Scientific impact. U.K. scientific papers rank first in citations.

The U.K. Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) released a citation analysis it commissioned from Elsevier, the scientific publishing company. The analysis, according to a BIS statement, found that the United Kingdom "attracts more citations per pound spent in overall research and development than any other country." A similar analysis, independently produced by Thomson Reuters, supports that basic theme: Scientific papers from Britain have the greatest impact in the world when the six most prolific nations are ranked by average number of citations.