US leading world science

The stark disparity in world scientific output has serious ramifications, UK author says

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LONDON—In terms of journal publications and citations, the United States remains the run-away leader in a scientific world that is divided into haves and have-nots, a new analysis from Britain's top government scientist showed on Wednesday (July 14).

The United Kingdom's chief scientific advisor, David A. King, used Thomson ISI data to show that the US produced 1.265 million scientific and engineering publications between 1997 and 2001, more than three times the amount managed by the United Kingdom, which takes second place with 342,000.

On the other hand, the 15 countries of the European Union, as it stood before expansion in May this year, now publish more papers combined than the United States "and are not far behind on citations," King wrote in Nature.

Overall, the European Union produced 37.12% of the total output, the United States 34.86%, the United Kingdom 9.43%, Germany 8.76%, and Japan 7.54%.

The United States ...

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  • Stephen Pincock

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