China Has Almost Caught Up with the U.S. in Key Scientific Research 0 9

The assessment considered the most frequent citation of scientific works by authors from various countries. The analysis covers publications from 2019 to 2024.

It turned out that the U.S. ranks first in five areas of research — Earth sciences, clinical medicine, life sciences, astronomy and astrophysics, as well as mathematics — and second in the other six areas, where China leads. Overall, fundamental research activity in the U.S. remains the most active in the world. However, the gap with China is narrowing.

China, in turn, has become a leader in science in the fields of agriculture, plant and animal husbandry, ecology and environmental sciences, chemistry and materials science, physics, computer science, as well as economics, psychology, and other social sciences. In the fields of research where China is relatively weak, such as clinical medicine, astronomy, and astrophysics, it ranks fourth and fifth respectively, but shows significant progress compared to the past.

In terms of overall indicators, researchers placed the science of the United Kingdom and Germany in second place, and Canada in fifth. There is no data on other countries in open sources. "In recent decades, we have witnessed tremendous progress that China has achieved and continues to achieve in research and development," said a representative of Clarivate. "It is not surprising that China is already at the forefront of many research directions."

The purpose of the report is to identify areas that may require additional efforts. On the scientific front, one of the countries may have a weakened or undervalued area. The report helps to identify such places so that responsible organizations can direct more resources and efforts there. Additionally, the fresh analysis shows the growing influence of artificial intelligence on scientific research, emphasizing that it will not be possible to advance further without AI, at least if one tries to keep pace with the rest of the world.