1 Perspectives on UK’s Research Strengths December 2, 2010, London HEPI Conference Dr Nick Fowler, Director of Strategy, Elsevier
Mar 28, 2015
1
Perspectives on UK’s Research Strengths
December 2, 2010, London
HEPI Conference
Dr Nick Fowler, Director of Strategy, Elsevier
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Overview of Scientific, Technical and Medical (STM) Information industry
Journals, print and EJournals, print and E
Books, print and EBooks, print and E
Databases and online toolsDatabases and online tools
Academic and government institutions
Academic and government institutions
R&D-intensive corporations
R&D-intensive corporations
MedicalMedical
IndividualsIndividuals
Other
Other
OtherOther
Source: SimbaSource: Simba
CustomersCustomersProductsProducts
3
Each year
• 3 million articles submitted
• 300,000 peer reviewers
• 1.5 million articles published
• 30 million readers
• 2 billion digital article downloads
• 30 million article citations
Science publishers have a privileged vantage point on science
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Publication impact, societal impact: Nobel prize examples
Andrew Geim, Konstantin Novoslev Andrew Geim, Konstantin Novoslev GrapheneGraphene 23x average 23x average
Physics Physics
Faster computers, lighter aeroplanes Faster computers, lighter aeroplanes
2010 Nobel Prize winner2010 Nobel Prize winner
Robert EdwardsRobert Edwards
IdeaIdea Publication impactPublication impact
IVFIVF
Societal impactSocietal impact
44x average 44x average
Medicine Medicine
4 million births 4 million births
UK, research articles published: 2003-2009
UK researchers authored 114,000+ articles in 2009 The number of articles authored by UK researchers grew on average by 3.3% per year from 2003-2009, vs. 4.0% globally
Note: Data shows UK’s article outputs (research articles, reviews and conference papers) per year, 2003-09. Growth rates are CAGR calculated over the period 2003-09.Source: Scopus
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R&D funding inputs vs. published article outputs by country
Gross Expenditure on R&D ($Millions)
Logarithmic scalesLogarithmic scales
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7
2006
Share of global R&D spending, 2006 and 2015
2015
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Share of published journal articles, 1996-2020 (projected)G
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UK, impact of research outputs: 2003-2008
UK articles are cited on average 5.8 times vs. 4.6 for the world average In terms of Impact, UK ‘punches above its weight’ UK’s growing publication impact is associated with growing levels of international collaborationNote: Data shows UK’s article outputs (research articles, reviews and conference papers) and shares using 5 year periods, e.g. 2008 corresponds to 2004-2008 publications .
Size of bubble proportional to 5-year article output
Source: Scopus
Inte
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Citations per article
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UK research outputs: rates of collaboration rate
Science is becoming more collaborative: the percent of articles co-authored by researchers residing in separate countries increased from 26% in 2003 to 33% in 2008
The UK’s rate of international collaboration is significantly higher: 41% of articles were co-authored with non-UK researchers in 2008
Note: Data shows proportion of article outputs representing international collaboration (where one or more other countries are listed in the author address) in 5-year periods, e.g. 2008 corresponds to 2004-2008 publications and 2004-2008 citations. Source: Scopus
Inte
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International collaboration rates correlates strongly with publication impact
International scientific collaboration is generally acknowledged as a positive force driving national impact and prestige Domestic articles (‘1’) have no collaboration partners have around 3 times fewer citations per article than those with four collaborating countries (‘5’)
Source: Scopus
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Number of collaborating countries (where 1 = domestic)11 22 33 44 55
1212
UK: international collaboration
Note: Collaboration relationships are shown for the UK and its local collaboration environment. Articles are counted in a 5-year window (i.e. 2004-08 citations to 2004-08 articles) and are represented as variable-thickness lines (edges) between countries (nodes). Line thickness represents the share of collaboration to or from the connected countries. Lines are only shown where greater than 1,000 collaborative articles in this period. Visualisation is by the Force Atlas algorithm, which treats the network of edges as a system of interconnected springs and seeks to satisfy the tension of all edges simultaneously in a 2D rendering; hence, countries sharing a collaborative relationship tend to group together, while those that do not are placed further apart. Source: Scopus
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Scientists are more mobileDestinations of researchers formerly affiliated with UK institutions
Top destinations for UK-based researchers
1. US2. Germany3. France4. Australia5. Canada6. Italy7. Netherlands8. Spain9. Japan10. China
Top destinations for UK-based researchers
1. US2. Germany3. France4. Australia5. Canada6. Italy7. Netherlands8. Spain9. Japan10. China
Source: ScopusSource: Scopus
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Map of UK research strengths, 2009
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UK distinctive competency example Application of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) technology in clinical neurophysiology
Large, fast-growing area of research (20,000 articles in 2009); UK has 24% share, cites more recent research than the US Leading UK institutions: UCL, Oxford, Cambridge, Birmingham Most prolific author: from University of Birmingham Most prolific and most cited institution: UCL
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UK distinctive competency example Acute Psychiatric Nursing
Of all areas of research strength, UK leads by the greatest margin in Acute Psychiatric Nursing: 3x US articles, 2x US citations Leadership driven by King’s College London, City University, U. of Central Lancaster, U. of Manchester and U of Nottingham
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UK distinctive competency example Climate change and sea levels
UK slightly less prolific than US, but more highly cited. Leading institutions in the world include BAS, Oxford, Reading, Bristol and Durham Effective collaboration among UK researchers across disciplinary and institutional boundaries to create a national strength Example: second most highly cited article: physicists, computer scientists (Oxford), climate modellers (Met Office, Rutherford Appleton
Laboratory), earth scientist (Open University), time-series analyst (LSE), meteorologist (U of Reading)
1818Source: Analysis based on Scopus data
UK universities: volume vs impact of outputs
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0.20
0.40
0.60
0.80
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1.40
1.60
1.80
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0 1000 2000 3000 4000 5000 6000 7000
Articles 2007
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RG 94G Others
World Average
Median FWRI per groupRussell Group 1.5094 Group 1.38Others 0.87
Research IntensiveResearch Selective
No UK university appears in more than 160 (40%) of UK’s distinctive research competencies Both Russell Group and non-Russell Group are highly cited relative to the world average Effective collaboration by UK researchers across all types of institutions at the level of highly specific sub-fields drives UK’s overall impact
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UK research strengths vs. other global leaders
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Implications of observations are challenging
Observations
1. R&D spending drives R&D outputs, and new
global leaders are emerging
2. Science is becoming more collaborative
3. Scientists are more mobile geographically
4. Science is becoming more interdisciplinary
Observations
1. R&D spending drives R&D outputs, and new
global leaders are emerging
2. Science is becoming more collaborative
3. Scientists are more mobile geographically
4. Science is becoming more interdisciplinary
Challenges
• How to hold and grow share given global shift
• How to find and build links with the right partners
• How to identify, attract and retain the best
• How to allocate funds across subjects and departments
Challenges
• How to hold and grow share given global shift
• How to find and build links with the right partners
• How to identify, attract and retain the best
• How to allocate funds across subjects and departments
21Source: “E-journals, their use, value and impact”, 2009 RIN/Ciber
Collaboration area (1 of 4): quality content to drive research efficiency
Science information: less than 1% of universities’ spending, but drives the efficiency and effectiveness of the remaining 99% A 2x increase in article downloads is associated with a 3x increase in articles authored, a 2.7x increase in PhDs granted, and a 4x increase in grants won Effective research institutions drive societal and economic benefits
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Collaboration area (2 of 4): enhanced access to scientific research data
Very high importance , very high satisfaction
High importance , low satisfaction
Source: 3823 researcher respondents, PRC global access vs. Importance study http://www.publishingresearch.net/
Publishers are working to facilitate access to experimental data sets Link data sets to journal articles, e.g. Pangaea, CCDC Support and drive guidelines with key partners, e.g. Wellcome Trust, NSF, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
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Collaboration area (3 of 4): amplified evidence to inform science policy
++
Example, the UCL/Lancet commission: 29 researchers, 13 UCL departments examined the Health Effects of Climate Change. Report was the most requested in Scopus of 7,500+ UCL-authored articles and was in the top 1% of most downloaded articles from ScienceDirect. Findings discussed at a meeting of commonwealth health ministers, and mentioned at the World Health Assembly Other Lancet commissions: the future of health and development with the LSHTM to coincide with the UN Summit held in New York; with UCL on
Healthy Cities; with Harvard on the future of health professional education.
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Collaboration area (4 of 4): tailored information to manage research impact
Project to develop metrics and tools to help institutions maximise the impact of their research investments Institutional and national decision-making: needs data and analysis of collaboration networks, research strengths, and emerging hot spots of research
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Summary
Quality information Quality information
Quality researchQuality research
Quality of life Quality of life