NWO and KNAW institutes: scientific publication output and citation impact (WoS)

Output

Data publication

How many scientific publications are published by NWO and KNAW institutes? And what is the citation impact score of these publications? In this data publication we share the figures.

In short

  • The number of scientific publications by NWO institutes increased up to and including 2016 and has since fluctuated between 1,250 and 1,550.
  • After 2020, the number of scientific publications by KNAW institutes declines.
  • The citation impact score of the KNAW institutes decreases slightly after a period of increase. At NWO, the decline continues.

How many scientific publications will be published by NWO and KNAW institutes between 2011 and 2025?

Source: Clarivate Analytics/ WoS database, extraction by Centre for Science and Technology Studies (CWTS) and analysis by Rathenau Instituut.
Notes: The absolute numbers of scientific publications and reviews. After 2016, the Netherlands Heart Institute leaves the KNAW. Publications from his institute are no longer included KNAW-figures from 2017 onwards, causing a break in the trend. 

Analysis
The number of publications produced by the NWO institutes shows an upward trend, but from 2016 onwards the number of publications fluctuates between 1,250 and 1,550. At the KNAW institutes, the number of publications has been declining since 2020, although we do see an increase again in 2025 compared to 2024. The earlier decline from 2017 onwards is caused by ICIN (Netherlands Heart Institute) leaving the KNAW that year to continue independently.
 

Citation impact for NWO and KNAW institutes

Source: Clarivate Analytics/ WoS database, extraction CWTS and analysis by Rathenau Instituut.
Notes: Field normalised citation impact score (world-wide average = 1,0): the number of citations that publications received relative to the world-wide average of citations received, per scientific field (world-wide average = 1,0). After 2016, the ICIN (Netherlands Heart Institute) leaves the KNAW and continues as an independent institute. The citation-impact scores of their publications are no longer included in KNAW-figures for the periods 2017-2020 and 2021-2024, causing a break in the trend.

Analysis
Both the publications of the KNAW institutes and those of the NWO institutes are cited relatively often. At the KNAW institutes, we saw a rising trend in citation impact. However, for the period 2021-2024 we see a decline again. In the period 2021-2024, the citation impact score for the KNAW institutes is still well above average (field-normalized citation impact 2021-2024 stands at 1.62, the global average is 1.0). For the citation impact of the NWO institutes, we see a decline, but this too still lies above the global average (field-normalized citation impact 2021-2024 stands at 1.19, the global average is 1.0). The citation impact of the NWO institutes for the period 2021-2024 is just below the Dutch average (1.25).

Facts and figures

  • 1.25

    Average citation-impactscore Netherlands (2021-2024)

  • 1.62

    Citation-impactscore KNAW- institutes (2021-2024)

  • 1.19

    Citation-impactscore NWO-institutes (2021-2024)

For an explanation of the used definitions and abbreviations we refer to the webpage Definitions for Science in Figures.

Footnotes

    Related publications

  • PhD-theses by Dutch universities
  • Scientific publications by Dutch universities
  • Publication output by scientific field, international benchmark (WoS)
  • Scientific publication output per university (WoS)
  • Scientific publications in the Netherlands by institutional sector (WoS)
  • Scientific publications, international benchmark (WoS)
  • Top 1% and top 10% cited (WoS)
  • Citation impact score of Dutch universities (WoS)