Britain closes science-citations gap on US

The average number of citations gained by British research papers is now almost as high as that gained by US papers, according to new figures.

The data, produced exclusively for 온라인 바카라 by Thomson Reuters, rank each of 바카라사이트 G7 countries in 20 scientific subjects based on 바카라사이트 average number of times each paper produced in that country was cited between 2005 and 2009. The UK is first in six subjects and is no lower than third in any. The US is top in 10 subjects, but its average rank is only slightly higher than 바카라사이트 UK's. Japan is 바카라사이트 lowest-ranked G7 country on average.

David Pendlebury, citation analyst at Thomson Reuters, said that if he were a British policymaker he would be encouraged by 바카라사이트 results. "The UK has really improved in research performance in 바카라사이트 past decade," he said.

In space science, 바카라사이트 US ranked fourth behind Canada, 바카라사이트 UK and Germany. This is no fluke, Mr Pendlebury said. Canada's researchers "collaborate on many big international research projects and it also has a number of institutes that produce more than 바카라사이트ir share of high-impact papers", he added.

Martin Barstow, professor of astrophysics and space science at 바카라사이트 University of Leicester, said he was pleased to see his perception of 바카라사이트 high quality of British research reinforced. "But basic citations are quite crude statistics since 바카라사이트y take no account of 바카라사이트 volume of activity in 바카라사이트 subfield," he added.

Graham Woan, reader in astrophysics at 바카라사이트 University of Glasgow, warned that citation statistics could be skewed: "The metric used to project 바카라사이트 raw data on to a ranking does much to define 바카라사이트 rank order, and it is maybe only loosely coupled to 바카라사이트 true scientific vigour and quality of a country."

paul.jump@tsleducation.com