On August 7, the National Institute for Scientific and Technological Studies and Academic Policy (NISTEP), under the Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, released a global ranking based on the number of countries' 'top 10% papers'—research papers that are highly regarded and frequently cited. China ranked first for the sixth consecutive year, while Japan ranked 13th for the fourth consecutive year. However, they also expressed 'discomfort' regarding some of the data involved.
The data from “the top 10% of papers” is often used by Japan as a basis for formulating public policies. For example, the government’s “Basic Plan for Science and Technology Innovation,” which guides Japan’s science and technology policies, sets a goal to increase Japan’s ranking from its current 13th to 3rd place by 2035.
Additionally, the data published by this institution has been used in the journal 'Science' for statistics on the number of top papers worldwide.
Surveys show that among the top 10% of scientific papers published between 2022 and 2024, China accounted for 84,392 papers (40.6% of the total), ranking first. The United States ranked second with 29,911 papers (14.4%). Japan only produced 3,163 papers, accounting for 1.5% of the total.
However, the institution changed its tone of speech and mentioned that among the citations of China's "top 10% papers," 67% come from domestic Chinese researchers. In contrast, domestic citations account for 23% in the United States and 9% in Japan. This factor is seen by the Japanese side as a key "argument" that affects the ranking results.
NISTEP Director Masanori Igami, who heads the research center responsible for the relevant studies, said: “The ‘top 10% papers’ index carries a certain risk; it may evolve into a measure of internal academic focus within China's academia rather than reflecting global scholarly consensus.”
If the "excess self-reference" behavior in China has existed, then the meaning of this indicator will change. We need to use multiple indicators to evaluate scientific research capability.
Regarding this, Japanese media has been fanning the flames. The Mainichi Shimbun reported: "If the influence of certain countries becomes absolutely dominant, the effectiveness of this indicator as a measure of global attention will likely be lost."
