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Thomson Reuters And The Chinese Academy Of Science Research Front Analysis Center Jointly Honour China’s Contribution To Global Research & Development

China is ranked second in the world by number of scientific papers published in 2007 according to citation analysis based on data from Web of Science by the Scientific business of Thomson Reuters

Beijing , CHINA - May 28, 2008 —

China’s scientific papers and their authors were recognized today with the first ‘Thomson Reuters Research Fronts Award 2008’ jointly presented by the Scientific business of Thomson Reuters and the Chinese Academy of Science (CAS) Research Front Analysis Center. This accolade is awarded to prominent scientific papers and their corresponding authors in recognition of their outstanding pioneering research and influential contribution to international research and development (R&D). The event was attended by over 150 of the winners’ industry peers from leading research institutions, universities and libraries.

The award is significant to China’s science community as it accords global recognition to their collaborative research work undertaken across all disciplines and institutions and highlights their contribution to groundbreaking research that has made China one of the world’s leading countries for the influence of its scientific papers. According to the citation analysis based on data from Scientific’s Web of Science , China is ranked second in the world by number of scientific papers published in 2007. Web of Science® provides seamless access to current and retrospective multidisciplinary information including the Science Citation Index Expanded, Social Sciences Citation Index and Arts & Humanities Citation Index which cover current and retrospective science, social sciences, and arts and humanities information from nearly 10,000 of the most prestigious, high impact research journals in the world.

The Awards event, which was held at Hotel Nikko New Century Beijing Century Hall, is part of a series of Asia Pacific Research Days hosted by the Scientific business of Thomson Reuters. These events recognize research excellence in countries and regions demonstrating they are leading the world through innovation in their respective fields. Similar events have taken place most recently in Australia and previously in countries such as South Korea, Japan and India.

According to Scientific’s latest World IP Today Report in Global Patent Activity 2007 ¹ , China has almost doubled its volume of patents from 2003-2007 and will become a strong rival to Japan and the United States in years to come. Academia represents a key source of innovation in many countries. China has the largest proportion of academic innovation. This is strong evidence of the Chinese Government’s drive to strengthen its academic institutions.

The Thomson Reuters Research Fronts Award 2008 are presented based on the most influential research fronts to which China scientists have made major contribution followed by the most cited China papers within these research fronts. The number of citations that an academic research paper has reflects its impact and influence on a given subject and the importance attributed to it by subsequent research. A total of 24 research papers by 95 authors were recognized today with the accolade after their authors’ research was analyzed using Scientific’s Research Front² methodology¹ to access their level of influence on specific scientific fields per se and other researchers in the sector. The field distribution of these 24 papers is as follows: Physics (8), Chemistry (7), Engineering (4), Materials Science (2), Mathematics (1), Computer Science (1) and Clinical Medicine (1).

Research Front methodology examines patterns of intense communications between scientists to identify research fronts and is based on compilation lists of Highly Cited Papers, defined as the top 1% of papers in each of 22 disciplines. Discovering how these highly cited works are related to each other (co-citation patterns) is accomplished by Scientific’s Essential Science Indicators ³ (ESI) and is called Research Front analysis, a tool which can assist in identifying areas where important or breakthrough research is being done and where the scientific community is focusing its attention.

During the period 2 001 to 2006, 494 of the 5,538 Research Fronts clusters around the world were Chinese research fronts. A total of 932 Highly Cited Papers by Chinese authors within these 494 research fronts are often cited in R&D circles. This is strong evidence that Chinese achievements in scientific research are playing an important role in contributing to global scientific research.

Said K eith MacGregor, Executive Vice President of Academic and Government Strategic Business Unit, Scientific business of Thomson Reuters, “We, the Scientific business of Thomson Reuters, have always maintained a very strong commitment to providing the global scientific community with intelligent and accurate information, and setting the global standards for discovery and research assessment tools for scientists to accelerate and optimize their research. Our methodology has helped China’s scientists and researchers identify the fields where they are taking the global lead and making a significant contribution.”

Professor Jin Bihui, Head of CAS Research Front Analysis Center and a r enowned bibliometrics expert in China, commented, “ The main significance of today’s Research Fronts Award in recognition of Chinese research lies in the fact that it addresses a very important value orientation issue. This Award will appraise the quality and standard of papers on the international science front and the papers’ academic influence. The 24 research papers recognised today will highlight the importance of research results. Presently, Chinese science is at a critical transition stage, where the emphasis is shifting from quantity expansion to quality improvement. This is the inevitable path of scientific progress that China needs to take in order to develop the capability and clout to make a greater contribution to the global science front.”

Said Dr. David Liu, Senior Director and Head of China Regional Business Unit for the Scientific business of Thomson Reuters, “ China is at the forefront of research in Asia Pacific, a hotbed of innovation and research, and the world. We are pleased to partner CAS Front Analysis Center and leading ‘Science Focus’ publication, both of whom are well respected authorities in national science and policy-making circles, to present the first China Research Day and Research Front Awards 2008 in recognition of China’s important contribution to the international research community. We look forward to developing our relationships further with our partners and China’s top institutions. Our congratulations to each of the winners for making a difference to the world of research today.”

The Scientific business of Thomson Reuters provides information and knowledge to accelerate research, discovery and innovation. Our authoritative, accurate and timely information is essential for drug companies to discover new drugs and get them to market faster; researchers to find relevant papers and know what’s newly published in their subject; and businesses to optimize their intellectual property and find competitive intelligence.  We create the research platforms and services of the future that will power our customers toward business and personal success. Scientific information solutions can be found at scientific.thomsonreuters.com

Notes to Editors:

¹Scientific’s latest World IP Today Report in Global Patent Activity 2007 w as published in April 2008. For full report results, visit scientific.thomsonreuters.com/press/insight

²Research Front methodology: Highly Cited Papers are the building blocks of Research Fronts, and are defined as the top 1% of papers in each different discipline. Each Research Front grouping consists of a set of Highly Cited Papers bound together by strong co-citations. A name is applied to the research front by a linguistic analysis of the titles of the papers. Research front analysis will not identify all research areas or all the papers in an area but it can assist in identifying areas where important or breakthrough research is being done and where the scientific community is focusing. Details of the methodology for creating research fronts is available on the ESI Special Topics website esi-topics.com/RFmethodology.html

Based on the 494 Research Fronts (RF) to which China scientists have made major contribution, RFs were further narrowed based on these basic criteria:

• There are at least four core papers in the RF.
• In each of the selected RF, there are at least 50% core papers that include Peoples Republic of China in author address.
• There must be one core paper with all authors from Peoples Republic of China.
• If the paper self-citation rate is greater than 40% for 50% or more core papers in a RF, this front will not be considered. After applying the above criteria, a total of 24 RFs were selected.

³ Essential Science Indicators SM ( ESI ) is a resource that enables researchers to conduct ongoing, quantitative analyses of research performance and track trends in science. Covering a multidisciplinary selection of more than 11,000 journals from around the world through Scientific’s Web of Science® , this in-depth analytical tool offers data for ranking scientists, institutions, countries, and journals. This unique and comprehensive compilation of science performance statistics and science trends data is based on journal article publication counts and citation data from Scientific databases. Available as a 10-year rolling file, ESI covers 10 million articles in 22 specific fields of research, and is updated every two months. Web of Science® is the world’s most authoritative citation database used at more than 3,100 research institutions around the world and in more than 80 countries.

About Chinese Academy of Science (CAS ) Research Front Analysis Center

The Research Front Analysis Centre of National Science Library (NSL), Chinese Academy of Sciences was founded in 2004. The Center is a new research group established by NSL to expand its focus beyond information services to knowledge services. The Center is committed to research that uses bibliometrics based on various kinds of databases and specialization techniques such as data mining and visualization to map research fronts and track the dynamics of science developments all over the world. The Center aims to work together with leading Chinese scientists to develop and promote China science globally.

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