is first place.

South Korea 260 Taiwan
  1. #15Agricultural and Biological Sciences#30
  2. #24Arts and Humanities#33
  3. #18Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology#24
  4. #13Business, Management and Accounting#22
  5. #14Chemical Engineering#22
  6. #10Chemistry#23
  7. #7Computer Science#21
  8. #12Decision Sciences#20
  9. #13Dentistry#15
  10. #16Earth and Planetary Sciences#27
  11. #15Economics, Econometrics and Finance#27
  12. #3Energy#26
  13. #7Engineering#26
  14. #16Environmental Science#25
  15. #14Health Professions#25
  16. #19Immunology and Microbiology#25
  17. #7Materials Science#23
  18. #8Mathematics#25
  19. #14Medicine#22
  20. #11Neuroscience#22
  21. #6Nursing#24
  22. #5Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics#19
  23. #16Physics and Astronomy#28
  24. #19Psychology#21
  25. #23Social Sciences#33
  26. #20Veterinary-

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 South Korea rankTaiwan rank South Korea top 10%Taiwan top 10% South Korea worksTaiwan works
Agricultural and Biological Sciences #15 #30 9.8% 10.2% 13k 3.6k
Arts and Humanities #24 #33 13.8% 15.4% 2.6k 1.4k
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology #18 #24 9.4% 7.8% 25k 9.2k
Business, Management and Accounting #13 #22 14.2% 13.0% 5.5k 3.6k
Chemical Engineering #14 #22 10.9% 9.1% 2.1k 685
Chemistry #10 #23 10.3% 7.6% 5.3k 2.1k
Computer Science #7 #21 12.0% 9.8% 30k 13k
Decision Sciences #12 #20 14.1% 13.3% 2.5k 1.6k
Dentistry #13 #15 11.8% 13.0% 2.3k 782
Earth and Planetary Sciences #16 #27 8.0% 6.8% 4.2k 1.7k
Economics, Econometrics and Finance #15 #27 10.1% 9.6% 4.2k 2.1k
Energy #3 #26 9.4% 9.6% 4.8k 1.7k
Engineering #7 #26 10.6% 8.1% 78k 28k
Environmental Science #16 #25 9.3% 8.0% 15k 5.7k
Health Professions #14 #25 12.4% 13.8% 6.2k 2.6k
Immunology and Microbiology #19 #25 8.8% 8.0% 4k 1.8k
Materials Science #7 #23 10.0% 7.4% 22k 7k
Mathematics #8 #25 11.0% 12.9% 3.2k 1.5k
Medicine #14 #22 10.2% 10.5% 87k 36k
Neuroscience #11 #22 10.7% 8.3% 7.6k 3k
Nursing #6 #24 11.6% 11.3% 2.7k 657
Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics #5 #19 10.2% 8.5% 1.7k 492
Physics and Astronomy #16 #28 9.0% 7.4% 7.6k 3.3k
Psychology #19 #21 11.1% 13.4% 7.8k 4.2k
Social Sciences #23 #33 12.2% 13.7% 15k 6.8k
Veterinary #20 - 9.3% - 483 -

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.

South Korea

▲ 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 Learning19k▲ 1.34×85 topics
  2. Epidemiology17k◆ 1.08×140 topics
  3. Inflammation13k▲ 1.46×83 topics
  4. Machine Learning13k◆ 0.93×97 topics
  5. Neural Networks9,068▲ 1.45×42 topics
  6. Oxidative Stress8,834▲ 1.33×63 topics
  7. Biomedical Applications8,345▲ 1.74×36 topics
  8. Nanomaterials8,320▲ 1.96×21 topics
  9. Cancer7,324▲ 1.34×59 topics
  10. Climate Change7,116▼ 0.65×131 topics
  11. Nanoparticles6,924▲ 1.36×44 topics
  12. Quality of Life6,876▲ 1.18×60 topics
  13. Energy Storage6,776▲ 2.6×13 topics
  14. Cardiovascular Disease6,255▲ 1.35×39 topics
  15. Nanocomposites5,958▲ 1.86×22 topics
  16. Environmental Impact5,782▼ 0.84×74 topics
  17. Graphene5,561▲ 2.0×12 topics
  18. Treatment5,456◆ 1.11×52 topics
  19. Cathode Materials5,347▲ 3.4×3 topics
  20. Tissue Engineering4,826▲ 1.96×13 topics
  21. Mechanical Properties4,572◆ 1.15×39 topics
  22. Energy Efficiency4,508▲ 1.20×46 topics
  23. Convolutional Neural Networks4,412▲ 1.50×14 topics
  24. Lithium-ion Batteries4,326▲ 2.6×4 topics
  25. Chemotherapy4,259▲ 1.48×25 topics
  26. Metabolic Syndrome4,209▲ 1.28×24 topics
  27. Metal-Organic Frameworks3,979▲ 2.4×6 topics
  28. Rechargeable Batteries3,606▲ 3.4×2 topics
  29. Biosensors3,421▲ 1.72×12 topics
  30. Nanostructures3,336▲ 2.0×17 topics
  31. Water Splitting3,319▲ 2.2×4 topics
  32. Semiconductors3,103▲ 2.6×6 topics
  33. Flexible Electronics2,974▲ 4.3×3 topics
  34. Nanocrystals2,774▲ 2.6×5 topics
  35. Self-Efficacy2,756▲ 2.6×11 topics
  36. Solar Cells2,495▲ 3.0×7 topics
  37. Energy Harvesting2,420▲ 3.3×3 topics
  38. Battery Materials2,322▲ 3.5×1 topic
  39. Nanostructured Anodes2,322▲ 3.5×1 topic
  40. Neuromorphic Computing2,178▲ 4.7×2 topics

Taiwan

▲ 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 Learning7,865▲ 1.41×85 topics
  2. Epidemiology7,791▲ 1.21×140 topics
  3. Inflammation5,362▲ 1.56×83 topics
  4. Machine Learning5,144◆ 0.95×97 topics
  5. Neural Networks3,546▲ 1.42×42 topics
  6. Oxidative Stress3,466▲ 1.30×63 topics
  7. Cancer3,041▲ 1.40×59 topics
  8. Cardiovascular Disease2,938▲ 1.59×39 topics
  9. Nanomaterials2,863▲ 1.69×21 topics
  10. Quality of Life2,852▲ 1.22×59 topics
  11. Biomedical Applications2,838▲ 1.48×36 topics
  12. Climate Change2,619▼ 0.60×126 topics
  13. Treatment2,563▲ 1.30×52 topics
  14. Nanoparticles2,557▲ 1.25×44 topics
  15. Graphene2,017▲ 1.85×12 topics
  16. Chemotherapy1,962▲ 1.71×25 topics
  17. Diagnosis1,924▲ 1.28×41 topics
  18. Convolutional Neural Networks1,880▲ 1.60×14 topics
  19. Metabolic Syndrome1,835▲ 1.40×24 topics
  20. Risk Factors1,826◆ 1.03×37 topics
  21. Nanocomposites1,805▲ 1.41×22 topics
  22. Energy Efficiency1,738▲ 1.16×44 topics
  23. Management1,711▲ 1.32×39 topics
  24. Biomarkers1,678▲ 1.49×18 topics
  25. Biosensors1,644▲ 2.1×12 topics
  26. Tissue Engineering1,615▲ 1.65×13 topics
  27. Energy Storage1,546▲ 1.47×12 topics
  28. Mortality1,483▲ 1.61×13 topics
  29. Immunotherapy1,478▲ 1.26×19 topics
  30. Aging1,473▲ 1.67×19 topics
  31. Semiconductors1,435▲ 3.0×6 topics
  32. Nanostructures1,432▲ 2.2×17 topics
  33. Immune Response1,407▲ 1.53×23 topics
  34. Clinical Practice Guidelines1,381▲ 1.55×14 topics
  35. Semiconductor1,171▲ 2.2×7 topics
  36. Thermal Management1,093▲ 2.1×8 topics
  37. Thin Films959▲ 3.1×10 topics
  38. Field-Effect Transistors920▲ 3.6×4 topics
  39. Solar Cells919▲ 2.8×7 topics
  40. Nanowires874▲ 3.8×5 topics

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?

South Korea has out-published Taiwan every year since 1997, when it overtook it.

still counting50k100kSouth Korea93k in 2025Taiwan38k 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 counting1.0%2.0%3.0%South Korea1.6% in 2025Taiwan0.65% 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 counting5%10%15%South Korea11.0% in 2025Taiwan10.0% 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.

South Korea 32 level0 Taiwan
  1. 0In the world top 500
  2. 0In the top 1000
  3. 9In the top 5002
  4. 22In the top 1,0005
  5. #12Elite capacityrank among 204 countries#27

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, South Korea or Taiwan?

South Korea publishes 2.5× as much research as Taiwan in 2022-now (358k against 143k fractional works).

Whose research has more impact, South Korea or Taiwan?

10.5% of South Korea's research reaches the world's top 10% most cited, against 9.7% for Taiwan.

Is South Korea or Taiwan growing faster?

Output in 2022-25 was +8% against 2018-21 for Taiwan, and +7% for South Korea.

Which has more open access research, South Korea or Taiwan?

43% of South Korea's research is free to read, against 29% of Taiwan's.

Which has more world-class institutions, South Korea or Taiwan?

South Korea holds 0 of the world's top 100 research institutions and Taiwan 0; in the top 1,000 it is 22 against 5.

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%.

South Korea

  1. 1Seoul National University11.1% top 10% · 24k works
  2. 2Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology14.1% top 10% · 9.8k works
  3. 3Yonsei University12.4% top 10% · 19k works
  4. 4Sungkyunkwan University12.0% top 10% · 14k works
  5. 5Korea University13.0% top 10% · 12k works
  6. 6Pohang University of Science and Technology13.4% top 10% · 4.4k works

Taiwan

  1. 1National Taiwan University9.0% top 10% · 14k works
  2. 2Academia Sinica9.7% top 10% · 4.1k works
  3. 3National Cheng Kung University9.1% top 10% · 8.4k works
  4. 4National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University9.3% top 10% · 8.4k works
  5. 5National Tsing Hua University9.3% top 10% · 5k works
  6. 6National Sun Yat-sen University9.4% top 10% · 3.2k 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.

South Korea

  1. 1 Jaephil Cho #242 worldwide 73k citations · 550 works
  2. 2 Taeghwan Hyeon #270 worldwide 112k citations · 685 works
  3. 3 Yang‐Kook Sun #542 worldwide 98k citations · 1,172 works
  4. 4 Kisuk Kang #565 worldwide 55k citations · 492 works
  5. 5 Dae‐Hyeong Kim #606 worldwide 55k citations · 311 works

Taiwan

  1. 1 Gwo‐Jen Hwang #196 worldwide 39k citations · 649 works
  2. 2 Ming‐Lang Tseng #3,104 worldwide 30k citations · 538 works
  3. 3 Sung‐Fu Hung #3,573 worldwide 30k citations · 198 works
  4. 4 Jien‐Wei Yeh #3,654 worldwide 43k citations · 279 works
  5. 5 Chin‐Chung Tsai #5,063 worldwide 38k citations · 549 works

Other comparisons

Compare any two