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US loses top spot to China in chemistry papers amid Washington’s increased scrutiny of foreign ties in basic research
- Although China published 8 per cent of the world's scientific articles as of November this year, it accounted for 24.2 per cent of all retractions
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Coco Fengin Guangdong
China has for the first time topped the charts as the world’s biggest producer of high-quality research in chemistry, knocking the US down to second place, according to the latest survey by a Nature database.
The change in leadership comes amid a narrowing tech gap between the two largest economies and escalating tensions as Washington becomes worried over foreign scientific ties and influence.
China’s output of papers related to chemistry study grew nearly 18 per cent to 6,183.75 in 2018, while US output, after having led for three consecutive years, dropped 6.2 per cent to 5,371.32, according to Nature Index, a database of academic papers compiled by Nature Research, which measures each nation's contribution to articles by tracking papers in 82 journals.
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Amid an ongoing trade war between the two nations, technology and scientific ties have come under the spotlight, with calls from Congress and the White House to crack down on the open exchange of scientific information with China.
A new report commissioned by the US National Science Foundation argues that US pre-eminence in science and technology “has not gone unchallenged” and China “may now be gaining an upper hand.” The report, authored by Virginia-based consulting group JASON, which has advised Washington since the days of the cold war with the Soviet Union, addressed the politically sensitive issue of foreign influence on US-funded research.
It recommended that American scientists who hide foreign ties should face sanctions for research misconduct.
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