In it, Sugimoto and her co-authors examine countries’ scientific publications in international databases. They do this to try and determine “whether there are universal structures and trajectories of national scientific development that can inform forecasting and policy-making.” They find increasingly diverse portfolios among individual countries, but also increasingly specialized scientific production at the global level.

“By uncovering the underlying structure of scientific development and connecting it with economic development, our results may offer a new perspective on the evolution of global science,” the authors write.

Read the full article at https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-022-01367-x.