A US academic claims she was gang-raped by an armed mob in Papua New Guinea.

The academic was attacked while conducting research on birds and the impact of climate change in the country.

Police have confirmed the attack took place Friday, in the remote Karkar Island in Madang province.

"We have taken statements but no arrests have been made yet," a police spokesman said.

"This is a very serious incident."

The 32-year-old victim told police she was bushwalking with her husband and a guide when nine men attacked them and stripped them naked then tied them up.

The men were carrying rifles and knives.

The group then bound the woman's hands, cut off her hair to the scalp and gang-raped her for about 20 minutes before running away after something startled them.

The victim says the guide broke free of the ropes and the trio then ran to the nearest village several hours away.

The couple returned to the PNG capital, Port Moresby, where they notified police.

The victim was on her fifth research trip to the country since 2010.

She says she hopes her story can help make a change for PNG women dealing with violence.

"This story should not come out because I am white," she said.

"It should come out in hopes that it empowers Papua New Guinean women to stand up and say 'no more violence against women' in this country."

This latest incident comes just a week after an Australian man was killed and a woman sexually assaulted by a group of men in Mt Hagen in the Western Highlands province.

AFP