Structure of the scientific research and science policy

Several scientometric indicators of 29 countries were analysed according to main scientific fields (Life, Natural, Applied, and Agricultural Sciences). The difference of the individual countries from the world average in the number of journal papers devoted to the main scientific fields was related to the GDP/capita index of the countries. Four types of research structure could be distinguished by a cluster analysis: countries preferring Life Sciences with higher or lower share in Natural Sciences, and countries preferring Natural Sciences with higher or lower share in Life Sciences. From the results it concludes, the development of a country (measured as GDP/capita) strongly influences but, it does not determine the structure of science by research fields in the country. The number of journal papers in a country classified as top cited (i.e. they belong to the 1% of papers most frequently cited in WoS ESI) was related to the total number of papers published by the country. The so obtained Top paper rate index (TPR) may represent the contribution of countries to the advance of science. Analysis of the TPR indicator of a country by research fields (i.e. Chemistry, Clinical Medicine, Space Science, etc.) may indicate strengths and weaknesses of the research on national level. Relating the Relative field citedness indicator (RW) of a country to the corresponding TPR value, conclusions may be drawn as to the homogeneity of impact of research within a country by fields.

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