U.S.

100
BRAZIL
1.2
HONG
KONG
1.3
AUSTRIA
1.4
DENMARK
1.5
BELGIUM
1.9
SINGAPORE
2.6
TAIWAN
3.1
SWEDEN
2.5
ISRAEL
2.6
INDIA
3.2
NETHERLANDS
4.0
AUSTRALIA
4.4
SWITZERLAND
4.9
SOUTH
KOREA
6.7
SPAIN
5.5
ITALY
6.1
CANADA
8.3
FRANCE
11.7
U.K.
16.9
JAPAN
18.4
CHINA
19.8
GERMANY
20.4
FINLAND
1.0
RUSSIAN
FED.
1.3
1. U.S.
2. China
3. Japan
4. Germany
5. France
6. U.K.
7. Russian Fed.
8. Italy
9. Canada
10. Spain
11. Australia
12. Sweden
13. Netherlands
14. Switzerland
15. Austria
16. Turkey
17. Israel
18. Belgium
19. Finland
20. Denmark
21. Mexico
22. Poland
23. South Africa
24. Norway
25. Portugal
1. U.S.
2. Germany
3. U.K.
4. Japan
5. France
6. Italy
7. Brazil
8. Canada
9. Spain
10.Australia
11. Sweden
12. Switzerland
13. Poland
14. Netherlands
15. Turkey
16. Portugal
17. Czech Reublic
18. Austria
19. Belgium
20. Mexico
21. Finland
22. Israel
23. Slovakia
24. Denmark
25. Greece
1. U.S.
2. Germany
3. China
4. Japan
5. U.K.
6. France
7. Canada
8. South Korea
9. Italy
10. Spain
11. Switzerland
12. Australia
13. Netherlands
14. India
15. Taiwan
16. Israel
17. Singapore
18. Sweden
19. Belgium
20. Denmark
21. Austria
22. Russian Fed.
23. Hong Kong
24. Brazil
25. Finland
EXPENDITURE
Gross domestic expenditure
on research and
development (2009*)
PATENTS ISSUED
Number of patents
(U.S. Patent and
Trademark Oce, 2011)
RESEARCH
PAPERS
Score, on a 100-point
scale, based on science
papers in top journals
(Digital Science, 2011)
HIGHER EDUCATION
Number of science and
engineering doctoral degrees
awarded (2009*)

* Preliminary report
assesses China
and Hong Kong
separately. The
nal data may
combine the two,
altering rankings
somewhat.
** Data set is
primarily limited
to Organization for
Economic
Co-operation and
Development
(OECD) member
countries. Some
values are from
2007 or 2008
Country is not a
part of the
OECD data set
for research and
development
and/or doctorates
Countries in
gray do not
rank among the
top 25 for research
papers
*Data set is
primarily limited
to Organization
for Economic
Co-operation and
Development
(OECD) member
countries. Some
values are from
2007 or 2008.
Country is not
a part of the
OECD data set
for research and
development
and/or doctorates.
Countries in
gray do not
rank among
the top 25 for
research papers.

1. U.S.
2. Japan
3. South Korea
4. Germany
5. Taiwan
6. Canada
7. France
8. U.K.
9. China
10. Italy
11. Australia
12. Israel
13. Netherlands
14. Switzerland
15. Sweden
16. India
17. Finland
18. Belgium
19. Austria
20. Denmark
21. Singapore
22. Hong Kong
23. Spain
24. Norway
25. Ireland
Graphic by Arno Ghel
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October 2012, ScienticAmerican.com 45
APORE
The Worlds Best Countries in Science
!"#$ &#'() *+( ,*-+$./ 0($$(. than another in science! t's not an easy thing to measure. Publishing research papers
is a good way to get a bead on basic research, but it doesn't say much about whether a nation is taking advantage o
those good ideas. For this, other metrics come into play. Patents give a clue as to how well a country is exploiting its ideas
or commercial gain. What a nation spends on R&D captures not only what universities and government research
programs do but also the contribution rom industry. How many students a nation educates in science and technology
disciplines is a key metric, but little data are available.
The rankings o the top 25 nations that snake through the middle o these two pages are based on preliminary data
rom Digital Science, a sister company to Nature Publishing Group (which owns Sc|ent||c /mer|can). t has assembled
a database o research papers published in top peer-reviewed journals around the world and has organized them by nation
o origin. The table at the let shows the rankings or this metric and others -patents, R&D expenditures and doctoral
candidates produced. For more inormation, visit ScientifcAmerican.com/oct20!2/global-science. -T|e EJ|tors
SCORECARD
sad1012Gute3p.indd 45 8/20/12 7:14 PM
U.S.
100
BRAZIL
1.2
HONG
KONG
1.3
AUSTRIA
1.4
DENMARK
1.5
BELGIUM
1.9
SINGAPORE
2.6
TAIWAN
3.1
SWEDEN
2.5
ISRAEL
2.6
INDIA
3.2
NETHERLANDS
4.0
AUSTRALIA
4.4
SWITZERLAND
4.9
SOUTH
KOREA
6.7
SPAIN
5.5
ITALY
6.1
CANADA
8.3
FRANCE
11.7
U.K.
16.9
JAPAN
18.4
CHINA
19.8
GERMANY
20.4
FINLAND
1.0
RUSSIAN
FED.
1.3
1. U.S.
2. China
3. Japan
4. Germany
5. France
6. U.K.
7. Russian Fed.
8. Italy
9. Canada
10. Spain
11. Australia
12. Sweden
13. Netherlands
14. Switzerland
15. Austria
16. Turkey
17. Israel
18. Belgium
19. Finland
20. Denmark
21. Mexico
22. Poland
23. South Africa
24. Norway
25. Portugal
1. U.S.
2. Germany
3. U.K.
4. Japan
5. France
6. Italy
7. Brazil
8. Canada
9. Spain
10.Australia
11. Sweden
12. Switzerland
13. Poland
14. Netherlands
15. Turkey
16. Portugal
17. Czech Reublic
18. Austria
19. Belgium
20. Mexico
21. Finland
22. Israel
23. Slovakia
24. Denmark
25. Greece
1. U.S.
2. Germany
3. China
4. Japan
5. U.K.
6. France
7. Canada
8. South Korea
9. Italy
10. Spain
11. Switzerland
12. Australia
13. Netherlands
14. India
15. Taiwan
16. Israel
17. Singapore
18. Sweden
19. Belgium
20. Denmark
21. Austria
22. Russian Fed.
23. Hong Kong
24. Brazil
25. Finland
EXPENDITURE
Gross domestic expenditure
on research and
development (2009*)
PATENTS ISSUED
Number of patents
(U.S. Patent and
Trademark Oce, 2011)
RESEARCH
PAPERS
Score, on a 100-point
scale, based on science
papers in top journals
(Digital Science, 2011)
HIGHER EDUCATION
Number of science and
engineering doctoral degrees
awarded (2009*)

* Preliminary report
assesses China
and Hong Kong
separately. The
nal data may
combine the two,
altering rankings
somewhat.
** Data set is
primarily limited
to Organization for
Economic
Co-operation and
Development
(OECD) member
countries. Some
values are from
2007 or 2008
Country is not a
part of the
OECD data set
for research and
development
and/or doctorates
Countries in
gray do not
rank among the
top 25 for research
papers
*Data set is
primarily limited
to Organization
for Economic
Co-operation and
Development
(OECD) member
countries. Some
values are from
2007 or 2008.
Country is not
a part of the
OECD data set
for research and
development
and/or doctorates.
Countries in
gray do not
rank among
the top 25 for
research papers.

1. U.S.
2. Japan
3. South Korea
4. Germany
5. Taiwan
6. Canada
7. France
8. U.K.
9. China
10. Italy
11. Australia
12. Israel
13. Netherlands
14. Switzerland
15. Sweden
16. India
17. Finland
18. Belgium
19. Austria
20. Denmark
21. Singapore
22. Hong Kong
23. Spain
24. Norway
25. Ireland
44 Scientic American, October 2012
sad1012Gute4p.indd 44 8/21/12 4:18 PM