The latest Nature Index rankings, by the Nature Publishing Group, showed that Otago University also led all research institutions in the country in the publication of high-quality scientific research papers.
Otago deputy vice-chancellor, research and enterprise, Prof Richard Blaikie said the "pleasing'' Otago performance in Nature's global index of thousands of universities reflected Otago's continuing emphasis on pursuing research excellence.
Otago's ranking was a "welcome confirmation of the calibre and productivity'' of Otago University researchers, who were "continuing to make important contributions to scientific progress internationally'', Prof Blaikie said.
Announcing the latest rankings, Nature Index founder David Swinbanks said Otago University was "an institution that clearly has a hunger to succeed despite its geographic isolation and the Nature Index shows that, for a number of years, it is a growing source of high-quality research output''.
Nature Index data showed high-quality contributions by Otago authors have shown compound annual average growth of more than 6% from 2012 to last year.
After measuring the weighted contributions of Otago researchers to nearly 60,000 high-quality papers published in 68 leading natural science journals last year, Otago was ranked 303rd in Nature's global index of thousands of universities.
After the weighting adjustments, Otago was first among New Zealand research institutions, with Auckland University second, Victoria University of Wellington third and GNS Science fourth.
Canterbury University was fifth, Massey sixth, Niwa seventh and AgResearch eighth.
The Nature Publishing Group's rankings, termed the Nature Index, are built on an institution's contributions to these high-quality papers each year and considers both the number of papers and the relative contribution of its authors.
Crown Research Institute GNS Science is celebrating being the top non-university publisher of peer-reviewed science in New Zealand, being ranked fourth overall in a league table of 52 science organisations in New Zealand.
Acting chief executive of GNS Science Dr Neal Wai Poi said the result was "outstanding'' and added it reflected the "dedication and exceptional skill levels of researchers at GNS Science''.
