Based on “The Nature Index,” which tracks research articles published in a group of journals chosen by a group of scientists, Israel contributed the most scientific research papers in 2013 of countries in West Asia. At more than 1,000, Israel’s article count (AC), the number of articles with at least one author from the country, was higher than the combined ACs of the other countries in the region, or 920. The country’s weighted fractional count, which accounts for an article’s number of authors and adjusts for the disproportionate number of papers in astronomy and astrophysics, was 68% of the region’s total of 696. Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Iran followed, with 11%, 8% and 8%, respectively. In 2012, Israel spent 3.9% of GDP on R&D. Saudi Arabia is increasing its R&D spending to just below 1% of GDP.

Source: Nature