four countries, while the major increases, al- 

 though differing from country to country, were 

 in space, economic development, and the 

 advancement of science. (Expenditures for the 

 latter area are difficult to compare from country 

 to country because of different government 

 practices in the funding of university research; 

 some governments provide support for such 

 research through general grants to universities, 

 whereas others — such as the United 

 States — provide much of their support through 

 mission-oriented agencies for specific research 

 projects.) 



RESULTS OF RESEARCH AND 

 DEVELOPMENT 



There are certain relatively direct results of 

 R&D which provide indicators for comparing 

 the scientific and technical performance of 

 nations. Primary among these are reports of 

 research published in scientific and technical 

 journals, citations of reports from these jour- 

 nals, and patents for new products and proc- 

 esses. These provide measures of certain aspects 

 of the output of the scientific-technological 

 enterprise. Journal reports are produced 

 primarily, but not exclusively, by the scientific 

 portion of the enterprise as the result of 

 research, both basic and applied, while new 

 products and processes leading to patents are 

 produced principally by industrial firms and 

 inventors as the result of applied research and 

 development. 



Scientific and Technical Publications 



The distribution of total government expendi- 

 tures for R&D among these areas is shown in 

 figure 3 for the United States, United Kingdom, 

 France, West Germany, and Japan for the years 

 1961 and 1969. (Data for the U.S.S.R. are not 

 available.) 



The chief changes in the United States 

 between the 1961 and 1969 periods were the 

 proportional reductions in R&D expenditures 

 for national defense (down from 65 percent to 49 

 percent of total expenditures) and increases in 

 the areas of space, community services, and 

 economic development. Relative reductions in 

 defense R&D also occurred in each of the other 



Research reports published in scientific and 

 technical journals are one of the more tangible 

 outputs of the scientific community. Such 

 reports reflect the results of specific research 

 efforts. The results themselves may lead to 

 further research, or be used many times over in a 

 variety of practical applications. Furthermore, 

 the critical review which usually precedes 

 publication ensures that the reports have some 

 degree of scientific or technical significance. 

 Indicators based on research reports, however, 

 have several limitations for the purpose of 

 international comparisons: the quantity of such 

 reports may be influenced substantially by the 

 national customs regarding the publishing of re- 

 search papers, by the availability of funds for 



