Relative Positions of Countries in the World of Science

A novel picture of the relative positions of countries in the world of science is offered through application of a two-dimensional mapping method which is based on quantity and quality indicators of the scientific production as peer-reviewed articles. To obtain such indicators, different influential effects such as the background global trends, temporal fluctuations, disciplinary characteristics, and mainly, the effect of countries resources have been taken into account. Fifty countries with the highest scientific production are studied in twelve years (1996-2007). A common clustering algorithm is used to detect groups of co-evolving countries in the two-dimensional map, and thereby countries are classified into four major clusters based on their relative positions in the two-dimensional map. The final results are in contrast with common views on relative positions of countries in the world of science, as demonstrated by considering some examples like USA, China or New Zealand. The proposed method and results thereof might influence the concept of 'scientific advancement' and the future scientific orientations of countries.