(Reuters: London) -- The volume of research papers published in the field of materials science is currently being driven by Asia, and in particular China, which has overtaken the United States and Japan to become the largest single-country producer in the world, according to a study released by Thomson Reuters.

The study, Global Research Report: Materials Science and Technology, uses data from Thomson Reuters’ Web of Knowledge to examine the most productive and influential countries, research institutes, and universities, as well as topics in the field of materials science and technology—a core area of research for many economies due to its potential contributions to manufacturing processes and innovative products.

The findings show that much of Asia’s dramatic rise in materials science and technology comes from China, which produced more than 55,000 papers during the last five years, compared to publishing fewer than 50 papers in 1981. By comparison, the United States produced 38,189 papers during the same period. Since the early 1980s, its world share in this field has fallen by nearly half.

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