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posted by: Kristina Chew 21 hours ago


China will soon surpass the US as the country that publishes the most scientific papers -- meaning that, some say, China is well on its way to leaving the US, the UK, Germany, Japan and many other countries in the dust when it comes to scientific endeavors and research. According to the Guardian, China is currently only second to the US now and will be the dominant publisher of scientific papers by 2013, a report by the Royal Society says. Furthermore, the "traditional superpowers of science" are being challenged more and more by those from the "world's emerging economies," including Iran, Tunisia and Turkey, as well as South Korea and India.

The Royal Society counted papers that had abstracts in English and that had appeared in peer-reviewed journals. The report found that, from 1993-2003 and 2004-2008,

the US dominated the world's science, but its share of publications dropped from 26% to 21%. China's share rose from 4.4% to 10.2%. The UK's share declined from 7.1% to 6.5% of the world's papers.

The BBC also notes China's rise in the area of science publishing:

In 1996, the first year of the analysis, the US published 292,513 papers - more than 10 times China's 25,474.

By 2008, the US total had increased very slightly to 316,317 while China's had surged more than seven-fold to 184,080.

Previous estimates for the rate of expansion of Chinese science had suggested that China might overtake the US sometime after 2020.

But this study shows that China, after displacing the UK as the world's second leading producer of research, could go on to overtake America in as little as two years' time.

China, says the BBC, has increased spending on science by 10% since 1999 and now spends over $100 billion on science. In 2006, China's schools graduated as many as 1.5 million science and engineering students.

Says Chris Llewellyn Smith, director of energy research at Oxford University and chair of the Royal Society's study:

"The scientific world is changing and new players are fast appearing. Beyond the emergence of China, we see the rise of South-East Asian, Middle Eastern, North African and other nations...

"The increase in scientific research and collaboration, which can help us to find solutions to the global challenges we now face, is very welcome. However, no historically dominant nation can afford to rest on its laurels if it wants to retain the competitive economic advantage that being a scientific leader brings."


Indeed, Llewellyn Smith speaks positively about the globalization of science:
Global issues, such as climate change, potential pandemics, bio-diversity, and food, water and energy security, need global approaches. These challenges are interdependent and interrelated, with complicated dynamics that are often overlooked by policies and programmes put in place to address them.

"Science has a very important role in addressing global challenges and collaboration is necessary so that everybody can agree on global solutions. The more countries are involved in science, the more innovations we will have and the better off we will be."

The Royal Society's report should also be a wake-up call to the US about the need to keep supporting and strengthening science education in this country. Sure, we need to keep apace with other countries. Most of all we need to keep supporting innovation and new technologies by fostering knowledge and a love of science in today's children, who will be tomorrow's scientists.


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