The percentage of total government funds 

 going to each of these areas is shown in figure 1- 

 3.*' The United States differs principally from 

 other nations in the relatively large percentage 

 of R&D funds channeled to defense and space 

 exploration (71 percent in 1971-72, the latest 

 years for which such data are available for 

 international comparisons), and the small 

 percentages for the advancement of science and 

 economic development." In general, government 

 R&D funds in other countries (except the United 

 Kingdom) were concentrated in the latter two 

 areas; this applied particularly to Japan and West 

 Germany. 



Changes in the distribution of government- 

 funded R&D over the 1961-71 period were 

 similar for each country. Defense-related R&D 

 decreased as a proportion of the total R&D 

 expenditures, whereas the fraction for the 

 advancement of science and economic develop- 

 ment generally increased, as did the percentage 

 for health and community services. Overall 

 trends suggest a relative shift from military 

 R&D to areas of domestic concern and the 

 advancement of science. (The magnitude of 

 R&D expenditures for national defense, how- 

 ever, increased in absolute terms in all countries 

 other than Japan.) 



Differences between countries in the distribu- 

 tion of their R&D efforts arise from a variety of 

 factors, such as the extent of a nation's military 

 commitments and variations in the roles of 

 government and the private sector. The pattern 

 of R&D expenditures shown in figure 1-3 is 

 based upon funding by governments only and 

 does not include the large expenditures by the 

 private sector, due to the lack of comparable 

 data. 



SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH 



This section presents indicators of the inter- 

 national character of science and various 

 measures of the magnitude and quality of 

 scientific research in major nations. Indicators of 

 magnitude are based upon the number of 

 research publications from each nation in several 

 fields of science. Quality indicators are 

 developed from the international pattern of 

 citations associated with these publications, as 



' Data are not available for the U.S.S.R. 



' For current information on the distribution of U.S. 

 Government expenditures for R&D, see the chapter in this 

 report entitled "Resources for R&D" 



well as from the distribution of Nobel Prizes 

 among nations and scientific fields. 



The internationalism of science 



Science by its very nature is international. The 

 phenomena studied, the methods of investiga- 

 tion, and the validity of research findings are 

 independent of national boundaries. 

 Researchers from all countries can contribute to 

 the body of scientific knowledge, with con- 

 tributions assessed on their scientific merit, not 

 the country of their origin. 



The internationalism of science is based upon 

 and fostered by a wide variety of formal and 

 informal arrangements. Foremost among these 

 are the publication of research findings in widely 

 circulated journals and books, international 

 meetings, joint research efforts, and informal 

 correspondence among scientists. In addition to 

 these, governments frequently sponsor inter- 

 national travel for scientists to consult and 

 collaborate on research, and enter into formal 

 bilateral agreements for scientific cooperation 

 and exchange among nations. The international 

 scientific community is also served by the 

 International Council of Scientific Unions, 

 which encompasses an array of associations for 

 the advancement of science and the exchange of 

 information. Finally, the United Nations has 

 created specialized scientific agencies nearly 

 global in scope, which foster international 

 cooperation in science and which in turn provide 

 models for similar regional organizations. 



International scientific literature. The inter- 

 national dimension of science may be seen in one 

 of its more fundamental forms in the perfor- 

 mance of research and the publication of its 

 results. Current research builds upon the extant 

 body of scientific knowledge, which is the 

 combined product of researchers from all 

 countries. The dependence upon research per- 

 formed in other nations is expressed, ap- 

 proximately, by a large sample of the citations in 

 published research reports to scientific literature 

 of foreign origin. 



This indicator is shown in figure 1-4 for eight 

 major fields of science and engineering, as well as 

 for all the fields combined. i° The indicator is 

 based upon data from the six major R&D- 

 performing nations identified in previous sec- 



^^ Indicators of the Quantity ami Quality of the Scifntific Literature, 

 Computer Horizons, Inc., 1975 (A study commissioned 

 specifically for this report). 



