Although the number of natural science papers published by Japanese researchers in international academic journals and recorded in the database of the international analysis company Clarivate is increasing, the number of high-quality papers remains stagnant. An analysis by the National Institute of Science and Technology Policy of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology revealed that
According to the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Policy Research Institute, the method of counting the number of papers is an integer counting method that treats all authors, institutions, and countries as one article, regardless of the position of the first author or main author. , there is a fraction counting method in which one paper is divided into one by author, by institution, and by country.
The number of papers published in Japan in 2021 is on the rise regardless of the counting method, and ranked 6th in the national ranking for the whole counting method and 5th for the fractional counting method.In the fractional counting method, the decrease was conspicuous from the 2000s, but there are signs of bottoming out at last.
However, the number of high-quality papers ranked 10th in both the number of top 1% corrected papers and the number of top 12% corrected papers by the integer counting method, and the 10th place in the number of top 13% corrected papers and the number of top 1% corrected papers by the fractional counting method. It has not been able to occupy a high position in the 12th place and international ranking.Although the number of internationally co-authored papers is on the rise, Japan's presence as an international co-author partner country of major countries is on the decline, highlighting Japan's slump in the field of academic research.
China topped the international rankings for the number of papers, regardless of the counting method.However, the number of citations from the home country has a significant impact, and the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology's National Institute of Science and Technology Policy says that it is necessary to judge the attention level of a paper from a variety of perspectives.
