Fear Not, US

For those who worry that the US is losing its "scientific and technological edge over the rest of the world," Forbes' Matthew Herper says, fear not — the US is still on top. Herper asked Elsevier's consulting group SciVal Analytics to run an analysis of which countries produce the most publications in biology and medicine, and the data found that of almost 3,000 articles published in biomedical research in 2009, 40 percent — 1,169 articles — came from the US. The closest competitor is the UK at about 300 articles published in 2009, Herper says. The number of publications from the US grew about 7 percent between 2005 and 2009. "It's true that countries like South Korea (annualized growth: 32 percent), China (26 percent), and Ireland (22 percent) are growing a lot faster, but they are also starting from a smaller base." Herper adds. The US's citation score is also high, though the Netherlands and Switzerland scored higher on that point. "There may be threats to America's position in biomedicine, but at best they are hoof beats in the distance, not imminent dangers," Herper says.