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The Scientific Competitiveness of Nations
Giulio Cimini1, Andrea Gabrielli2, Francesco Sylos Labini3
1Istituto dei Sistemi Complessi (ISC-CNR) UoS Università "Sapienza", Rome, Italy.
Plos One
|December 11, 2014
Summary
Nations with strong research systems diversify across scientific domains, not specialize. This scientific diversification is key to technological competitiveness and national scientific fitness, especially in sophisticated societal needs.
Area of Science:
- Scientific research evaluation
- National innovation systems
- Bibliometrics
Background:
- Understanding the structure and efficiency of national research systems is crucial for global scientific competitiveness.
- Citation data provides a quantitative basis for analyzing national research output and impact.
Purpose of the Study:
- To determine the structure and efficiency of national research systems using citation data.
- To characterize the scientific fitness of nations and the complexity of scientific domains.
- To quantitatively assess the advantage of scientific diversification.
Main Methods:
- Utilized citation data of scientific articles produced by individual nations across various scientific domains.
- Employed a non-linear iterative algorithm to assess scientific fitness and domain complexity.
- Analyzed the correlation between research system diversification and national competitiveness.
Main Results:
- Leading technological nations exhibit broad diversification in their research systems, rather than specialization.
- Less developed nations tend to be competitive only in widely present scientific domains.
- Scientific diversification is a key factor correlating with scientific and technological competitiveness.
Conclusions:
- Research system diversification is more critical for national scientific and technological competitiveness than specialization.
- Scientific domains that serve sophisticated societal needs, not necessarily high-tech ones, can act as markers of national competitiveness.
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