Packalen Mikko
University of Waterloo.
Scientometrics. 2019 Mar;188(3):787-808. doi: 10.1007/s11192-018-2991-4. Epub 2019 Feb 4.
A key decision in scientific work is whether to build on novel or well-established ideas. Because exploiting new ideas is often harder than more conventional science, novel work can be especially dependent on interactions with colleagues, the training environment, and ready access to potential collaborators. Location may thus influence the tendency to pursue work that is close to the edge of the scientific frontier in the sense that it builds on recent ideas. We calculate for each nation its position relative to the edge of the scientific frontier by measuring its propensity to build on relatively new ideas in biomedical research. Text analysis of 20+ million publications shows that the United States and South Korea have the highest tendencies for novel science. China has become a leader in favoring newer ideas when working with basic science ideas and research tools, but is still slow to adopt new clinical ideas. Many locations remain far behind the leaders in terms of their tendency to work with novel ideas, indicating that the world is far from flat in this regard.
科学工作中的一个关键决策是基于新颖的想法还是已确立的想法开展研究。由于探索新想法往往比传统科学更具难度，新颖的研究工作可能特别依赖与同事的互动、培训环境以及与潜在合作者的便捷联系。从基于近期想法开展研究的角度而言，地理位置可能会影响追求接近科学前沿边缘工作的倾向。我们通过衡量各国在生物医学研究中基于相对新想法开展研究的倾向，来计算每个国家相对于科学前沿边缘的位置。对2000多万篇出版物的文本分析表明，美国和韩国开展新颖科学研究的倾向最高。在运用基础科学理念和研究工具时，中国在支持更新颖想法方面已成为领先者，但在采用新临床理念方面仍较为迟缓。就运用新颖想法开展研究的倾向而言，许多地区仍远远落后于领先者，这表明在这方面世界远非处于同一水平。
