Mainland researchers published more papers in quality engineering journals than their American counterparts for the first time last year, and the gap would only grow, a government scientific agency said.
The mainland made the biggest contribution to the growth of engineering knowledge, by publishing 78,200 papers in academic journals, mostly in English, indexed by Engineering Information, a leading engineering database, last year, according to a study by the Institute of Scientific and Technological Information of China.
The figure had increased more than 20 per cent from 2006.
The mainland is still behind in generating original scientific and technological ideas that can make a significant impact in international academic circles, but the country is quickly catching up with the latest developments in research, and its competence in the manufacturing sector is rapidly growing.
The central government’s 4 trillion yuan (HK$4.5 trillion) economic stimulus plan would enable the mainland to launch more sophisticated construction projects, from massive dams and high-speed railways to unique sports stadiums, enlarging the pool of engineering talent, a leading researcher of the study, Pan Yuntao , said.
Mainland engineering publications were already very close in number to those from the United States in 2006, Professor Pan said.
“The government invested a lot of money in large construction projects, so the number of papers in civil engineering, mining, hydrology and measuring and mapping soared.”
“We will see more [papers] this year and in the coming years, thanks to the central government’s economic stimulus plan.”
The achievement is remarkable because almost every US scholar writes in English, but only a small percentage of Chinese authors were capable of or willing to publish their findings in English, she said.
She was equally impressed by the speed of improvement in quality. The mainland ranked 13th in the number of mentions last year. By August, it had moved up to 10th.
Even the State Council had underestimated the speed of progress, Professor Pan said. The National Medium- and Long-Term Science and Technology Development Plan set the goal for number of mentions at 5th in the world by 2020. With the current speed, the target could be reached in two years.
Professor Pan said that because most of the publications were in English and that most Chinese researchers published their findings in Chinese, the international publications were only the tip of the iceberg.
The mainland’s ranking in fundamental research, however, has been stagnant for years.
The Science Citation Index (SCI), produced by Thomson Reuters, focusing on scientific rather than technological findings, has ranked the mainland fifth in the world in terms of the number of papers published, for half a decade.
Nearly 40 per cent of Chinese papers have not been quoted on the SCI for a decade, suggesting they were not of interest to the international community.
The most quoted article in the past decade was a paper by Yu Jun , a researcher of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, in Science magazine in 2002, about rice genes.
Most Chinese publications are concentrated in chemistry, computer science, physics, material science and automation, biology, power, mathematics, civil engineering and geology.
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Mainland Overtakes US in Engineering Papers
Researchers publish more in quality journals
Stephen Chen
11 December 2008
Mainland researchers published more papers in quality engineering journals than their American counterparts for the first time last year, and the gap would only grow, a government scientific agency said.
The mainland made the biggest contribution to the growth of engineering knowledge, by publishing 78,200 papers in academic journals, mostly in English, indexed by Engineering Information, a leading engineering database, last year, according to a study by the Institute of Scientific and Technological Information of China.
The figure had increased more than 20 per cent from 2006.
The mainland is still behind in generating original scientific and technological ideas that can make a significant impact in international academic circles, but the country is quickly catching up with the latest developments in research, and its competence in the manufacturing sector is rapidly growing.
The central government’s 4 trillion yuan (HK$4.5 trillion) economic stimulus plan would enable the mainland to launch more sophisticated construction projects, from massive dams and high-speed railways to unique sports stadiums, enlarging the pool of engineering talent, a leading researcher of the study, Pan Yuntao , said.
Mainland engineering publications were already very close in number to those from the United States in 2006, Professor Pan said.
“The government invested a lot of money in large construction projects, so the number of papers in civil engineering, mining, hydrology and measuring and mapping soared.”
“We will see more [papers] this year and in the coming years, thanks to the central government’s economic stimulus plan.”
The achievement is remarkable because almost every US scholar writes in English, but only a small percentage of Chinese authors were capable of or willing to publish their findings in English, she said.
She was equally impressed by the speed of improvement in quality. The mainland ranked 13th in the number of mentions last year. By August, it had moved up to 10th.
Even the State Council had underestimated the speed of progress, Professor Pan said. The National Medium- and Long-Term Science and Technology Development Plan set the goal for number of mentions at 5th in the world by 2020. With the current speed, the target could be reached in two years.
Professor Pan said that because most of the publications were in English and that most Chinese researchers published their findings in Chinese, the international publications were only the tip of the iceberg.
The mainland’s ranking in fundamental research, however, has been stagnant for years.
The Science Citation Index (SCI), produced by Thomson Reuters, focusing on scientific rather than technological findings, has ranked the mainland fifth in the world in terms of the number of papers published, for half a decade.
Nearly 40 per cent of Chinese papers have not been quoted on the SCI for a decade, suggesting they were not of interest to the international community.
The most quoted article in the past decade was a paper by Yu Jun , a researcher of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, in Science magazine in 2002, about rice genes.
Most Chinese publications are concentrated in chemistry, computer science, physics, material science and automation, biology, power, mathematics, civil engineering and geology.
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