Exploring the link between research and economic growth: an empirical study of China and USA

The influence of Chinese scholars on global research

The rise of China as a scientific research superpower has been frequently discussed in media and literature. However, past analyses are usually based on the geographical database and they ignore how the millions of emigrated Chinese students, who are now being considered the major research workforce in many countries, affect their academic outputs. Here we quantitatively analyze the contribution of Chinese scholars in physical science around the globe by their publications in a country's papers from 2010 to 2021 as well as their citations. Contrary to common perception, we find that increasing the number of Chinese scholars does not correlate with the net publication growth or decline in their host countries before the Chinese population exceeds a critical value. On the other hand, increasing Chinese authors in a paper improves its citations. The phenomena, though anomalous, are observed in many subfields of physics across the globe. Our analysis suggests that although Chinese scholars do not change the perceived publication capabilities of many countries but may have reshaped their research culture as well as workforce distributions. The results would be valuable for R&D, higher education, and immigration policymakers.

The relationship between the development level of American public libraries and the output of science and engineering publications

This paper explores the exact relationship between the development level of American public libraries and the output of science and engineering publications. We use the sample data from 1996 to 2019 to build a time series model, and analyze the long-term equilibrium, short-term correlation and Granger causality relationships between them with stationarity test, cointegration test, Granger causality test, and impulse response function. The results suggest that there are a long-term equilibrium relationship and a bidirectional Granger causality between them. The two interact and promote each other. The impact of the development level of American public libraries on the output of science and engineering publications can be seen in fewer time periods, while the impact of the output of science and engineering publications on the development level of American public libraries take more time periods to show.

The latent structure of global scientific development

Science is essential to innovation and economic prosperity. Although studies have shown that national scientific development is affected by geographic, historic and economic factors, it remains unclear whether there are universal structures and trajectories of national scientific development that can inform forecasting and policy-making. Here, by examining the scientific 'exports'-publications that are indexed in international databases-of countries, we reveal a three-cluster structure in the relatedness network of disciplines that underpin national scientific development and the organization of global science. Tracing the evolution of national research portfolios reveals that while nations are proceeding to more diverse research profiles individually, scientific production is increasingly specialized in global science over the past decades. By uncovering the underlying structure of scientific development and connecting it with economic development, our results may offer a new perspective on the evolution of global science.

Facts and Figures on Materials Science and Nanotechnology Progress and Investment

As the twenty-first century unfolds, nanotechnology is no longer just a buzzword in the field of materials science, but rather a tangible reality. This is evident from the surging number of commercial nanoproducts and their corresponding revenue generated in different industry sectors. However, it is important to recognize that sustainable growth of nanotechnology is heavily dependent on government funding and relevant national incentive programs. Consequently, proper analyses on publicly available nanotechnology data sets comprising information on the past two decades can be illuminating, facilitate development, and amend previous strategies as we move forward. Along these lines, classical statistics and machine learning (ML) allow processing large data sets to scrutinize patterns in materials science and nanotechnology research. Herein, we provide an analysis on nanotechnology progress and investment from an unbiased, computational vantage point and using orthogonal approaches. Our data reveal both well-established and surprising correlations in the nanotechnology field and its actors, including the interplay between the number of research institutes-industry, publications-patents, collaborative research, and top contributors to nanoproducts. Overall, data suggest that, supported by incentive programs set out by stakeholders (researchers, funding agencies, policy makers, and industry), nanotechnology could experience an exponential growth and become a centerpiece for economical welfare. Indeed, the recent success of COVID-19 vaccines is also likely to boost public trust in nanotechnology and its global impact over the coming years.

Measuring the incidence of social factors on scientific research: A socio-scientometrics analysis of strategic countries

En la literatura científica algunos estudios han examinado el impacto positivo que tiene la investigación en la sociedad. Sin embargo, este trabajo analiza cómo los factores sociales pueden influir en los resultados científicos. La muestra de investigación estudia a México y sus socios estratégicos en ciencia y tecnología. Los resultados se dividen en tres partes, la primera muestra la relación entre población, inversión pública en educación superior, gasto interno bruto en I+D (GERD) (como porcentaje del Producto Interno Bruto (PIB)), número de investigadores y los resultados científicos (producción científica y citas recibidas). La segunda parte se centra en la relación entre la movilidad del investigador (sedentario o migratorio (flujos de entrada y salida, estancias transitorias)) y la producción en colaboración. La tercera parte analiza si las preferencias en investigación de los países tienen una repercusión en el conjunto total de la producción científica. Este estudio facilita una mejor comprensión de las contribuciones sociales al desarrollo científico y socioeconómico de los países y es útil para que los gobiernos y los responsables políticos tengan en cuenta la importancia de estas variables sociales y, como resultado, conducir a los países hacia la excelencia en ciencia.