Developing countries in Asia and the Middle East recognizing that their future will largely depend on its own fundamental research began to speed up the development of science in the late XX century. This has allowed countries such as Iran, Turkey and China to become the fastest-growing scientific powers.

Such a conclusion is made in the report of Science-Metrix Company which analyzed the development of science in the world in the last 30 years. Status of research activities in the studied countries was assessed by the number of publications in scientific journals go around the world. According to the findings of the report science in the Middle East growing 4 times faster than the average. The most prolific among Middle Eastern countries was Iran – for 30 years the number of articles published by scientists from the Islamic Republic has increased 11 times compared to the world average. Second place was taken by Turkey with the increasing number of publications in 5.5 times. The other countries of the region – Cyprus, Oman and the UAE have also demonstrated a high rate of intellectual development. It is noteworthy that the bulk of research done on the exact sciences – physics, chemistry, etc.

However, it is important to note that the increase in the number of articles is a relative measure. In absolute terms, the picture looks a little different. If in 2009, Iranian and Chinese scientists published a 12,000 and 120,000 articles respectively then the number of articles by American researchers in the same year amounted to 260,000. Thus, in order to overtake the United States, China and all the more Iran need the years of development while maintaining a high rate of growth.

However, it should be emphasized the factor of interaction between the scientific communities of the countries of West and East, which is important in terms of development. For example, the possibility of Iran in this regard is limited due to the current political situation. At the same time, scholars of Asian States do not have barriers to cooperation with colleagues from Europe and the United States. Thus, according to the report of Thomson Reuters from 2003 to 2008 the number of articles carried out by Chinese scientists with counterparts from the U.S. and the UK has increased by more than 2 times.

In the West the vectors of science for the United States and Europe diverged. In the U.S. the number of new articles in recent years started to decline while Europe stands firm on its positions. According to the experts prepared the report EU countries saves from the downturn just a tendency to unite the scientific potential of different countries. And since a considerable part of the joint articles is written with the participation of experts from Asia, each of them not only does Europe slip into negative, but also adds an additional plus to East.

In the countries of the Eastern Bloc science developed in a fairly predictable ways. In all the countries of the former Soviet Union except the Baltic States the number of published scientific papers after the collapse of the Union has fallen dramatically. Small increase and even then not in all states there has been since 2006. Thus for countries in the west of the Baltic States the trend was of opposite nature – the fall of the “Iron Curtain” catalyze the restoration of their science. According to the findings of the Thomson Reuters agency the development of scientific activity in Russia is experiencing great difficulties and the chances to rectify the situation are small.

The review is prepared on the basis of the report of the “Science-Metrix” Company, the data of “Thomson Reuters” agency, the journal “Science”, as well as websites NewScientist.com and Lenta.ru.

Ashraf Khodjaev, PhD
Expert of the CPS