自然指数由施普林格·自然(Springer Nature)旗下自然科研(Nature Research)编制,于2014年11月首次发布,通过追踪高质量自然科学期刊所发表的科研论文的作者信息,为科研共同体提供有关全球科研状况和出版趋势的信息。自2018年6月起,纳入自然指数的期刊数量已由原先的68本增至82本。自然指数目前采用两种计算论文产出的方法,其中论文计数(AC)指不论一篇文章有一个还是多个作者,每位作者所在的国家或机构都获得1个AC分值;分数式计量(FC)则考虑了每位论文作者的相对贡献。2018年6月起,自然出版集团(Nature Publishing Group)修订了自然指数计量规则,目的在于调整学科间的权重比,提高计量指标的科学性。纳入自然指数的期刊数量已由原先的68种增至82种。修订后的自然指数期刊名单如下:1.ACS Nano2.Advanced Functional Materials3.Advanced Materials4.American Journal of Human Genetics5.Analytical Chemistry6.Angewandte Chemie International Edition7.Applied Physics Letters8.Astronomy & Astrophysics9.Cancer Cell10.Cancer Research11.Cell12.Cell Host & Microbe13.Cell Metabolism14.Cell Stem Cell15.Chemical Communications16.Chemical Science17.Current Biology18.Developmental Cell19.Earth and Planetary Science Letters20.Ecology Letters21.eLife22.Environmental Science & Technology23.European Physical Journal C24.Genes & Development25.Genome Research26.Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta27.Geology28.Geophysical Research Letters29.Immunity30.Inorganic Chemistry31.Journal of Biological Chemistry32.Journal of Cell Biology33.Journal of Clinical Investigation34.Journal of Experimental Medicine35.Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres36.Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth37.Journal of High Energy Physics38.Journal of Neuroscience39.Journal of American Chemical Society40.Macromolecules41.Molecular Cell42.Molecular Psychiatry43.Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society Letters44.Nano Letters45.Nature46.Nature Biotechnology47.Nature Cell Biology48.Nature Chemical Biology49.Nature Chemistry50.Nature Climate Change51.Nature Communications52.Nature Genetics53.Nature Geoscience54.Nature Immunology55.Nature Materials56.Nature Medicine57.Nature Methods58.Nature Nanotechnology59.Nature Neuroscience60.Nature Photonics61.Nature Physics62.Nature Structural & Molecular Biology63.Neuron64.Organic Letters65.Physical Review A66.Physical Review B67.Physical Review D68.Physical Review Letters69.Physical Review X70.PLOS Biology71.PLOS Genetics72.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America73.Proceedings of the Royal Society B74.Science75.Science Advances76.Science Translational Medicine77.The Astrophysical Journal Letters78.The EMBO Journal79.The ISME Journal: Multidisciplinary Journal of Microbial Ecology80.The Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters81.The Plant Cell82.Water Research数据来源:(2018.6.8)