95% of university scientific output comes from public universities, according to the new annual report from the IUNE Observatory, which provides an in-depth analysis of research activity in the Spanish University System between 2015 and 2024 and is prepared by the Interuniversity Institute for Advanced Research on the Evaluation of Science and the University (INAECU), a joint center of Carlos III University of Madrid (UC3M) and the Autonomous University of Madrid (UAM).

Scientific output between 2015 and 2024 shows that the Spanish University System (SUE) reached a total of 668,593 publications, 95% of which were authored by researchers at public universities. Publication output grew steadily until 2021, a record year with 74,846 publications, before declining slightly—likely due to the impact of COVID-19—in the last two years (2023 and 2024). As for private universities, their volume of publications is significantly lower, ranging from 6.4% in 2015 to 10.4% in 2024.

“Faculty productivity has improved steadily, reaching 1.4 publications per faculty member at public universities (0.49 at private universities) and stabilizing at 1.33 in 2024 (0.28 at private universities), meaning that almost all public universities exceed the threshold of one article per faculty member,” notes one of the report’s coordinators, Antonio Eleazar Serrano López, a researcher at INAECU and professor in the Department of Library Science and Documentation at UC3M.

This difference is also reflected in the recognition of research activity evaluated through the “sexenios” (recognized research periods). 91.82% of all six-year periods (102,289) were awarded to faculty members at public universities, a group that saw its total rise from 6,065 six-year periods in 2015 to 15,031 in 2024, representing an average annual growth rate of 13.81%. In relative terms, public universities award one six-year period for every 4 professors, while at private universities the ratio is one six-year period for every 17.

“The public system is making a tremendous effort to maintain high levels of productivity and continue contributing to cutting-edge scientific knowledge, even with more limited human resources,” notes Antonio Eleazar.

The number of tenured faculty members at Spanish universities has grown by 26.7% over the past decade, although this growth is mainly due to the expansion of faculty at private institutions, which saw a 203.6% increase, in contrast to public universities, which saw their faculty numbers decrease by 3.99%.

By autonomous community, the country’s scientific output is concentrated primarily in Catalonia (23.8%), Madrid (18%), Andalusia (14.9%), and the Valencian Community (11.2%). However, in relative terms, Navarre (68%) and La Rioja (40.5%) stand out due to the significant weight of their private university systems.

When breaking down SUE output by subject area, the data reveal a high concentration of publications in Experimental Sciences, Medicine and Pharmacology, and Engineering and Computing. At the opposite end of the spectrum, Arts and Humanities, Social Sciences, and Biology account for a smaller relative share of the total publications indexed on the Web of Science (WoS) platform.

Likewise, the report highlights the international reach of Spanish research: collaboration with foreign institutions grew significantly during the decade analyzed, rising from 48.2% at the start of the period to 55.3% in 2024.

The impact of SUE research is evident in the more than 15,397 million citations its publications received during the 2015–2024 period, representing an average of 23 citations per document. Scientific visibility has also been on the rise through publications in top-3 journals, with fields such as Medicine and Engineering standing out. These two disciplines, along with Biology, also lead in publications ranked in the first quartile (Q1).

Open-access scientific output within the university system experienced strong growth between 2015 and 2021, rising from 24,023 to 54,491 publications. This progress has been driven by open science policies, reaching annual growth rates of up to 22% in 2020. “In 2024, nearly seven out of every ten articles (69.31%) were published in open access, enabling society to benefit directly from research results,” note the report’s authors.

The publication of this set of indicators by the IUNE Observatory involves a high degree of technical complexity in the processing of information. “The most challenging aspect of preparing this report is data collection and standardization—something to which we devote a great deal of time and effort to ensure the reliability and credibility of the data we provide,” explains Antonio Eleazar.

The IUNE Observatory is supported by the Ministry of Science, Innovation, and Universities, as well as by a significant number of institutions such as the National Agency for Quality Assessment and Accreditation (ANECA), the Conference of Rectors of Spanish Universities (CRUE), the Center for Industrial Technological Development (CDTI), the Agency for Quality in the University System of Catalonia (AQU Catalunya), and the Basque University System Quality Agency (Unibasq).