Thomson Reuters launched the Global Research Report series to inform policymakers about the changing landscape of the global research base. Selected countries are profiled across scholarship production, emerging fields, global collaboration, and past/future trajectories. The Thomson Reuters data analysis allows a profiled nation to assess its position while offering other international players opportunity to evaluate and adapt their role to ongoing shifts in global research.

Download any report to review how sophisticated bibliometric analyses unearth some surprising trends in research and international networks.

GRR United Kingdom Cover

GRR-United Kingdom cover

By integrating external government and international data sources with Thomson Reuters data, this report presents a dynamic analysis of research input, capacity and output in the United Kingdom. The study finds exceptional research performance and innovation capacity. The UK spends 4% of the world's Gross Expenditure on R&D (GERD) on 6% of the world's researchers, who are authors on 8% of the world's research articles and reviews published in internationally influential journals.UK research papers make up 14% of the world's highly cited output and surpass the US in average research impact.  But this performance is compromised by surprisingly low investment from the private sector, raising questions about future economic competitiveness.

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GRR-Africa cover

Materials science grew the fastest among all physical sciences during the last three decades, and the field holds great potential for 21st century manufacturing and innovation. The global research landscape is changing: Asia now produces half the world's papers in materials science, China has become the largest single country producer, and the USA and EU, the report notes, should review funding to reverse declining shares in vital research. The report also highlights three specialties that have seen enormous increases in research output: graphene, metal organic frameworks, and electrospun nanofibrous scaffolds—each offering potential revolutions in global economies.

Focus on Materials Science > Review the report along with supplemental interviews, the top 100 chemists and materials scientists, and more.


GRR-Africa cover

The Arabian, Persian and Turkish Middle East produces only 4% of the world’s scientific literature but output is growing rapidly, exceeding Asia and Latin America in rate of increase. The report reviews the exceptional increase from Iran and Turkey, alongside a more complicated picture of the 14 contributing nations. How can the region sustain upward momentum? Will the focus on engineering and agricultural sciences yield continued growth, or will low levels of international collaboration erode future impact?

Nobel laureate and Egyptian-American chemist Ahmed Zewail notes in his Foreword three essential ingredients for scientific progress in the region: expanding educational opportunities, increasing freedom, and establishing centers of excellence in science and technology.

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United States

The 20th century was largely dominated by the US as a major powerhouse of scientific research and innovation, with 40% of the papers indexed in the Web of Science fielded by US scientists in the 1990s. By 2009, that figure was down to 29%. The US now struggles to keep pace with increased output from Europe and Asia. Yet research impact and the overall reputation of higher education institutions in the US remain strong. Why is the US lagging behind and what can be done about it? Is something in the US research base contributing to the inability to keep pace with other rising nations.

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ARCHIVE

Global Research Report: Japan
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Global Research Report: Africa
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Global Research Report: Australia & New Zealand
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Global Research Report: Russia
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Global Research Report: Brazil
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Global Research Report: India
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Global Research Report: China
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Read the Financial Times article >


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Jonathan Adams discusses Chinese scientific research with the BBC.
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