A novel methodology to assess the scientific standing of nations at field level

TL;DR

This paper introduces a new bibliometric methodology that evaluates the scientific standing of nations at the field level by analyzing research outputs relative to inputs, demonstrated through application to Italy's academic system from 2012-2016.

Contribution

It presents a novel 'output-to-input-oriented' approach for assessing national research strengths and weaknesses at the field level, addressing limitations of previous bibliometric methods.

Findings

Identified key research strengths and weaknesses in Italy's scientific fields.

Validated the approach using data from 218 research fields over 2012-2016.

Provided insights for strategic research policy formulation.

Abstract

The formulation of national research policies would benefit greatly from reliable strategic analysis of the scientific infrastructure, aimed at identifying the relevant strengths and weaknesses at field level. Bibliometric methodologies thus far proposed in the literature are not completely satisfactory. This work proposes a novel "output-to-input-oriented" approach, which permits identification of research strengths and weaknesses on the basis of the ratios of top scientists and highly cited articles to research expenditures in each field. The proposed approach is applied to the Italian academic system. 2012-2016 scientific publications are analyzed, in the 218 research fields where bibliometric assessment is appropriate.