The University of Tasmania has been ranked as the top university in the world for sharing Antarctic and Southern Ocean knowledge through publications, according to a new report.
An international study team examined the trends and patterns in Antarctic and Southern Ocean (ASO) academic publications from 2016 to 2024 using the Scopus database, but acknowledged that understanding what drives these trends needs further analysis.
“The number of these publications varied substantially over 2016–2024, globally and for individual countries, but peaked in 2021 and fell slightly through to 2024,” said co-author Professor Matt King, who is the Director of the Australian Centre for Excellence in Antarctic Science (ACEAS) based at the University of Tasmania.
The study looked at the quantity and quality of academic publications, where ‘quality’ refers to being published in the top 25% of academic journals in a specific field, based on their citation impact factor. These are known as top-quartile journals.
This showed that China is now the leading publisher of Antarctic and Southern Ocean research in quantity and quality, overtaking the US in 2022 and 2024. In contrast, there was a steady decline in publications from the other leading nations, particularly the US, Germany, Australia and the UK. And while Russia has a high number of total publications, its publication numbers in the top-quartile journals are comparatively very low.
The top five institutions globally, based on total quality publication over 2022-2024, are the British Antarctic Survey, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the University of Tasmania (Australia), the Ministry of Natural Resources (China) and the Alfred Wegener Institute (Germany).
“Our research shows that the rate of research on the Antarctic and Southern Ocean is falling at exactly the time when it should be increasing – with more rapid change occurring each year,” Professor King said.
“And while our study doesn’t reveal what drives these trends, the results may indicate a changing of the guard in Antarctic and Southern Ocean research.”
Co-author Professor Elizabeth Leane, who is based at the University of Tasmania, said whichever countries take the lead in Antarctic research have an obligation to uphold the principles of the Antarctic Treaty.
“This includes protecting the Antarctic environment – and in line with those principles, to take strong action on climate change,” Professor Leane said.
Read the full report: Patterns and emerging trends in Antarctic and Southern Ocean academic publishing 2016-2024
The report was supported by funding from The University of the Arctic (UArctic).
Photos: IMAS