A new report highlights the impact of major political events such as wars and revolutions on countries' scientific output. The study is based on an analysis of the 'Web of Science' database of scientific publications over the past 30 years. It was written by Science-Metrix, a company specializing in the evaluation of research and development (R&D) support systems.
'When we started this research, we expected to find Asian countries growing rapidly,' commented Science-Metrix President and report author Eric Archambault. 'But we were both awed and presently surprised. Asia is catching up even more rapidly than previously thought, Europe is holding its position more than most would expect, and the Middle East is a region to watch.'
According to the study, Europe still accounts for the greatest share (around a third) of the world's scientific output. 'In contrast to a widely held belief that we are witnessing a simple shift from the West to the East, data on scientific production suggests that European attitudes towards collaboration are bearing fruit and that the old continent is holding its own while Northern American countries are losing their strategic, central place in the science system,' the report reads.
Within Europe, the most significant event during the period studied was the fall of the Berlin Wall and the breakup of the Soviet Union. The report reveals that the scientific output of almost all former Soviet republics fell by a quarter in the decade after the USSR's collapse. The two exceptions to this trend were Estonia and Lithuania, which experienced rates of growth faster than the world average.
Elsewhere in eastern Europe, the report notes that 'other Warsaw Pact members began to increase their contributions to world science almost immediately after the fall of the Iron Curtain'. In general, countries bordering western Europe recovered fastest.
The authors suggest: 'The entry of these countries in the European Union, or the accession process, may have played an important role in the development of these countries' scientific capability.'
They add: 'Having access to a large group of collaborators such as the EU not only helps to bolster economic performance but also increases scientific impact and the speed of knowledge diffusion in a country.'
Elsewhere, the report charts the changes in scientific output in the Middle East. 'Overall, growth in the Middle East has been rapid (nearly four times faster than at world level), with Iran and Turkey leading the pack,' the report reads. However, Iraqi science is only now starting to shown signs of recovery from the conflicts in the country. Output is also at a standstill in Bahrain, Egypt and Kuwait.
In Asia, scientific output is rising rapidly. It is doing this not by 'leapfrogging' development stages but by compressing the advances made in western countries over the past 150 years. In 2009, Asia's output surpassed that of North America, and China's output alone is expected to reach US levels by 2015.
'These data provide a lot of food for thought,' said Dr Archambault. 'Science is growing in importance, but we don't know much about how politics affects science and not even how science affects policy.'
'When we started this research, we expected to find Asian countries growing rapidly,' commented Science-Metrix President and report author Eric Archambault. 'But we were both awed and presently surprised. Asia is catching up even more rapidly than previously thought, Europe is holding its position more than most would expect, and the Middle East is a region to watch.'
According to the study, Europe still accounts for the greatest share (around a third) of the world's scientific output. 'In contrast to a widely held belief that we are witnessing a simple shift from the West to the East, data on scientific production suggests that European attitudes towards collaboration are bearing fruit and that the old continent is holding its own while Northern American countries are losing their strategic, central place in the science system,' the report reads.
Within Europe, the most significant event during the period studied was the fall of the Berlin Wall and the breakup of the Soviet Union. The report reveals that the scientific output of almost all former Soviet republics fell by a quarter in the decade after the USSR's collapse. The two exceptions to this trend were Estonia and Lithuania, which experienced rates of growth faster than the world average.
Elsewhere in eastern Europe, the report notes that 'other Warsaw Pact members began to increase their contributions to world science almost immediately after the fall of the Iron Curtain'. In general, countries bordering western Europe recovered fastest.
The authors suggest: 'The entry of these countries in the European Union, or the accession process, may have played an important role in the development of these countries' scientific capability.'
They add: 'Having access to a large group of collaborators such as the EU not only helps to bolster economic performance but also increases scientific impact and the speed of knowledge diffusion in a country.'
Elsewhere, the report charts the changes in scientific output in the Middle East. 'Overall, growth in the Middle East has been rapid (nearly four times faster than at world level), with Iran and Turkey leading the pack,' the report reads. However, Iraqi science is only now starting to shown signs of recovery from the conflicts in the country. Output is also at a standstill in Bahrain, Egypt and Kuwait.
In Asia, scientific output is rising rapidly. It is doing this not by 'leapfrogging' development stages but by compressing the advances made in western countries over the past 150 years. In 2009, Asia's output surpassed that of North America, and China's output alone is expected to reach US levels by 2015.
'These data provide a lot of food for thought,' said Dr Archambault. 'Science is growing in importance, but we don't know much about how politics affects science and not even how science affects policy.'
This Discussion Paper examines the relationship between geopolitical factors and scientific activity based on publication data from a 30-year period (1980 to 2009). Using bibliometric methods, the analysis concentrates on large–scale, secular movements in the geopolitics of knowledge creation. First, the evolution of the scientific outputs of the countries of the former USSR and Eastern Bloc is examined followed by that of the Middle East. The paper then looks at how the global map of science has been reshaped in Asia’s favor.
Most of the Warsaw Pact countries’ scientific production was majorly impacted one way or another by the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. Whereas most of the republics that used to constitute the USSR saw their scientific production falter, many satellite countries, such as Poland, immediately increased their contributions to world science, as did the ex-Soviet republic Lithuania and Estonia.
Overall, growth in the Middle East has been rapid (nearly four times faster than at the world level), with Iran and Turkey leading the pack. In particular, Iran embarked on one of the fastest build-up of scientific capabilities the world witnessed during the last two decades, and the evidence on growth and emphasis on specific, strategic, subfields suggests that this may be the result of Iran’s controversial nuclear technology development program.
On a global scale, several “hot zones” of scientific production have emerged, by far the most notable of these being Asia. Over the last 30 years, Asia’s share of world scientific output grew by 155% and, as of 2009, surpassed that of Northern America. China, in particular, has shown spectacular progress—its scientific output grew more than five times faster than that of the US, and it is set to meet the US level of output in 2015 (and surpass the US in the natural sciences in 2010). While, Northern America’s rate of growth has been considerably slower than that at the world level, Europe has managed to maintain its hold of the greatest share—over one-third—of the world scientific output.
[PDF] Web link to this Paper: http://www.science-metrix.com/30years-Paper.pdf
[HTML] Web link to Interactive Trend Explorer: http://www.science-metrix.com/30years-Data.htm
For more information and to download the report, please visit:
Science-Metrix:
http://www.science-metrix.com/
Science-Metrix:
http://www.science-metrix.com/
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