America’s academic crown slips

The Lowell House dormitory at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. While Harvard still dominates, it has fallen to No. 3 on a list measuring academic output. Other American universities are falling farther behind their global peers. — Sophie Park/The New York Times

UNTIL recently, Harvard University could credibly claim to be the most productive research university on the planet, at least by one widely used measure of academic output. That era may be ending.

Harvard has slipped to third place in the latest Leiden Rankings, which focus on the volume and impact of scientific publications.