25 June 2009
Data provided by Thomson Reuters National Science Indicators (ESI fields) database, 1981-2008 (table based on data from 2004-08 only)
The data above were extracted from the National Science Indicators database of Thomson Reuters. This database surveys only journal articles (original research reports and review articles) indexed by Thomson Reuters. Both articles tabulated and citation counts to those articles are for the period indicated.
Here, the ranking is by output, which is also expressed as world share in percentage terms. The number of indexed original research reports and review articles, for 2004-08, amounted to 4,865,868 items. For articles with multiple authors from different nations, each nation receives full, not fractional, publication credit. Noteworthy is China’s ranking in second place, resulting from a steep increase in output over the past decade.
Of interest, too, is the presence of Turkey and Poland at 19th and 20th positions; both now surpass in output Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, and Israel, to name a few.
The column at the far right provides a rough indicator of relative impact, meaning citations per paper for the nation in the sciences and social sciences as compared with the world average. Readers should view these figures, which are expressed as a percentage above or below the world average, with caution because individual nations show greater concentration of output in some fields than in others, and different fields, as shown in this space previously, exhibit the very different rates of citations per paper. To the degree a nation skews its output to fields with high rates of citation, such as molecular biology, it would score a higher number in this analysis.
Also, if a nation focused its output in lower impact fields, its score would be dampened.
On the other hand, because the numbers dealt with here are large and all 20 nations publish across all fields in the sciences and social sciences, there seemed some insight to be gained.
The US certainly stands out in relative impact, with a score 46 per cent higher than the world average. But that is not the highest among the 20: Switzerland and the Netherlands tally higher scores, at 63 per cent and 49 per cent more than the world average, respectively. Sweden, the UK and Germany follow according to this measure, at fourth, fifth and sixth places. Although China now ranks second in output, its relative citation score stands at 38 per cent below the world average. China’s output does, in fact, tilt more towards the physical sciences than the biological sciences, so this measure may be somewhat depressed. Still, China’s score, about that of Brazil, is higher than those of India, Russia and Turkey.
For more information on Thomson Reuters National Science Indicators database, see http://www.in-cites.com/rsg/nsi/index.html
Established powers must link up with 'Latin tiger':
Europe and the US could be sidelined if they fail to form research alliances with Brazil, writes Phil Baty
25 June 2009, By Phil Baty
Times Higher Education
"Intellectual marginalisation" could be the fate for the US and Europe if they fail to seize opportunities presented by the burgeoning research power of "Latin tigers" such as Brazil.
This is the warning from a study, The New Geography of Science, due out in July. Focusing on Brazil, it warns that established research powers remain "ignorant at their peril" of the growing strength of the Latin American giant, and will suffer economically if they fail to forge research alliances.
"The cost of not making a commitment to partnership with Brazil will be significant in terms of both intellectual and economic development," says the paper, by research analysis firm Evidence, part of Thomson Reuters.
"Europe has benefited financially from trading goods in the past. The new 'must have' is knowledge, and Europe and the US must be fully involved in its future trade, or become marginalised intellectually.
"Brazil's profile, improving excellence, size and interface with the rest of the international research base make it an essential partner in any future international research portfolio."
Brazil is key among a new pack of "Latin tigers" - including Mexico and Argentina - identified by Evidence.
Latin America's share of the world's scientific papers rose from 1.7 per cent in 1990 to 4.8 per cent in 2008, according to Thomson Reuters' Web of Knowledge.
In 1981, there were about 2,000 papers with an author address in Brazil. In 2008, there will be about 20,000 - a ten-fold increase, the report says.
"The most striking feature of the new geography of science is the sheer scale of investment and mobilisation of people behind innovation that is under way, driven by a high-tech vision of how to succeed in the global economy," the paper says.
Brazil has a population of 190 million and its spend on research and development in 2007 was US$13 billion, about 1 per cent of gross domestic product - well ahead of many European nations.
It produces more than 500,000 new graduates and about 10,000 new PhD researchers each year, Evidence says, representing a ten-fold increase in 20 years.
In the paper, the first of a new series of Global Research Reports from Evidence, the company warns: "Brazil is an increasingly important and competitive research economy. Its research workforce capacity and R&D investment are expanding rapidly, offering many new possibilities in a rapidly diversifying research portfolio."
With about 85,000 papers published in 2003-07, Brazil had about 1.83 per cent of the world's papers published in journals indexed by Thomson Reuters. In plant and animal sciences, it had 3.91 per cent of the world's papers, up from 2.62 per cent in 1998-2002. In agricultural sciences, it had 3.72 per cent, up from 3.07 per cent. Its share of microbiology papers was 2.86 per cent, and of environment/ecology papers, 2.63 per cent.
"Brazil clearly has real strength in life sciences, particularly related to natural resources," the paper says. "It really is the natural knowledge economy."
Brazil's science research paper output Field Share (% of world)
This is the warning from a study, The New Geography of Science, due out in July. Focusing on Brazil, it warns that established research powers remain "ignorant at their peril" of the growing strength of the Latin American giant, and will suffer economically if they fail to forge research alliances.
"The cost of not making a commitment to partnership with Brazil will be significant in terms of both intellectual and economic development," says the paper, by research analysis firm Evidence, part of Thomson Reuters.
"Europe has benefited financially from trading goods in the past. The new 'must have' is knowledge, and Europe and the US must be fully involved in its future trade, or become marginalised intellectually.
"Brazil's profile, improving excellence, size and interface with the rest of the international research base make it an essential partner in any future international research portfolio."
Brazil is key among a new pack of "Latin tigers" - including Mexico and Argentina - identified by Evidence.
Latin America's share of the world's scientific papers rose from 1.7 per cent in 1990 to 4.8 per cent in 2008, according to Thomson Reuters' Web of Knowledge.
In 1981, there were about 2,000 papers with an author address in Brazil. In 2008, there will be about 20,000 - a ten-fold increase, the report says.
"The most striking feature of the new geography of science is the sheer scale of investment and mobilisation of people behind innovation that is under way, driven by a high-tech vision of how to succeed in the global economy," the paper says.
Brazil has a population of 190 million and its spend on research and development in 2007 was US$13 billion, about 1 per cent of gross domestic product - well ahead of many European nations.
It produces more than 500,000 new graduates and about 10,000 new PhD researchers each year, Evidence says, representing a ten-fold increase in 20 years.
In the paper, the first of a new series of Global Research Reports from Evidence, the company warns: "Brazil is an increasingly important and competitive research economy. Its research workforce capacity and R&D investment are expanding rapidly, offering many new possibilities in a rapidly diversifying research portfolio."
With about 85,000 papers published in 2003-07, Brazil had about 1.83 per cent of the world's papers published in journals indexed by Thomson Reuters. In plant and animal sciences, it had 3.91 per cent of the world's papers, up from 2.62 per cent in 1998-2002. In agricultural sciences, it had 3.72 per cent, up from 3.07 per cent. Its share of microbiology papers was 2.86 per cent, and of environment/ecology papers, 2.63 per cent.
"Brazil clearly has real strength in life sciences, particularly related to natural resources," the paper says. "It really is the natural knowledge economy."
Brazil's science research paper output Field Share (% of world)
Volume (papers 2003-07)
Tropical medicine 18.40 1,433
Parasitology 12.34 1,635
Multidisciplinary agriculture 8.61 1,627
Oral surgery and medicine 8.19 2,203
Entomology 7.06 1,629
Dairy and animal sciences 6.49 1,617
Biology 6.43 1,999
Soil sciences 5.84 947
Veterinary sciences 5.79 3,421
Zoology 5.57 2,264
Tropical medicine 18.40 1,433
Parasitology 12.34 1,635
Multidisciplinary agriculture 8.61 1,627
Oral surgery and medicine 8.19 2,203
Entomology 7.06 1,629
Dairy and animal sciences 6.49 1,617
Biology 6.43 1,999
Soil sciences 5.84 947
Veterinary sciences 5.79 3,421
Zoology 5.57 2,264
In two areas, Brazil is identified as a key global player: tropical medicine (with 18.4 per cent of the world's research papers) and parasitology (12.34 per cent).
The report says that the US is Brazil's leading research collaborator, followed by the UK and France, but there has been rapid growth in Brazilian partnerships with Portugal, and regionally, with Argentina, Mexico and Chile.
Partners on Brazilian research papers included academics from Harvard University, Imperial College London and the University of Oxford - "a strong signal of the perceived rewards of working with Brazil", the report says.
http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/story.asp?sectioncode=26&storycode=407088&c=2
The report says that the US is Brazil's leading research collaborator, followed by the UK and France, but there has been rapid growth in Brazilian partnerships with Portugal, and regionally, with Argentina, Mexico and Chile.
Partners on Brazilian research papers included academics from Harvard University, Imperial College London and the University of Oxford - "a strong signal of the perceived rewards of working with Brazil", the report says.
http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/story.asp?sectioncode=26&storycode=407088&c=2
