2014/04/02 by Loet Leydesdorff, Caroline S. Wagner, Leydesdorff, Loet +3
Decision Sciences · #scientometrics and bibliometrics research
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.1404.0462
The percentages of shares of world publications of the European Union and its\nmember states, China, and the United States have been represented differently\nas a result of using different databases. An analytical variant of the\nWeb-of-Science (of Thomson Reuters) enables us to study the dynamics in the\nworld publication system in terms of the field-normalized top-1% and top-10%\nmost-frequently-cited publications. Comparing the EU28, USA, and China at the\nglobal level shows a top-level dynamics that is different from the analysis in\nterms of shares of publications: the United States remains far more productive\nin the top-1% of all papers; China drops out of the competition for elite\nstatus; and the EU28 increased its share among the top-cited papers from\n2000-2010. Some of the EU28 member states overtook the U.S. during this decade,\nbut a clear divide remains between EU15 (Western Europe) and the Accession\nCountries. Network analysis shows that internationally co-authored top-1%\npublications perform far above expectation and also above top-10% ones. In\n2005, China was embedded in this top-layer of internationally co-authored\npublications. These publications often involve more than a single European\nnation.\n