Brazilian science on the rise
October 2009
Brazil has been moving consistently upward in the output and impact of its scientific publications—but can it stay ahead of India and China, fellow members of the so-called BRIC nations that are predicted by some to have the resources and economic potential to give them a significant share of the world’s future economic growth?
Science Watch turned to the publication and citation statistics in the Thomson Reuters National Science Indicators to examine Brazil's science output, along with its percentage share of world science, between 1989 and 2007. Brazil's highest representation in the database is currently in agricultural sciences, with more than five per cent of Thomson Reuters-indexed papers during the period examined. Second in the table, both in terms of Brazil's latest five-yearshare and in the increase since the earlier period, is plant and animal sciences.
Science Watch also reveals that Brazilian science has had the greatest relative impact amongst the BRIC nations of Brazil, Russia, India and China in all fields in the period of the study. Some doubt is expressed about whether this dominance will continue as India and China are both rising sharply in impact, while Brazil's trajectory in recent years has been comparatively flat.
Brazilian Science on the rise: see the full study
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Brazilian Science on the rise: see the full study
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