Part2 The Current Status of Science and Technologyin Japan and Other Nations
2.3 Trends Related to Research Performance
2.3.1 Scientific Papers
2.3.1.4 Relative comparative Advantage of Japan's Scientific Papers by Field
Another indicator marking trends in scientific paper production
by field is the"relative com-parative advantage(RCA)"indicator.This
takes the ratio of a country's scientific papers in a certain field to the
country's total number of papers,and compares that ratio to the worldwide
ratio of field papers to the total number. Figure2-3-6 shows
the trends in RCA for Japan's scientific papers.We can see that the value
for chemistry has generally followed a downward trend through the years,while
clinical medicine is rising sharply.
Figure2-3-6Trends in relative comparative advantage of
scientific papers in Japan,by field