China Pulls Ahead of U.S. in Global Research Output

Frontiers data show China published 1.1 million papers in 2024, far surpassing the U.S. at about 880,000 papers.
Frontiers data show China published 1.1 million papers in 2024, far surpassing the U.S. at about 880,000 papers. (Photo by Pedro Pardo / AFP)

China is publishing more scientific papers than the United States, and the distance between them is getting wider, quicker than many people in the field thought it would.

The shift is no longer something that only shows up in specialist charts or internal reports; it is now visible in the headline numbers.

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by Edwin Shri Bimo

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