The Emergence of the BRIC Countries on the World Stage: Bibliometric Perspectives

Dear Colleagues,

The importance of the BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China) on the world stage has been increasing in all areas—politics and economics, as well as science and technology. As a result, studies on their emergence have been flourishing, including bibliometric studies. For example, it has been found that research output in China has been growing so fast that it is expected to soon surpass that of the USA. There have also been quite a few bibliometric studies on the performance of these countries in individual research fields, such as bioinformatics, nano-science and technology, and biochemistry and molecular biology, as well as studies on research systems and policies in these countries, such as research funding strategies.

This Special Issue aims to provide a systematic and updated examination of the emergence of the BRIC countries on the world stage from bibliometric perspectives. In addition to comprehensive analyses of the development of science, technology, and innovation in these countries over time, and their interplay with science policies in comparison with other parts of the world, it is also important to carefully examine data sources and research methods to make such comparisons are meaningful and accurate. For example, there has been a concerted effort to increase the coverage of Chinese content in both Web of Science and Scopus in the past few years. How should this artificial increase be taken into account when analyzing longitudinal trends of publication output using these data sources? It should also be interesting to study and discuss the political, industrial, economical, and other implications of the development of science, technology, and innovation in these countries. Other ideas on the theme of this Special Issue are also welcomed and encouraged.

Dangzhi Zhao
Guest Editor

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• Bibliometrics
• BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India, China)
• Research evaluation
• Research output
• Research impact
• Science, technology, and innovation
• Coverage of citation databases
• Intellectual structures of research fields
• Research trends