China has overtaken the United States in the volume and quality of scientific research

Japan's National Institute for Science and Technology Policy (NISTP) has published a report that analyzes the volume of scientific research coming out in different countries, reports The Guardian. He showed that the United States, which in the past was the leader in the quantity and quality of scientific papers, has given way to China. In 2018-2020, 23.4% of the world's scientific research was published in China. On the second and third places - the USA and Germany. If China publishes an average of 407,181 scientific articles per year, then the United States publishes 293,434.

Chinese scientists are also leaders in the quality of work: among the 1% of the most frequently cited articles in the world, their research accounts for 27.2%. The citation index is a well-known indicator in academic circles: the more often a study is cited by other authors, the more influential it is considered. In articles that cite more than 99% of other studies, as a rule, they belong to Nobel Prize winners, describing the most advanced scientific achievements. The US accounted for 24.9% of the top 1% most cited studies, with the UK in third place at 5.5%.

Chinese scientists own most of the research in the field of materials science, chemistry, engineering and mathematics. Americans are leaders in clinical medicine, basic life sciences and physics.

China and the US are also leaders in the amount of R&D financial spending in the corporate and university sectors.