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2006
Book Article
Title
Scientific performance in an international comparison
Abstract
The scientific performance of countries is generally compared on the basis of analyses in the Science Citation Index. This chapter does not only pro-vide a snapshot of the recent performance, but also shows long-term develop-ments of more than ten years, highlighting for example the growing relevance of catch-up countries in recent years or the restructuring of the science System after the German unification. By Splitting citations into two elements, International alignment and Scientific Regard, it can be shown that the high citation scores of the United States are largely linked to publications in highly visible Journals, whereas in terms of Scientific Regard, they are only slightly better than German authors. The examination of international co-publications reveals that the European Research Area has high relevance and has already become reality. An analysis of patent applications shows an important direct contribution of science to technology in science-based fields, so the role of scientific institut-ions is not limited to indirect effects, as often assumed.