According to a new Thomson Reuters Global Research Report, materials science research publications have grown rapidly over the last decade. Close to 60,000 materials science research articles and reviews are published annually. The figure is based on an analysis of the Web of Science database, which contains publications from 11,500 scientific journals. The figure includes only those papers published in journals classified as materials science journals. All the figures in this article are based on these criteria.

Asian-Pacific universities and institutions dominate the rankings of the number of materials science papers published and cited. Between 2001 and 2011, the Chinese Academy of Science published the most materials science papers (14,019), and its papers had the greatest number of citations (104,104). However, the University of Washington was ranked as the institution whose materials science papers had the greatest impact.

China’s prodigious output is also reflected in its publications from 2005 to 2009, when the country’s institutions were responsible for 55,003 materials science papers. This compares favorably with US institutions, which published only 38,189 papers during the same period, and Japan, which published 25,473 papers. But, for the same period, papers from the US, EU-15, Japan, Taiwan and South Korea each had a greater number of citations and were ranked higher in terms of impact compared with the Chinese papers. Thomson Reuters noted that the US’s share of materials science papers has been declining since the 1980s.

Thomson Reuters also examined the major “research fronts” in materials science. A research front is defined as a dynamic research area and is chosen based on an analysis of the papers with the most citations (“core papers”) and related research. A total of 438 research fronts were identified for materials science papers published between 2006 and 2010. These research fronts accounted for 6.6% of research fronts in all science and social science fields.

The top five research fronts based on citations were: electronic properties of graphene (9,524 citations), polymer solar cells (6,656), multiferroic and magnetoelectric materials (6,509), titanium dioxide nanotube arrays in dye-sensitized solar cells (5,645) and ATRP and click chemistry in polymer synthesis (5,129). In the list of top 20 materials science research fronts, research fronts related to graphene, solar cells and mesoporous materials each appeared more than once.

Thomson Reuters also highlighted three areas of exceptional growth in publications: graphene, metal-organic frameworks (MOFS) and electrospun nanofibrous scaffolds. Graphene is a one atom–thick single layer of carbon atoms. Graphene’s properties promise advancements in microelectronics and solar energy. Spurred by a 2004 publication by Drs. Geim, Konstantin and Novoselov, 10,527 graphene-related articles have been published as of May 2011. During this period, the US recorded the most graphene publications (3,263), followed by China (1,957) and Japan (1,022). However, the Chinese Academy of Sciences was the institution with the most graphene research publications (440), followed by the National University of Singapore (232) and the Spanish National Research Council (225).

Another fast-growing research area in terms of publication numbers was MOFS. MOFS are porous, crystalline substances consisting of metal ions that can form multidimensional structures for various applications, including energy storage. Thomson Reuters expects 1,900 papers about MOFS to be published this year. Between 2005 and May of this year, 6,313 MOFS papers were identified. China (2,584) accounted for the most publications during this period. The US (1,398) and Germany (447) were ranked second and third. The Chinese Academy of Sciences (450) was the institution with the most published papers, followed by China’s Nanjing University (314) and Nankai University (189).

Electrospun nanofibrous scaffolds for tissue engineering are a third area identified by Thomson Reuters for the rapidly growing number of materials science publications. Electrospinning is the process by which an electrical charge creates fibers from a liquid. Potential applications of the scaffolds include drug delivery and organ regeneration. Between 2000 and May of this year, 1,899 papers were published on the topic. The US ranks the highest in terms of MOFS papers published during this period (657), followed by China (448) and South Korea (438). The National University of Singapore had the most publications among institutions (144). China’s Donghua University was ranked second (120), and the State University of New York Stony Brook was ranked third (58).

Number of Materials Science Papers Indexed in the Web of Science 2005–2009 by Country (Source: Thomson Reuters)

 China        55,003

 USA          38,189

 Japan        25,473

 Germany      16,832

 South Korea  15,261 

 

Top 10 Institutions by Materials Science Research Papers

Indexed in Web of Science, 2001–2011

 Institution             Number of Papers

 Chinese Academy of Science         14,019

 Russian Academy of Sciences         6,769

 Tohoku University                   5,511

 Tsinghua University                 5,129

 Indian Institute of Technology      4,522

 Harbin Institute of Technology      4,059

 AIST, Japan                         4,052

 NIMS, Japan                         3,952

 Osaka University                    3,618

 Central South University            3,464

 Source: Thomson Reuters