Bibliometric indicators for national systems of innovation

Abstract

In bibliometric data lie opportunities to develop indicators relevant to central concerns of new theories of innovation, specifically networks within and between national systems, and variety and diversity of capability. The data can make a unique contribution to pictures compiled from multiple sources, providing an unrivalled objective, disaggregated and internationally comparable time series signature of networks and capabilities. In this paper, we present what we call systemic bibliometric indicators to distinguish our disaggregated, network-focused, time series approach from classical bibliometrics. On average, the British innovation system participates in 9% of the publications produced by the global innovation system and 28.5% of those publications involving an EU institution. Its participation is approximately 20% greater than the German innovation system and 70% greater than the French system. UK innovation system papers have slightly less impact on the global innovation system than US innovation system papers but more impact than any of the other innovation systems we have examined. The growth in impact of UK research on the global world-wide research system is the same as the Germany system, less than the US system and greater than the remaining innovation systems. The distribution of the top twenty scientific subfields world-wide is quite different from the distribution in the global system and other innovation systems. Five of the worldâ s top twenty subfields (applied physics, condensed matter physics, analytical chemistry, physiology and cardiovascular systems) are not ranked in the top twenty UK subfields. The size distribution of scientific subfields suggests that the British innovation system has its own unique characteristics.