China overtakes US in nanoscience

China has become the largest publisher of nanoscience research papers, as detailed in a new report.

China now contributes more than a third of the world’s nanoscience research output—almost twice the United States’ contribution—according to the report, which was published on 29 August. While Chinese researchers published 820 international papers in the nanosciences in 1994, this increased to 52,000 in 2016—an annual increase of 24 per cent.

At the same time, China’s share of the most cited nanoscience papers grew by 22 per cent annually—more than three times the global rate. China has been outperforming the United States on this measure since 2014.