The Race for World Leadership of Science and Technology: Status and Forecasts R. D. Shelton and P. Foland WTEC Baltimore, Maryland, USA Word version in Proceedings of the 12 th International Conference On Scientometrics and Informetrics, pp Rio de Janeiro, July 14-17, Both posted at itri2.org/Rpaper/

Outline  Purposes  Input Indicators (Table 1 in paper)  Output Indicators (Table 2)  Current National Positions with Extrapolation Forecasts  Focus on Forecasting Scientific Paper Shares  Conclusions

Purposes 1.Provide a set of indicators to evaluate current national leadership of S&T (2005 data mostly). 2.Provide forecasts based on recent trends to predict which country will lead in the near future. 3.Provide detailed forecasts of numbers of scientific publications in SCI, with confirmation from other databases.

Model of a National Scientific Enterprise Indicators measure inputs and outputs Multiple linear regression can identify which inputs are most important “The Black Box” Resources In S&T Outputs

S&T Input Indicators (2005) IndicatorU.S.EU27PRCUnits 1. Population297 (1.0%)492 (0.4%)1308 (0.6%)Millions 2. Researchers1388 (1.0%)1300 (3.1%)1119 (10.6%)Thousands 3. GDP12376 (5.5%)13031(4.4%)5333 (12.9%)Billions, PPP, current dollars 4. GERD324 (1.7%)227 (2.2%)71 (18.9%)Billions, PPP, current dollars, (percentage in constant dollars) 5. GERD Share36 (-2.0%)26 (-1.5%)7.8 (14.7%)Percent of OECD Group Average annual percentage rates of change in parentheses. Red emphasizes very rapid growth. Data from OECD (2008/1). Number of researchers and GERD are key INPUTS, but can drive outputs, like publications. GERD is much more significant than researchers.

Population (thousands)

Researchers OECD This pattern will be seen in several indicators: the US and EU curves are close together, with China below, but gaining quickly.

GDP, Constant Year 2000 $, PPP This format de-emphasizes China’s rapid gain compared to the other two. Its GDP has trebled over this interval.

GERD, Constant Year 2000$, PPP (R&D Investments)

GERD SHARE of OECD Group China’s gain comes at the expense of the other two. This is a key driver for scientific publication share, since both are zero-sum. “World” share of R&D investment

GERD Real Increases Over the Previous Year China’s spectacular increases in R&D investments make its rapid gains in output indicators more understandable.

GERD Share With Forecasts Based on 5-year Average This is based on a linear extrapolation of GERD, then shares of all OECD countries are constrained to add to 100%.

S&T Output Indicators (2005) IndicatorUSEU27ChinaSource 1. Quantity of Papers (SCI)205,320 (1.5%)234,868 (1.3%)41,596 (17.0%) NSB, Relative Impacts1.47 (0.6%)1.09 (1.1%)0.63 (2.3%) ISI, Triadic Patents15,774 (1.2%)14,571 (0.9%)356(35.1%) OECD, S&E Ph.D. Production26,275 (1.6%)45,398 (2%)14,858 (17.3%) NSB, 2008 Moguerou, Nobel Prizes ( ) Nobel, 2008, by birth 6. High-Tech Exports, World Market Share in Percent19 (-3%)17 (0%)15 (30%) EC, Trade Balance (Goods in Billion Euros, current) (5%)- 127 (9%)82 (45%) Eurostat, 2009 Average annual percentage rates of change in parentheses. Red emphasizes rapid growth.

SCI Publications (Fractional Count) From NSF S&EI NSF thinks U.S. plateau has ended; I disagree.

S&E Doctoral Degrees EU = Germany and UK only; EU27 curve would be far above the US one.

Increase of S&E Doctoral Degrees Over the Previous Year

Triadic Patent Share

PRC Triadic Patent Share Growing fast from a very small base.

Hi-Tech Exports (Market Share) EC (2007) EU-27 doesn’t include BG and RO

Summary of National Positions  Who’s ahead depends on indicators chosen  In 2005 data the leader was: US: GERD, researchers, impacts, patents, hi- tech exports EU: papers in SCI, S&E PhDs, Nobels PRC: trade balance  But linear forecasts show the PRC will gain: Lead hi-tech exports and researchers by 2010 Pass EU in GERD by 2015 (US will still lead) Pass US in S&E PhDs by 2015 (EU will still lead) Lead in papers in SCI by 2017 (more later) 2005 snapshot shows US leading, as the gurus have stated, BUT…

Focus on Scientific Papers  While growing fast in the Science Citation Index (SCI), China is far behind, however the Shelton Model forecasts that it will soon pass the US and EU to lead the world  Some confirmation comes from other databases, where China is already a contender: Inspec Scopus Compendix

More Detailed Model of Publication System (Inside the Black Box) $ Inputs US EU AT ROW Papers Published National Research Systems -- Fairly Independent Highly Interdependent Paper Selection Journal Editors g1g1 p1p1 G (total)P (total) w i = g i /G GERD share m i = p i /P Paper share

m i is share of papers published (fractional basis) w i is the share of GERD for the OECD Group k i is a "constant" of proportionality; it differs by country. k i is also the efficiency of country i in producing papers per $1 million in GERD, normalized by the OECD average efficiency. For data in a single year the equation is an identity, but it is most useful over a range of years when k i is approximately constant A Simple Model for Country i m i = k i w i

K i Relative Efficiency US EU27 PRC Since 1998, k i Has Been Fairly Constant for THESE Countries EU is 40% more efficient than average. US and PRC are not so different, at about 20% below average.

Paper Share in Science Citation Index Forecast Based on Shelton Model This is based on R&D investments ( the GERD share driver), not an linear forecast of publications. The PRC is likely to soon lead the world in scientific publications.

Scientific Publications INSPEC China is already taking the lead in this physical science database.

Scientific Publications SCOPUS China has already passed the EU in this database.

Scientific Publications COMPENDEX China is already taking the lead in this physical science database.

Conclusions  2005 indicators show the US and EU about even, with China well below  However, China is growing rapidly  Linear forecasts predict that China will soon pass the US and EU in key indicators  Perhaps most significant to scientometricians is the forecast that they will soon lead the world in the SCI  I predict that, if present trends continue, the PRC will lead the world in S&T by 2017.

Appendix: Extra Slides More info at

Demonstration that the end of U.S. plateau in publications is an artifact of the increases in the total SCI database

Linear Extrapolation Details Some indicators are zero sum--GERD share, for example. Results need to be constrained to add to 100%.