China surpasses the U.S. in scientific research volume and quality, study claims
China has overcome the US to take the top spot globally for "high impact" studies and volume of scientific research, according to a report published by Japan's National Institute of Science and Technology Policy (NISTP).
China currently publishes the most scholarly papers each year, followed by the US and Germany, reported The Guardian.
"China is one of the top countries in the world in terms of both the quantity and quality of scientific papers," Shinichi Kuroki of the Japan Science and Technology Agency told Nikkei Asia.
"In order to become the true global leader, it will need to continue producing internationally recognized research."
The analysis indicated that China produced an average of 407,181 scientific publications annually, overtaking the US's 293,434 journal articles and making up 23.4 percent of global research production.
NISTP report also found that Chinese research comprised 27.2 percent of the world's top one percent of most frequently cited papers.
Academia frequently uses the number of citations a research publication receives. The "citation impact" of a study increases with the number of times it is referenced in future articles by other researchers.
The estimates were derived from data gathered by the analytics company Clarivate and were based on yearly averages between 2018 and 2020.
US research made up 24.9 percent of the top one percent of most frequently referenced research studies, with UK research coming in third at 5.5 percent.
Meanwhile, Materials science, chemistry, engineering, and mathematics research were heavily concentrated in China.
US researchers, however, were more active in the fields of physics, fundamental life sciences, and clinical medicine.
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