中美科技产出比较

该文以科技文献为分析基础，从数量与质量方面比较了中美之间科技发展的差距。数量比较选择了
SCI、INSPEC、Ei Compendex三大数据库，而质量比较则是应用了SCI中的引文分析。根据作者以前对中国
科技产出的评估，该文选择了30个技术研究领域，全面考察了中国在物质科学、环境、工程和生命科学重点
发展方向上论文数量情况。
SCI数据显示在几乎所有的技术领域内，虽然中国在论文数量方面增幅很大，但美国仍然处于领先地位
(2002－2007)。到2007年，INSPEC数据表明，在大多数技术领域内，中国的科技论文数量赶上或超过了美国；
但在生物医学和部分环境科学领域，美国仍然保持着较大的领先优势。Ei Compendex的数据分析结果表明，对
于大多数技术领域，到2007年中国的科技论文产量更大；而与日益增长的科研经费恰恰相反，美国发表论文的
数量似乎在2005年就已经到达了顶峰。如果不考虑生物医学领域，中国显然已经成为美国的强劲竞争对手。
为了对质量进行比较，该文对论文和引文数量进行了归一化处理，但仅限于纳米技术领域(1998－2003
年)。结果表明，虽然在过去的10年里美国在质量方面明显地领先中国(以及其他主要纳米技术研究国家)，但
依然不能改表中国的论文质量持续提升的事实。中国目前已经达到可以与法国、意大利、日本和澳大利亚的
论文质量相提并论的地步。

Comparison of China/USA Science and Technology Performance

The relative performance of science and technology (S&T) in the USA and PRC was compared in terms of
quantity and quality, as reflected in their technical literatures. Three databases (Science Citation Index (SCI), INSPEC,
Ei Compendex) were selected for the quantity comparison, and citation analysis in the SCI was used for the quality
comparison. Thirty technology and research areas were compared for quantity production, and are presented in this paper.
These 30 areas were selected based on our previous assessment of PRC S&T output, and represented areas of emphasis by
the PRC in physical, environmental, engineering, and life sciences. In almost all technical areas, the USA had the quantity
(number of papers) lead (for the period 2002-2007) based on the SCI results, although the PRC has made dramatic strides
to overtake the USA.
In most of the technical areas, by 2007 PRC had attained parity with, or exceeded, the S&T literature production of
the USA in the INSPEC database. The major exceptions were the biomedical field and some aspects of environmental
science, where the USA still had a large lead. For most technical areas, by 2007 the PRC had even higher relative S&T
literature production, based on the Ei Compendex, compared to the INSPEC results. Moreover, the USA production
appears to have peaked (in the Ei Compendex) in the 2005 time frame, despite increasing amounts of funding for S&T
research. The PRC challenge in non-biomedical research and technology sectors becomes apparent in those databases that
do not contain substantial biomedical research papers, and therefore remove a substantial intrinsic USA advantage.
For quality computations, the publication and citation results were normalized to discrete slices of time, and are
presented for nanotechnology only (for the period 1998-2003). While the USA held a commanding lead in quality over
the PRC (and the other major nanotechnology producer nations as well) during the past decade, the PRC has increased
the quality of its publications monotonically, and now appears to be competitive with France, Italy, Japan, and Australia,
using the quality metric in this paper.