U.S.

100

GERMANY
20.4

CHINA
19.8

RESEARCH
PAPERS
Score, on a 100-point
scale, based on science
papers in top journals
(Digital Science, 2011)

PATENTS ISSUED

EXPENDITURE

HIGHER EDUCATION

Number of patents
(U.S. Patent and
Trademark Office, 2011)

Gross domestic expenditure

on research and
development (2009*)

Number of science and

engineering doctoral degrees
awarded (2009*)

1. U.S.

1. U.S.

1. U.S.

1. U.S.

2. Germany

2. Japan

2. China

2. Germany

3. China

3. South Korea

3. Japan

3. U.K.

4. Japan

4. Germany

4. Germany

4. Japan

5. U.K.

5. Taiwan

5. France

5. France

6. France

6. Canada

6. U.K.

6. Italy

7. Canada

7. France

7. Russian Fed.

7. Brazil

8. South Korea

8. U.K.

8. Italy

8. Canada

9. Italy

9. China

9. Canada

9. Spain

10. Spain

10. Italy

10. Spain

10.Australia

11. Switzerland

11. Australia

11. Australia

11. Sweden

12. Australia

12. Israel

12. Sweden

12. Switzerland

13. Netherlands

13. Netherlands

13. Netherlands

13. Poland

14. India

14. Switzerland

14. Switzerland

14. Netherlands

15. Taiwan

15. Sweden

15. Austria

15. Turkey

16. Israel

16. India

16. Turkey

16. Portugal

17. Singapore

17. Finland

17. Israel

17. Czech Reublic

18. Sweden

18. Belgium

18. Belgium

18. Austria

19. Belgium

19. Austria

19. Finland

19. Belgium

20. Denmark

20. Denmark

20. Denmark

20. Mexico

21. Austria

21. Singapore

21. Mexico

21. Finland

22. Russian Fed.

22. Hong Kong

22. Poland

22. Israel

23. Hong Kong

23. Spain

23. South Africa

23. Slovakia

24. Brazil

24. Norway

24. Norway

24. Denmark

25. Finland

25. Ireland

25. Portugal

25. Greece

44 Scientific American, October 2012

2012 Scientific American

* Data set is
primarily limited
to Organization
for Economic
Co-operation and
Development
(OECD) member
countries. Some
values are from
2007 or 2008.
Country is not
a part of the
OECD data set
for research and
development
and/or doctorates.
Countries in
gray do not
rank among
the top 25 for
research papers.

S C ORE CARD

The Worlds Best Countries in Science

What makes one country better than another in science? Its not an easy thing to measure. Publishing research papers
is a good way to get a bead on basic research, but it doesnt say much about whether a nation is taking advantage of
those good ideas. For this, other metrics come into play. Patents give a clue as to how well a country is exploiting its ideas
for commercial gain. What a nation spends on R&D captures not only what universities and government research
programs do but also the contribution from industry. How many students a nation educates in science and technology
disciplines is a key metric, but little data are available.
The rankings of the top 25 nations that snake through the middle of these two pages are based on preliminary data
from Digital Science, a sister company to Nature Publishing Group (which owns Scientific American). It has assembled
a database of research papers published in top peer-reviewed journals around the world and has organized them by nation
of origin. The table at the left shows the rankings for this metric and otherspatents, R&D expenditures and doctoral
candidates produced. For more information, visit ScientificAmerican.com/oct2012/global-science. 
The Editors

JAPAN
18.4

SINGAPORE
SWEDEN

ISRAEL

2.6

2.6

2.5

TAIWAN
3.1

BELGIUM
1.9

INDIA

U.K.

3.2

16.9

DENMARK

FINLAND

1.5

1.0

AUSTRIA
RUSSIAN
FED.
1.3

FRANCE

NETHERLANDS

BRAZIL

1.4

4.0

1.2

HONG
KONG
1.3

11.7

AUSTRALIA
4.4

SWITZERLAND

CANADA

4.9

SOURCES: DIGITAL SCIENCE (research papers);

U.S. PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE (patents);
OECD SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY AND INDUSTRY
SCOREBOARD, 2011 (R&D and doctorates)

8.3

SOUTH
KOREA
6.7

SPAIN
ITALY

5.5

6.1

October 2012, ScientificAmerican.com45

Graphic by Arno Ghelfi

2012 Scientific American