China now ranks first in four major areas of scientific research in terms of academic activity and influence — one than last year, according to the report “Research Fronts 2020”.
The report is published by the Chinese Academy of Sciences' Institutes of Science and Development and US-based Clarivate Analytics.
The 2020 report (identify) 148 frontier research topics, including 110 prominent and 38 emerging subjects, are divided into 11 broad research categories, clinical medicine to social sciences.
The list is compiled by analyzing data of highly (influence) and often-cited papers published from 2014 to 2019.
This year, China leads the world in four major research categories: agricultural, plant and animal sciences; chemistry and materials science; mathematics and information science.
China also ranks second in ecology and environmental sciences; physics; social sciences including (economic) and psychology.
, China is notably behind other scientific powerhouses in clinical medicine and astronomy and astrophysics, (rank) at 12th and 8th, respectively.
In terms of overall national performance in these research fronts, the US (top) the world for the fourth straight year, followed by China, the United Kingdom, Germany and France.
Of the top five countries, China is the only one that is making(notice) progress in catching up with the leader, the report shows.
