Citation indices of selected scientific literatures^ 

 by selected fields and countries, 1973 



Citation 

 Field Country indices 



1.3 

 13 

 .6 

 .5 

 .5 

 .2 



1.3 

 1.2 

 .8 

 .8 

 .6 

 .3 



1.5 



1.5 



1.4 



.7 



.7 



.4 



1.4 

 1.0 

 .9 

 .8 

 .7 

 .6 



1.1 

 1.1 

 1.0 

 1.0 

 .9 

 .8 



1.3 

 1.0 

 .7 

 .7 

 .6 

 .3 



The United States ranks first or ties for first 

 place on this measure in each of the eight fields. 

 The U.S. lead is greatest in physics, followed by 

 the earth and space sciences. 



Each country tends to have higher citation 

 indices for its own scientific literature than it has 

 for the literature of other countries (see 

 Appendix table l-7b). This is particularly true 

 for the U.S.S.R. and France. The United States, 



on the other hand, cites its own literature less 

 than other countries cite theirs, except in the 

 fields of chemistry and physics where its 

 domestic citation indices are higher than those of 

 the other five countries. 



Nobel Prizes in science 



International prizes for scientific achieve- 

 ment, although awarded to individuals rather 

 than countries, provide a gross indication of the 

 relative position of nations in scientific research. 

 Foremost among such awards are the Nobel 

 Prizes. These prizes were established by a 

 bequest of Alfred Bernhard Nobel, and give 

 international recognition to achievements in the 

 fields of physics, chemistry, and 

 physiology /medicine. 2 J 



The Nobel Prizes from the first year awarded, 

 1901, are shown in figure 1-8 in terms of the 

 number awarded to scientists in each of five 

 countries which together account for a majority 

 of the awards, and in relationship to the 

 population of these countries.-^ Data are 

 presented by year of award which, on the 

 average, is some 15 years after the time of the 

 research itself. 



Scientists in the United States have received 

 the largest number of awards over the 1901-74 

 period as a whole, surpassing all other countries 

 since the 1931-40 decade. Prizes going to the 

 U.S. scientists, however, declined after the 1951- 

 60 decade, primarily as a result of a smaller 

 number of prizes in the field of physics. In 

 relationship to population, however, U.S. scien- 

 tists received a smaller fraction of prizes than the 

 United Kingdom over the last three decades. ^^ 



22 The relatively high citation ratios associated with the 

 United States and the United Kingdom may reflect, in part, 

 the growing use of English as the language of scientific 

 publication. Nevertheless, when citations made by U.S. and 

 U.K. authors were excluded from these indices, the United 

 States still had the highest citation ratios for chemistry, 

 physics, mathematics, and the earth and space sciences. 



-' Nobel, the Man and His Priifs. (Stockholm: Nobel Founda- 

 tion, 1962). Nobel also established prizes in the fields of 

 literature and peace. Later, in 1969, the Nobel Foundation 

 instituted the prize in economics and since then, 4 prizes 

 have been awarded to U.S. economists, and single prizes to 

 economists in Austria, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, 

 and the United Kingdom. In some other areas of science 

 which are not within the scope of the Nobel Prizes, there are 

 similar international distinctions awarded for eminent 

 accomplishments; for example, the Fields Medal for 

 Mathematics was established in 1936 and since that time, 

 U.S. mathematicians have received 35 percent of the 

 quadrennial awards, largely after 1958. 



-' The apparent decline in 1971-74 is partially explained by 

 the shorter time interval covered in this period. 



25 Other countries, such as the Netherlands and 

 Switzerland, have received a greater number of Nobel Prizes 

 in respect to population size than either the United Kingdom 

 or the United States. 



13 



