Scientific publications in Switzerland,

Transcription

1 s Scientific publications in Switzerland, A bibliometric analysis of scientific research in Switzerland Report by the State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation SERI

2 Contacts Isabelle Maye, SERI Scientific Advisor, Scientific Bases Unit, National Research and Innovation Division Müfit Sabo, SERI Head of Scientific Bases Unit, National Research and Innovation Division Publication details Published by: 2017 State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation Editors: Isabelle Maye, Müfit Sabo Translation: Federal Chancellery English Language Service Printed by: Federal Office for Buildings and Logistics FOBL Languages: English, French and German ISSN:

3 Table of contents The essential points in brief... 7 Introduction Publications: Switzerland by international comparison Global publications Switzerland in the world rankings of publications by country Publication intensity: publications by number of inhabitants and researchers Publications by number of inhabitants Publications by number of researchers Swiss publications by region Breakdown of publications by region Publications by region and number of inhabitants Share of cantons in publications in their region Publications by research field and region Publications by institutional sector and research field Publications by research field and institutional sector Impact of publications Switzerland compared to the top five countries in terms of impact Impact by research field Classification of countries by impact and by research field Impact of institutional sectors in Switzerland Impact by region Analysis of the two most productive Swiss regions Most cited publications (Top 10% publications) Breakdown of Top 10% publications by country

4 Top 10% publications by number of inhabitants and researchers Top 10% publications by number of inhabitants Top 10% publications by number of researchers Top 10% publications as a proportion of the total output of a country Top 10% publications by institutional sector in Switzerland Proportion of publications produced by each institutional sector in Switzerland which are Top 10% publications Top 10% publications by Swiss region Top 10% publications as a proportion of the total output of each region Publication partnerships Rates of national and international partnership Publication partnerships by Swiss region National and international partnerships by region Partnerships by country for the Zurich and Lake Geneva regions National and international partnerships by research field National and international partnerships by institutional sector Partner countries of institutional sectors of Switzerland

5 Appendices A Results A. 1 Publications by world region A A. 3 Volume and world shares of publications A. 4 Impact A. 5 Top 10% publications A. 6 Publication profiles of countries A. 7 Publications of Swiss regions by institutional sector A. 8 Publications of the main institutions by Swiss region A. 9 Publications by Swiss region and research field A. 10 Impact of Swiss regions by research field A. 11 Partner countries by Swiss region A. 12 Interregional partnerships in Switzerland B Methods Databases Volume of publications Impact (relative citation indicator) Top 10% publications Partnerships Institutional sectors C References

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7 The essential points in brief Volume of scientific publications For the period from 2011 to 2015 Switzerland produced 1. of world publications, putting it in 19th place. In terms of the number of publications per inhabitant, Switzerland is the world leader with 4,286 publications per million inhabitants. In terms of the number of publications per researcher Switzerland is ranked second, with 965 publications per 1,000 researchers. Switzerland produces most publications in the research field (26% of national output in ). This is followed by (), & Earth (), Agriculture, Biology & Environmental (1), Social & Behavioural (8%), Engineering, Computing & Technology (7%) and Arts & Humanities (). The most productive institutional sector in Switzerland is the higher education sector, accounting for 71.7% of publications produced by Switzerland over the period The remainder of Switzerland s output is split between the three other sectors: the research institutes sector (14.7%), the private businesses sector (7.) and the international organisations sector (5.6%). For the period, the Lake Geneva region was the most productive at 32.7%, almost tied with Zurich at 31.. They are followed by North-Western Switzerland (16.) and the Espace Mittelland (14.4%). The regions Eastern Switzerland, Ticino and Central Switzerland account for 2.5%, 1.7% and 1.5% of publications respectively. Impact The impact of publications produced in Switzerland was excellent in the period , with Switzerland taking third place, just behind the United States and the United Kingdom. All research fields in Switzerland (except Arts & Humanities) make an impact above the world average. If we look at the ranking by country in each field, Switzerland is always among the top-ranked countries. The four institutional sectors in Switzerland also make an impact above the world average. The higher education sector achieves the highest score (almost 20 percentage points above the world average). Currently, four Swiss regions make an impact above the world average: Zurich (121), the Lake Geneva region (119), North-Western Switzerland (110) and the Espace Mittelland (109). Most cited publications (Top 10%) Switzerland produces 1.5% of the publications ranked among the world s most cited publications (Top 10%), which outstrips its share of 1. of total world publications. This means that Switzerland has a strong presence in this category of publications with a high international profile, ranking 13th in the world. Looking at the figures from the point of view of Top 10% publications per inhabitant or per researcher, Switzerland ranks top in both cases, with 560 Top 10% publications per million inhabitants and 172 Top 10% publications per 1,000 researchers. Switzerland also does extremely well with regard to the share of Top 10% publications as a proportion of its national output, as 16.4% of publications produced in Switzerland fall into the Top 10% category. This puts Switzerland in second place behind the United States, where 17.2% of publications are in the Top 10%. 7

8 The breakdown of Top 10% publications by institutional sector in Switzerland shows the same pattern as the breakdown of worldwide publications: 71.8% come from the higher education sector, 14. from research institutes, 8.0% from private businesses and 6.2% from international organisations. All sectors exceed the 10% threshold, with international organisations notching up the highest share, at 18.6%. The Lake Geneva and Zurich regions produce the vast majority of Top 10% publications, at 34. and 33.6% of Swiss output respectively. Concerning the share of Top 10% publications as a proportion of regional output, all regions perform well, with Zurich and the Lake Geneva region in the lead, where 17.6% and 16.8% of publications respectively are classified in the Top 10%. Cooperations During the period, among the Swiss articles produced as a result of cooperation, 84% were the outcome of international partnerships. This figure has been on the rise since , not only in Switzerland, but all over the world. Of the 25 most active countries in scientific publications, four countries have a higher percentage of national partnerships than international ones. While between 2006 and 2010 researchers working in Switzerland mainly collaborated with other researchers in Switzerland (22.), this is no longer the case, and researchers now collaborate more with peers in the United States neighbouring important partner, accounting for 48.7% of partnerships, but there has also been an increase in collaborations with Asia (from 5% to 7.3%) and with the Middle East and North Africa (from 1. to 4.4%). In Switzerland, the international organisations sector has the highest rate of international partnerships: 97% for the period The rate for the higher education sector is 83%, research institutes 77% and private businesses 74%. Currently, four regions have a rate of international partnerships of over 80%: the Espace Mittelland, the Lake Geneva region, North-Western Switzerland and Zurich. Ticino is at 65% and Eastern Switzerland at 57%. Conclusion Despite increased competition in recent years, Switzerland is still one of the most competitive countries in research. It has maintained its high level of overall publication output, has achieved a high score in publications most often cited throughout the world and has maintained its high global impact and high level of international cooperation, thus showing that it is very active in research at a global level. 8

9 Introduction Scientific research improves current knowledge or produces new knowledge, new instruments or new methods. These scientific outcomes are often described in articles in scientific journals which researchers use as the principal means of publicising their research activity. The purpose of this report is to monitor research in Switzerland and analyse the strengths and weaknesses of s position internationally. Intended as an update to the series entitled Bibliometric analysis of scientific research in Switzerland, published by SERI every two years, 1 this report, like its predecessors, uses the best-known bibliometric indicators (volume, impact, cooperation status of publications, most cited publications). The 2017 edition also includes an analysis of Switzerland by geographic region, more specifically the Zurich and Lake Geneva regions. The report starts with an overview of the total number of publications (chapter one), followed by the impact of publications (chapter two), the most cited publications worldwide (Top 10%) (chapter three) and finally chapter four addresses cooperation and partnership indicators. Each chapter starts with a global view then presents the results for Switzerland in more detail, by research field, by institutional sector and by geographic region. Bibliometrics and its limits. 2 Bibliometrics is a quantitative approach allowing for a statistical analysis of scientific publications. It enables observation of trends in research and changes over time and among countries by means of indicators which allow countries to be ranked on a global basis or within a specific field of research. Interpreting the results requires a degree of caution as bibliometrics is not without its limitations: The databases used include only articles published in scientific journals that have an international readership, and so do not reflect other means of publicising research such as presentations at conferences (in Engineering for example), monographs and books (in Humanities for example), or patents or ad-hoc reports (applied research). English is normally the reference language in these international journals, which means that some publications in languages other than English are not included, although in recent years an effort has been made to increase the number of journals in languages other than English. Consequently, a degree of caution must be applied when analysing the results, especially in the fields of Social & Behavioural and Arts & Humanities. For example, a study by the University of Zurich showed that only 6% of Humanities publications and 27% of Social publications from that university are recorded in the Web of Science. 2 1 ibliometric analysis of scientific research in Switzerland 1981 analysis of scientific research in Switzerland, Hug, S. E, & Brändle, M. P. (2017). The coverage of Microsoft Academic: Analyzing the publication output of a university. Scientometrics. 9

10 1 Publications: Switzerland by international comparison Switzerland s publication activity can only be understood if it is placed in a broad global context. This chapter aims to achieve this by starting with a description of the trend in publications at a global level, before moving on to concentrate on Switzerland s position among the most active countries in this area. Global publications The number of global publications is on the rise, increasing from 12.1 million in the period to 15.4 million in the period (see Figure 1 which shows the number of publications per five-year period). 3 Figure 1: Evolution of global publication volume Period Global publications (in millions) Increase compared to (=100) scientific research in Switzerland,

11 How publications are counted: a brief explanation A publication is the fruit of research carried out by one or more authors working for one or more institutions in one or more countries. It is easy to attribute each researcher whose name appears on the article to an institution, and subsequently to attribute each institution to a country. However, attributing each scientific article to these authors, institutions and countries requires a method that is not simply an enumeration. How, and to whom, should we attribute a scientific article signed, for example, by 15 authors working for seven institutions in four countries? To begin with, it is important to note that only the institutions employing the authors are counted. Each article is then recorded under the name of the institution(s) to which its authors are affiliated, rather than under the names of the authors (if multiple authors work for a single institution, then only one publication will be recorded for this institution). Then, all global publications are classified in one of the 109 defined research sub-fields (see Appendix B. 2) to reflect different citation practices in different research fields, and so that comparisons are made only among publications with the same approach to citation. Finally, a fundamental choice must be made between two counting methods: (a) fractional counting, where a fraction of an article is attributed to each of the institutions whose name appears on the article. The advantage of this method is that the number of publications exactly matches the sum of publications taken individually, but the disadvantage is that the contributions of each of the institutions are no longer visible; (b) full counting, where a publication produced by authors from several institutions is attributed in full to each address present on the article; in other words, each institution whose name appears on the article is regarded as having produced a publication. The disadvantage of this method is that it multiplies the number of publications by the number of institutions appearing on the publication. However, that is the counting method used in this report because it has the advantage of better reflecting the work of the institutions. Publication counts are performed for five-year windows. The databases used in this report are the Science Citation Index Expanded (SCIE), the Social Science Citation Index Expanded (SSCIE) and the Arts & Humanities Citation Index (A&HCI) produced by Clarivate Analytics (formally Thomson Reuters) for the years 2006 to See Appendix B for more details on definitions and methods. 11

12 Switzerland in the world rankings of publications by country For the period , Switzerland was in 19th place in the world rankings of countries producing scientific publications, with a world share of 1. of publications. The United States still has the largest number of publications (world share of publications 22.) but has lost some of its supremacy: its share in the period was 25.8%. Two countries have made a great leap forward compared to previous periods: China, which was expected to join the countries producing the most publications due to its massive investment in research and education; and Iran, which entered the top 20 for the first time. China has experienced the most dramatic growth in publications in recent years: in the period it had a world share of 7.2%, but is now in second place with a world share approaching 11.. Meanwhile, in Iran was ranked 23th with a 0.7% share of world production. In the period, it moved up to 17th place with a 1.3% share of world production, overtaking Switzerland, in particular thanks to publications in the fields of & Earth and Engineering, Computing & Technology (see Appendix A.6 for publication profiles by research field and country). Figure 2: Share of world publications by country for the periods and , for the 20 most productive countries in the period USA China UK Germany France Japan Italy Canada Spain South Korea Australia India Brazil Netherlands Taiwan Turkey Iran Russia Switzerland Sweden % 4.8% 5.3% 4.8% % % 5.8% 3.8% 4.0% 3.3% 3.5% % % 2.8% 2.4% 2.3% 2.0% 2.2% 2.0% 2.0% 2.0% % 1.4% 1.3% 1.3% 0.7% 1.2% 1.3% % %

13 All the countries ranked in the top 20 in the period increased their publication output in absolute terms in the recent period. However, due to the strong rise in the number of publications produced by countries such as China and Iran, their world shares are in some cases in decline. Appendix A.2 contains more detail on the evolution of the world shares of the 60 most productive countries for the period , and Appendix A.3 shows the absolute figures and world shares of publications of the same countries for two periods ( and ). Country selection A certain number of publications is needed as a minimum in order to obtain reliable statistical results. This minimum number is 5,000 publications over a five-year period. For the period , 76 of the 179 countries which produced at least one publication met this criterion. The graphs in this report always present the top 20 countries in the ranking for the indicator in question. 4 However, other countries of interest are presented in an additional graph. These are the main countries with which Switzerland works (United States, Germany, France, Italy, United Kingdom) or a selection of countries which it is interesting to compare with Switzerland, such as Japan, Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, South Korea and Taiwan. 4 4 Switzerland has, among others, bilateral research programs with Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa and South Korea. 13

14 Publication intensity: publications by number of inhabitants and researchers The number and share of publications reveals scientific research effort, it is less useful when it comes to comparing different countries. This is because this indicator depends on the size of the countries: it is normal for a big country with a large population to produce more publications than a small country (obviously assuming that investment in research is more or less equivalent). To better compare the relative effort of different countries, it makes sense to use an indicator that does not depend on size, such as the number of publications by number of inhabitants or researchers. These indicators measure publication intensity irrespective of the size of the country and therefore better reflect the research effort Publications by number of inhabitants If we rank countries by the number of publications per year per million inhabitants, Switzerland is in pole position, with over 4,000 publications (Fig. 3). All of the countries at the top of this list are small European countries, such as Switzerland, Denmark and Iceland, which outperform large countries such as the United States and China, which come in at 17th and 62nd place respectively for the period Figure 3: Publications per year and per million inhabitants, The top 20 countries Switzerland Denmark Iceland Australia Finland Netherlands Norway Sweden Canada Singapore Belgium Taiwan New Zealand Slovenia UK Israel USA Ireland France Austria Other countries Italy 1939 Germany 1821 South Korea 1750 Japan 1060 Brazil 340 Russia 262 South Africa 262 China 252 India 55 14

15 1.3.2 Publications by number of researchers Another indicator which does not depend on country size is the number of publications per number of researchers. Although this indicator has a number of weaknesses (see box), it measures publication intensity by researcher, which some authors call publication efficiency. Switzerland ranks second in the world for publications per 1,000 researchers, producing 965 publications per 1,000 researchers per year behind Italy (1,020 publications per 1,000 researchers: Fig. 4). Switzerland has slipped one place compared to the period, when it topped the ranking ahead of Italy and the Netherlands. As in the ranking of publications per million inhabitants, large publication-producing countries such as the United States and China do not feature at the top of the ranking. Figure 4: Publications per year and per thousand researchers, period The top 20 countries Italy 1020 Switzerland 965 Australia 868 Netherlands 833 Iran 754 Spain 723 South Africa 647 Norway 639 Canada 622 New Zealand 621 Belgium Sweden Other countries Denmark UK USA France Mexico Turkey Greece Finland Brazil Germany Taiwan South Korea India China Japan Russia Publications per number of researchers The ranking of countries based on number of publications per number of researchers depends heavily on the reliability of data about researchers. This report uses OECD data, and where these are not available, UNESCO data. As data on researchers are not updated each year or always collected using the same methodology, there can be significant variations in results and the country ranking is therefore based on unreliable data. Consequently, the indicator on publication efficiency should be interpreted with caution. 15

16 If we break down publications into seven research fields (see box for definition of fields), we can create a profile for each country which reveals the areas where the country in question concentrates its research efforts. In Switzerland, publications are mainly concentrated in the fields of publications), () and & Earth (; Fig. 5). The breakdown of publications in Switzerland is very close to the worldwide breakdown. We can note that: - the shares of publications in the fields and are above the world averages - the share of publications in & Technology is below the world average. Figure 5: Breakdown of publications by research field, Switzerland and the world, % 8% 1 7% Environmental Switzerland World A publication profile that is close to the world profile denotes diversity of research. While this is true of Switzerland, it is by no means the case for all countries. For example, Russia devotes almost its entire publication effort to the field of & Earth (64%. See Appendix profile and that of 59 other countries). Definition of research fields Scientific journals are classified in seven broad research fields according to the classification system used by Current contents (see ): ; & Earth ; ; Agriculture, Biology & Environmental ; Social & Behavioural and Arts & Humanities. The research fields themselves are divided into several sub-fields. See Appendix B.2 for the full list of research fields and sub-fields. 16

17 Research institutions which produce publications in Switzerland have been divided into four institutional sectors (see box). The production of publications in Switzerland is clearly dominated by the higher education sector, which accounted for 71.7% of publications in the period (Fig. 6). It is followed by the research institutes sector (14.7%), the private businesses sector (7.) and finally the international organisations sector (5.6%). Figure 6: by institutional sector, % 14.7% % Higher education Research institutes Private businesses International organisations The sector split has not changed much since (Fig. 7), but private businesses have lost some ground, falling from 8.7% to 7.. Figure 7: Evolution output 80% 70% 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% Higher education Research institutes Private businesses International organisations 10% 0% 17

18 Institutional sectors The breakdown of research institutions into sectors has been undertaken only for institutions located in Switzerland. Four institutional sectors were defined: Higher education: cantonal universities, Swiss federal institutes of technology, universities of applied sciences, private schools or universities, and teaching hospitals. Private businesses: private businesses in Switzerland along with private clinics and hospitals. Research institutes: research establishments of the ETH Domain, cantonal laboratories, research institutes run by the Confederation, foundations, and all public hospitals that are not teaching hospitals. International organisations. See definition in Appendix B.6. 18

19 Swiss publications by region Breakdown of publications by region Zurich, North-Western Switzerland, Espace Mittelland, Eastern Switzerland, Ticino and Central Switzerland. Figure 8: Evolution of Swiss publications by region, from to % % 30% 25% 20% 15% 10% 5% 0% 31.6% % % 14.4% 2.5% 2.5% 1.4% 1.7% % Lake Geneva region Zurich North-Western Switzerland Espace Mittelland Eastern Switzerland Ticino Central Switzerland publications ETH research institutes, several private laboratories as well as international organisations. The regions North-Western Switzerland and Espace Mittelland produce 30% and the three remaining regions (Eastern Switzerland, Ticino and Central Switzerland) generate nearly 6%. These percentages have changed very little since the first period ( ). Region definitions Lake Geneva region: Geneva, Vaud and Valais. Zurich: Zurich. to seven regions based on FSO nomenclature: North-Western Switzerland: Aargau, Basel-Stadt and Basel-Landschaft. Espace Mittelland: Bern, Fribourg, Jura, Neuchâtel and Solothurn. Eastern Switzerland: Schaffhausen, Appenzell Ausserrhoden, Appenzell Innerrhoden, Thurgau, St Gallen, Glarus and Graubünden. Ticino: Ticino. Central Switzerland: Lucerne, Nidwalden, Obwalden, Schwyz, Uri and Zug. FSO definition: 19

20 1.6.2 Publications by region and number of inhabitants If, as for countries (see chapter 1.3.1), we take an indicator that does not take account of population, such as the number of publications per inhabitant, there is little change in the ranking of regions (Fig. 9), except that Zurich moves into the top spot ahead of the Lake Geneva region, and Ticino overtakes Eastern Switzerland. Figure 9: Publications per year and per million inhabitants, Zurich Lake Geneva region North-Western Switzerland Switzerland Espace Mittelland Ticino Eastern Switzerland Central Switzerland

21 1.6.3 Share of cantons in publications in their region The chart below shows the relative position of each canton within the relevant region. While the importance of the large cantons such as Geneva, Vaud, Basel and Bern is unsurprising, that of Graubünden (j explained by the importance of research institutions and hospitals which are active in research, such as their cantonal hospitals. Figure 10: Share of publications by canton as a proportion of the relevant region, % 60% 40% 20% 0% 4 50% Vaud Valais Geneva 80% 72% 60% 40% 20% 0% 4% Basel-Landschaft Aargau Basel-Stadt 80% 60% 40% 20% 0% 7 8% 2% 1 Berne Fribourg Solothurn Neuchâtel Jura Lake Geneva region North-Western Switzerland Espace Mittelland 80% 63% 80% 82% 60% 40% 20% 0% 0.2% Glarus Appenzell 26%10% Schaffhausen Graubünden St. Gallen Thurgau 60% 40% 20% 0% 13% 3% 0.5% Schwyz Zug Lucerne Uri Nidwalden Obwalden Eastern Switzerland Central Switzerland 100% 100% 100% 100% 80% 80% 60% 60% 40% 40% 20% 20% 0% Zurich 0% Ticino Zurich Ticino 21

22 1.6.4 most productive regions most productive regions (Zurich and the Lake Geneva region) in detail. The other regions are considered in Appendices A.7 and A.8. Zurich region (canton of Zurich) In the higher education sector accounted for 82.8% of publication output, followed by the research institutes sector (11.5%). Figure 11: Publications by institutional sector for the Zurich region, % 11.5% 5.5% 0.2% Higher education Research institutes Private businesses International organisations If we look at the institutions in more detail (Fig. 12), we can see that the University of Zurich was the most productive institution, with 45% of publications, followed by the ETHZ 5 at 36%. The research institutes Empa, Eawag and WSL of the ETH Domain and various institutions in the Federal Department of Economic Affairs, Education and Research EAER represent a total of 8% of publications. Figure 12: Publications from the Zurich region, the 10 most productive institutions, University of Zurich ETHZ Empa (Dubendorf) Eawag (Dubendorf) WSL (Birmensdorf) Institutions of the EAER* Zurich University of Applied IBM Schulthess Klinik Triemli City Hospital 3% 2% 2% 36% 45% * primarily Agroscope (Reckenholz, Wädenswil) N.B.: Teaching hospitals are included in the university. 5 See list of abbreviations in Appendix A.8. 22

23 The strong presence of research institutes is reflected in the publication profile of the Zurich region, with the number of publications in the field of Agriculture, Biology & Environmental above the Swiss average (14% versus 1). & Technology is also above the national averages. Figure 13: Publication profile of the Zurich region, % 25% 8% 8% 7% % Environmental Zurich Switzerland 23

24 Lake Geneva region (cantons of Geneva, Vaud and Valais) The higher education sector is the most productive sector, accounting for nearly 75% of the scientific publications from the Lake Geneva region, followed by the international organisations sector (close to 16% of publications). Figure 14: Publications by institutional sector for the Lake Geneva region, % 4.8% 15.8% Higher education Research institutes Private businesses International organisations Of all the higher education institutions in the Lake Geneva region, the University of Geneva produces the most scientific publications (30%), followed by two other universities: the University of Lausanne (22%) and the EPFL 6 (20%). International organisations have a strong presence in this region, with the three main ones (CERN, WHO and the United Nations) producing 13% of publications. Figure 15: Publications from the Lake Geneva region, the top 10 institutions, University of Geneva University of Lausanne EPFL CERN WHO Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics Nestlé United Nations HES-SO ISREC 7% 5% 0.4% 22% 20% 30% N.B.: Teaching hospitals are included in universities. 6 See list of abbreviations in Appendix A.8. 24

25 The Lake Geneva region publishes an above-average share of publications in the field of Physical, Chemical & Earth (26% versus ) and in & Technology (8% versus national average of 7%). Figure 16: Publication profile of the Lake Geneva region, % 26% 26% 8% 8% 7% 1 8% 7% Environmental Lake Geneva region Switzerland 25

26 1.6.5 Publications by research field and region Two research fields are particularly concentrated on the Lake Geneva and Zurich regions: - : two-thirds (62%) of the publications in this field are produced in these two regions, one third (33%) in North-Western Switzerland and Espace Mittelland, and the remainder in the other regions. - & Earth : 6 of publications in this field are produced in these two regions. The three smallest regions together achieve the highest share () in the fields of and Social & Behavioural. Zurich is the main producer of publications in the field of Agriculture, Biology & Environmental (42%). Figure 17: Publications by research field and region, in absolute figures and share of total publications in each research field, & Earth Publications (number) Publications (number) % % 33% % Région lémanique Zurich Suisse du Nord-Ouest Région lémanique Zurich Suisse du Nord-Ouest % Espace Mittelland 8000 Suisse orientale 6000 Tessin 4000 Suisse centrale 14% 14% Espace Mittelland Suisse orientale Tessin Suisse centrale % 2% % 0 0 Publications 50% (number) % 33% % 36% % 30% % % 20% 16% % 10% 5% 0% Agriculture, Biology & Environmental Publications (number) % Région lémanique Zurich Zurich Région lémanique Suisse du Nord-Ouest % Espace Mittelland 14% 14% Suisse orientale % Suisse centrale % 3% Tessin 12% % 2% 2% 2% 0 Espace Mittelland Suisse du Nord-Ouest Suisse centrale Suisse orientale Tessin Lake Geneva region Zurich North-Western Switzerland Espace Mittelland Eastern Switzerland Ticino Central Switzerland 26

27 Figure 17 (cont.): Publications by research field and region, in absolute figures and share of total publications in each research field, & Technology Publications (number) Social & Behavioural Publications (number) % 34% 12% 8% 3% 2% Zurich Région lémanique Suisse du Nord-Ouest 8000 Espace Mittelland Tessin 6000 Suisse orientale 4000 Suisse centrale % 3 14% 10% 5% 2% 2% Région lémanique Zurich Espace Mittelland Suisse du Nord-Ouest Suisse orientale Tessin Suisse centrale Arts & Humanities Publications 50% (number) % % 36% 35% 33% Région lémanique % Zurich 25% 8000 Espace Mittelland 20% Suisse du Nord-Ouest % 14% 15% Tessin 10% 4000 Suisse centrale Suisse orientale 5% % 0% 33% % 2% 2% 2% 0 Lake Geneva region Zurich North-Western Switzerland Espace Mittelland Eastern Switzerland Ticino Central Switzerland 27

28 Publications by institutional sector and research field institutions focus their efforts. The higher education sector has a publication profile that (Fig. 18), which is of little surprise s overall profile 6). It Medicine and in the field of & Earth. The research institutes sector produces slightly more in the fields of (25%) and & Earth () and (2). The research institute sector is the most active (publishing proportionally more) in the field of Agriculture, Biology & Environmental (18%). The output of the private businesses sector is mainly focused on the fields of (33%) and (28%). As for the international organisation sector, it has the greatest share of publications in the field of Physical, Chemical & Earth (42%). Figure 18: Publication profile by institutional sector in Switzerland, Higher education Research institutes 27% 26% 8% 7% 1 7% and Earth Environmental 0.4% 2 26% 5% 8% 7% 8% and Earth 25% 1 18% Environmental Higher education Switzerland Research institutes Switzerland Private businesses International organisations 33% 26% and 13% Earth 0.4% 4% 8% 28% 7% 1 12% Environmental 0.3% 14% 26% 42% and Earth 8% 10% 7%1 4% 6% Environmental Private businesses Switzerland International organisations Switzerland 28

29 Publications by research field and institutional sector The higher education sector is dominant in the production of scientific articles in all research fields, especially Social & Behavioural and Arts & Humanities, accounting for 80% and 85% of publications in these two fields in Switzerland (Fig. 19). A quarter of publications in the Agriculture, Biology & Environmental field come from research institutes. The input of private businesses is greatest in & Technology (13%) and Life (10%). International organisations make their largest contribution in the & Earth field (producing around 10% of publications). Figure 19: Publications by research field and institutional sector in Switzerland, & Technology 67% 17% 13% 3% & Earth 72% 14% 4% 10% Agriculture, Biology & Environmental 65% 25% 7% 3% 75% 12% 10% 3% 70% 15% 5% Social & Behavioural 80% 4% 7% Arts & Humanities 85% 8% 4% 2% Higher education Research institutes Private businesses International organisations 29

30 2 Impact of publications Impact is an indication of peer recognition: in principle, the more frequently a publication is cited, the greater impact it is considered to have on research. Impact The impact of Switzerland s publications is 18 points above the world average of 100 (Fig. 20), putting it in third place behind the United States and the United Kingdom. This shows that Switzerland s publications have a very large readership among fellow researchers. Figure 20: Impact indicator for the period The top 20 countries USA UK Switzerland Singapore Denmark Australia Canada Finland Sweden Netherlands Norway Germany Belgium France Iceland Ireland New Zealand Austria Greece Italy A figure of 100 represents the world average Other countries Japan 89 Taiwan 89 South Korea 89 China 79 India 75 South Africa 72 Spain 71 Russia 62 Brazil 56 Most of the countries at the top of this list have a long tradition of publication. The emerging countries are not yet featured. China, for example, whose publication volume has increased significantly in recent years, has not yet achieved marked international recognition for its output as a whole, and so its impact is still below the world average (79 points, 29th position). Calculating the impact (relative citation indicator) The number of citations of each publication is counted, compared against the global average of citations in the given research field, and then benchmarked on a scale where 100 represents the global average. The analysis window is five years, the same as for the enumeration of publications. See Appendix B.3 for more detail on definitions and methods. 30

31 Switzerland compared to the top five countries in terms of impact d slightly since the first observation period ( ), rising from 116 (i.e. 16 points above the world average) to 118. The United States has always topped the ranking by impact. Denmark has seen its impact decline, while Singapore has made a leap forward. Figure 21: Evolution of impact for the top 6 countries USA UK Switzerland Singapore Denmark Australia World 60 31

32 Impact by research field As with publication volumes, a detailed analysis by research field gives a better picture of the impact of each country in terms of citations In the period , Switzerland s publications has an impact well above the world average in almost all research fields (Fig. 22). In the three fields of Agriculture, Biology & Environmental ; Life ; and & Technology, Switzerland outperforms the world average by over 20 points. The only field in which production is slightly below the world average is Arts & Humanities. Figure 22: Impact Switzerland World Environmental 32

33 2.3.2 Classification of countries by impact and by research field Switzerland currently ranks: second in the field of Agriculture, Biology & Environmental, third in the fields of & Technology and, fourth in & Earth, fifth in Social & Behavioural and sixth in. It is therefore very well placed in all research fields except Arts & Humanities. Having said this, the exact position of a country should not be overestimated as differences between the impact levels of various countries are very small, and a shift of one or two points from one year to the next can lead to major changes in rankings. The important thing is for a country to feature near the top of the ranking. Indeed, it is not surprising to see that the rankings have been dominated by more or less the same countries for several years. The emerging countries are still absent from the top flight. Figure 23: Classification of the top ten countries according to their impact in the research field, Engineering, Computing and Technology Physical, Chemical and Earth Agriculture, Biology and Environment al Clinical Medicine Social and Behavioural Arts and Humanities Singapore Singapore USA USA USA USA Australia Australia USA Switzerland UK Finland UK UK Switzerland UK UK Switzerland Sweden Denmark Netherlands USA Switzerland Denmark Finland UK Netherlands USA UK Australia Australia Australia Denmark Switzerland Canada Denmark Germany Ireland Singapore Switzerland Sweden China Greece Ireland France Ireland Norway Canada Belgium Canada Denmark Norway Germany Canada Norway Germany Belgium Greece Germany Canada Australia Belgium Italy France France Canada Denmark Netherlands Singapore France 33

34 2.3.3 Evolution An analysis of the evolution of impact by field of research shows that Switzerland has been performing very well since the period (Fig. 24), with six of the seven research fields above the world average of 100. Figure 24: Evolution of the impact of research fields in Switzerland Environmental Social and Behavioral World 34

35 Impact of institutional sectors in Switzerland As the higher education sector produces most publications in Switzerland, the impact of its publications is critical to the impact of all Switzerland's publications. And indeed, Figure 25 shows that Switzerland's curve is almost identical to that of the higher education sector. The impact of the four institutional sectors in Switzerland is currently above the world average. Figure 25: Evolution of the impact of institutional sectors in Switzerland Higher education Research institutes Private businesses International organisations Switzerland World 0 35

36 Impact Impact by region the period: Zurich (121), the Lake Geneva region (119), North-Western Switzerland (110) and the Espace Mittelland (109). Figure 26 shows that this has been the case for around a decade. It is interesting to note that the impact of the Zurich and Lake Geneva regions is higher than that of Switzerland overall (118). Figure 26: Evolution Zurich Lake Geneva region North-Western Switzerland Espace Mittelland Eastern Switzerland Ticino Central Switzerland Switzerland World 0 36

37 2.5.2 Analysis of the two most productive Swiss regions Zurich (canton of Zurich) The research field with the greatest impact is Agriculture, Biology & Environmental, followed by & Earth. With the exception of Arts & Humanities, all fields exceed the world average of 100. Figure 27: Evolution of the impact of research fields in the Zurich region Environmental Social and Behavioral Zurich World N.B.: The small number of publications in the field of Arts & Humanities means the results are not very robust. Lake Geneva region (cantons of Geneva, Vaud and Valais) All the research fields have an impact above the world average of 100, except Arts & Humanities. The field of & Technology has seen strong growth since the first study period, joining the two other fields with an impact score of over 120, and Agriculture, Biology & Environmental. Figure 28: Evolution of the impact of research fields in the Lake Geneva region Environmental Social and Behavioral Lake Geneva region World N.B.: The small number of publications in the field of Arts & Humanities means the results are not very robust. 37

38 3 Most cited publications (Top 10% publications) The first two chapters take account of all publications, from the least cited to the most cited. The impact of publications can be examined at the level of an individual country by using an additional measurement looking only at the most cited publications ('Top 10% publications'). Method used to determine the most cited publications After breaking down worldwide publications into sub-fields of research, the number of citations of each publication (by other authors) is counted for the five-year period following the year in which the publication appeared. These publications are then classified in descending order of citations, retaining only those which are in the top ten per cent of this classification (Top 10% Publications). The 10% threshold is a convention, selected to mirror other studies. Periods of Top 10% publications: The database used in this report contains publications until the end of Only publications which appeared in 2011 can be taken into account as citations have to be calculated on the basis of a five-year period. This means that the most recent period for Top 10% publications is , not This report draws a distinction between the world share of Top 10% publications by a country (chapter 3.1) and the proportion of the national output of a country which falls into the Top 10% publications category (chapter 3.3). The former gives an indication of the production performance of a country on a global scale, and the second gives an indication of the effectiveness of national production. For the method, see Appendix B.4 and the SERI 2015 report Most cited publications: Switzerland's performance

39 Breakdown of Top 10% publications by country Switzerland's share of the most cited publications worldwide (Top 10% publications) stood at 1.5% in the period (Fig. 29). As its world share of total publication production in is 1., we can conclude that a larger proportion of its production is among the most recognised publications at a global level. The United States remains the country with the highest share of Top 10% publications, despite a fall from 37.4% to 36.3%. Like Switzerland, its share of most cited publications is higher than its share of all publications (25. for the period ). Figure 29: World shares of Top 10% publications by country for the periods and for the top 20 countries in the period USA UK China Germany France Canada Italy Japan Australia Netherlands Spain South Korea Switzerland Sweden Taiwan Belgium India Denmark Brazil Finland 6.6% 6.7% 6.4% 5.8% 5.5% 5.6% 5.2% 5.2% 4.0% 4.0% 3.7% 3.7% 3.4% 3.7% 3.0% 2.8% 2.4% 2.3% % 1.7% 1.6% 1.5% 1.5% 1.3% 1.3% 1.3% 1.2% 1.0% 1.0% 1.0% 1.0% 0.8% 0.8% 0.8% 0.8% 0.8% 0.8% 36.3% 37.4% The top-ranking countries in this table are among 'traditional' producers of scientific publications, such as the United Kingdom, France and Germany. China, which has significantly increased its total output in recent years (Fig. 2), has also seen growth in most cited publications and is currently ranked third. A table in Appendix A.5 shows the numbers and world shares of Top 10% publications of 43 countries. 39

40 Top 10% publications by number of inhabitants and researchers As with the total number of publications, the absolute number of Top 10% publications depends on the size of the country, and so is skewed towards large countries. Using the number of Top 10% publications by number of inhabitants or researchers avoids the size factor and allows countries to be compared for effectiveness Top 10% publications by number of inhabitants Switzerland produces the most Top 10% publications per million inhabitants (560 Top 10% publications during the period ; Fig. 30), followed by Denmark, the Netherlands and Finland. The top places in the ranking are therefore occupied by relatively small countries. The United States, a large country which dominates the rankings in absolute terms, is only in eighth p top 20 is also worthy of note. Figure 30: Number of Top 10% publications per million inhabitants and per year, The top 20 countries Switzerland 560 Denmark 435 Netherlands 407 Finland 401 Australia 392 Sweden 391 Norway 384 USA 336 Canada 336 Singapore 303 UK 303 Belgium France Other countries Israel New Zealand Austria Ireland Germany Italy Taiwan South Korea Japan South Africa China Brazil Russia India

41 3.2.2 Top 10% publications by number of researchers Switzerland is at the head of the pack with 172 Top 10% publications per 1,000 researchers per year (Fig. 31), followed by the Netherlands (128 Top 10% publications) and Italy (105 Top 10% publications). Researchers in Switzerland are among the most productive, whether this is measured by the total number of publications (see chapter 1.3.2) or the most cited publications. Figure 31: Top 10% publications per year per 1,000 researchers, The top 20 countries Switzerland 172 Netherlands 128 Italy 105 Australia 88 USA 85 Belgium 76 Chile 76 Sweden 75 UK 74 Canada 72 Norway Denmark Other countries Ireland France New Zealand Greece Finland Austria Germany Singapore South Africa Taiwan South Korea Brazil India Japan China Russia

42 Top 10% publications as a proportion of the total output of a country What proportion of all publications produced in Switzerland do the Top 10% publications represent? The answer to this question helps us determine Switzerland s performance (see box). Switzerland is in second place, with 16.4% of its national publication output being among the most cited publications worldwide (Fig. 32). The United States comes top, as 17.2% of its national publication output consists of Top 10% publications. However, the US is less dominant here than in a classification based on world share of Top 10% publications (Fig. 29). Most of the top 20 places in this table are also occupied by countries with a tradition of publication, with the addition of China, which has entered the top 20 for the first time. Figure 32: Proportion of countries publications which are Top 10% publications, The top 20 countries 0% 10% USA Switzerland Denmark UK Australia Singapore Netherlands Canada Belgium Sweden Norway Germany Finland France Austria Ireland Italy New Zealand China Portugal 17.2% 16.4% 15.3% 15.3% 14.6% 14.5% 14.4% 13.8% 13.5% 13.5% 13.3% 13.0% 12.7% 12.4% 12.4% 12.3% 11.2% % Other countries 0% 10% South Africa 9.3% Taiwan 7. South Korea 7.7% Japan 7.5% India 5.7% Brazil 4.5% Russia 4. 10% threshold Fixing a 10% threshold to demarcate the most cited publications also means fixing a global performance threshold. If the Top 10% publications of a country account for 10% of all its publications, this means that the country is performing as well as the rest of the world. A country which exceeds this threshold, i.e. which has more than 10% of its publications among the most cited publications, is performing better than average; conversely, a country which does not reach this 10% score is performing worse than average. This performance criterion is independent of country size. 42