IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/scient/v124y2020i2d10.1007_s11192-020-03525-2.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Comparing like with like: China ranks first in SCI-indexed research articles since 2018

Author

Listed:
  • Junwen Zhu

    (East China Normal University)

  • Weishu Liu

    (Zhejiang University of Finance and Economics)

Abstract

China’s rising in scientific research output is impressive. The academic community is curious about the time when the cross-over in the number of annual scientific publication production between China and the USA can happen. By using Web of Science Core Collection’s Science Citation Index Expanded database, this study finds that China still ranks the second in the production of SCI-indexed publications in 2019 but may leapfrog the USA to be the first in 2020 or 2021, if all document types are considered. Comparatively, China has already overtaken the USA and been the largest SCI-indexed original research article producer since 2018. However, China still lags behind the USA regarding the number of review paper production. In general, quantitative advantage does not equal quality or impact advantage. We think that the USA will continue to be the global scientific leader for a long time.

Suggested Citation

  • Junwen Zhu & Weishu Liu, 2020. "Comparing like with like: China ranks first in SCI-indexed research articles since 2018," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 124(2), pages 1691-1700, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:scient:v:124:y:2020:i:2:d:10.1007_s11192-020-03525-2
    DOI: 10.1007/s11192-020-03525-2
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s11192-020-03525-2
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s11192-020-03525-2?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Weishu Liu, 2019. "The data source of this study is Web of Science Core Collection? Not enough," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 121(3), pages 1815-1824, December.
    2. Leydesdorff, Loet & Wagner, Caroline S. & Bornmann, Lutz, 2014. "The European Union, China, and the United States in the top-1% and top-10% layers of most-frequently cited publications: Competition and collaborations," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 8(3), pages 606-617.
    3. Lin Zhang & Ronald Rousseau & Wolfgang Glänzel, 2011. "Document-type country profiles," Journal of the Association for Information Science & Technology, Association for Information Science & Technology, vol. 62(7), pages 1403-1411, July.
    4. Loet Leydesdorff & Caroline Wagner, 2009. "Is the United States losing ground in science? A global perspective on the world science system," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 78(1), pages 23-36, January.
    5. Fei Shu & Charles‐Antoine Julien & Vincent Larivière, 2019. "Does the web of science accurately represent chinese scientific performance?," Journal of the Association for Information Science & Technology, Association for Information Science & Technology, vol. 70(10), pages 1138-1152, October.
    6. Weishu Liu & Li Tang & Mengdi Gu & Guangyuan Hu, 2015. "Feature report on China: a bibliometric analysis of China-related articles," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 102(1), pages 503-517, January.
    7. A. Basu & P. Foland & G. Holdridge & R. D. Shelton, 2018. "China’s rising leadership in science and technology: quantitative and qualitative indicators," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 117(1), pages 249-269, October.
    8. Junwen Zhu & Weishu Liu, 2020. "A tale of two databases: the use of Web of Science and Scopus in academic papers," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 123(1), pages 321-335, April.
    9. Lin Zhang & Ronald Rousseau & Wolfgang Glänzel, 2011. "Document‐type country profiles," Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, Association for Information Science & Technology, vol. 62(7), pages 1403-1411, July.
    10. Liu, Weishu & Hu, Guangyuan & Tang, Li, 2018. "Missing author address information in Web of Science—An explorative study," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 12(3), pages 985-997.
    11. Zhou, Ping & Leydesdorff, Loet, 2006. "The emergence of China as a leading nation in science," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 35(1), pages 83-104, February.
    12. Li Tang, 2019. "Five ways China must cultivate research integrity," Nature, Nature, vol. 575(7784), pages 589-591, November.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Mila Cascajares & Alfredo Alcayde & Esther Salmerón-Manzano & Francisco Manzano-Agugliaro, 2021. "The Bibliometric Literature on Scopus and WoS: The Medicine and Environmental Sciences Categories as Case of Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(11), pages 1-31, May.
    2. Hu, Guangyuan & Ni, Rong & Tang, Li, 2022. "Do international nonstop flights foster influential research? Evidence from Sino-US scientific collaboration," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 16(4).
    3. Monica Aureliana Petcu & Liliana Ionescu-Feleaga & Bogdan-Ștefan Ionescu & Dumitru-Florin Moise, 2023. "A Decade for the Mathematics : Bibliometric Analysis of Mathematical Modeling in Economics, Ecology, and Environment," Mathematics, MDPI, vol. 11(2), pages 1-30, January.
    4. Liyue Chen & Jielan Ding & Vincent Larivière, 2022. "Measuring the citation context of national self‐references," Journal of the Association for Information Science & Technology, Association for Information Science & Technology, vol. 73(5), pages 671-686, May.
    5. Beatriz Martín-del-Río & Marie-Carmen Neipp & Adrián García-Selva & Angel Solanes-Puchol, 2021. "Positive Organizational Psychology: A Bibliometric Review and Science Mapping Analysis," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(10), pages 1-17, May.
    6. Weishu Liu & Meiting Huang & Haifeng Wang, 2021. "Same journal but different numbers of published records indexed in Scopus and Web of Science Core Collection: causes, consequences, and solutions," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 126(5), pages 4541-4550, May.
    7. Wenting Yang & Jiantong Zhang & Ruolin Ma, 2020. "The Prediction of Infectious Diseases: A Bibliometric Analysis," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(17), pages 1-19, August.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Weishu Liu & Meiting Huang & Haifeng Wang, 2021. "Same journal but different numbers of published records indexed in Scopus and Web of Science Core Collection: causes, consequences, and solutions," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 126(5), pages 4541-4550, May.
    2. Yves Gingras & Mahdi Khelfaoui, 2018. "Assessing the effect of the United States’ “citation advantage” on other countries’ scientific impact as measured in the Web of Science (WoS) database," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 114(2), pages 517-532, February.
    3. Hui Li & Weishu Liu, 2020. "Same same but different: self-citations identified through Scopus and Web of Science Core Collection," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 124(3), pages 2723-2732, September.
    4. Zhenyue Zhao & Xuelian Pan & Weina Hua, 2021. "Comparative analysis of the research productivity, publication quality, and collaboration patterns of top ranked library and information science schools in China and the United States," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 126(2), pages 931-950, February.
    5. Guangyuan Hu & Lei Wang & Rong Ni & Weishu Liu, 2020. "Which h-index? An exploration within the Web of Science," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 123(3), pages 1225-1233, June.
    6. Junwen Zhu & Weishu Liu, 2020. "A tale of two databases: the use of Web of Science and Scopus in academic papers," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 123(1), pages 321-335, April.
    7. Xiaoling Huang & Lei Wang & Weishu Liu, 2023. "Identification of national research output using Scopus/Web of Science Core Collection: a revisit and further investigation," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 128(4), pages 2337-2347, April.
    8. Raminta Pranckutė, 2021. "Web of Science (WoS) and Scopus: The Titans of Bibliographic Information in Today’s Academic World," Publications, MDPI, vol. 9(1), pages 1-59, March.
    9. Thomas Heinze & Arlette Jappe & David Pithan, 2019. "From North American hegemony to global competition for scientific leadership? Insights from the Nobel population," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 14(4), pages 1-14, April.
    10. Qingnan Xie & Richard B. Freeman, 2019. "Bigger Than You Thought: China's Contribution to Scientific Publications and Its Impact on the Global Economy," China & World Economy, Institute of World Economics and Politics, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, vol. 27(1), pages 1-27, January.
    11. Liu, Weishu, 2021. "Caveats for the use of Web of Science Core Collection in old literature retrieval and historical bibliometric analysis," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 172(C).
    12. Weishu Liu, 2021. "A matter of time: publication dates in Web of Science Core Collection," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 126(1), pages 849-857, January.
    13. Shuangqing Sheng & Wei Song & Hua Lian & Lei Ning, 2022. "Review of Urban Land Management Based on Bibliometrics," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(11), pages 1-25, November.
    14. Gregory J Hather & Winston Haynes & Roger Higdon & Natali Kolker & Elizabeth A Stewart & Peter Arzberger & Patrick Chain & Dawn Field & B Robert Franza & Biaoyang Lin & Folker Meyer & Vural Ozdemir & , 2010. "The United States of America and Scientific Research," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 5(8), pages 1-9, August.
    15. Chan-Yuan Wong, 2019. "A century of scientific publication: towards a theorization of growth behavior and research-orientation," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 119(1), pages 357-377, April.
    16. Martin Grančay & Tomáš Dudáš & Ladislav Mura, 2022. "Revealed comparative advantages in academic publishing of “old” and “new” European Union Member States 1998–2018," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 127(3), pages 1247-1271, March.
    17. Chaocheng He & Jiang Wu & Qingpeng Zhang, 2021. "Characterizing research leadership on geographically weighted collaboration network," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 126(5), pages 4005-4037, May.
    18. Nobuyuki Shirakawa & Takao Furukawa & Minoru Nomura & Kumi Okuwada, 2012. "Global competition and technological transition in electrical, electronic, information and communication engineering: quantitative analysis of periodicals and conference proceedings of the IEEE," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 91(3), pages 895-910, June.
    19. Gricelda Herrera-Franco & Néstor Montalván-Burbano & Carlos Mora-Frank & Lady Bravo-Montero, 2021. "Scientific Research in Ecuador: A Bibliometric Analysis," Publications, MDPI, vol. 9(4), pages 1-34, December.
    20. Raf Vanderstraeten & Frédéric Vandermoere, 2021. "Inequalities in the growth of Web of Science," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 126(10), pages 8635-8651, October.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:spr:scient:v:124:y:2020:i:2:d:10.1007_s11192-020-03525-2. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.