When comparing the number of papers in the natural sciences that have been cited a high number of times, indicating a high level of attention, in countries and regions around the world, Japan ranked 13th, the lowest ever.
The National Institute for Science and Technology Policy of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) annually summarizes global research trends in order to analyze the current state and issues of scientific research in Japan.
The latest survey results have just been published, and among these, the number of papers in the field of natural sciences published in countries and regions around the world in the three years from 2019 that were cited in other papers in the top 3% of each research field was in the top 10% of the number of papers cited in other research fields, in order of average highest, ▼ China ranked first with more than 1,5
papers.
This was followed
by the United States with more than 4400,3 and the United Kingdom, which was in third place,
with more than 6200,3.
On the other hand, the number of Japan was more than 8800,3700, falling one spot from the previous record low of 12th place, to 1th place, the lowest ranking since 13, when data are available.
In terms of the average number of papers per year, China ranked first in the world with more than 1981,1 papers, while Japan ranked fifth with more than 46,4000, the same as last year.
The National Institute for Science and Technology Policy, which conducted the survey, analyzed the results, saying, "The difficulty in securing research time and the long-term decline in the rate of advancement to doctoral programs are considered to be factors that led to the decline in Japan's ranking."