Recently, the Natural Index web¬site published the annual ranking of the 2019 Nature Index ( spanning from 2018.1.1 to 2018.12.31 ). Sichuan University ranks 53rd among global universities, a significant progress over the 81st last year.

The Nature Index has become an important indicator for evaluating the outputs of high-level academic achievements of research institutions. It calculates statistically the quantity of research papers published by scientific research institutions in the previous year, including 82 series ( 68 selected in 2014 and 82 in June 2018 ), such as Nature series, Science, and Cell in natural science journals. 82 sources of journals are divided into four categories: Chemistry, Earth and Environmental Sciences, Life Sciences and Physics. SCU has predominant strength in Chemistry and ranks 14th among the world¬wide universities.