News from Reuters (Now Thomson-Reuters):

Scientific has joined with the Chinese Academy of Science (CAS) to recognize China’s growing contribution to international research and development. The new awards program, the Thomson Reuters Research Fronts Awards 2008, brings attention to prominent scientific papers and their authors who are making an influential contribution to international research and development. The Awards event was held in Beijing on May 28.

A total of 24 research papers by 95 authors were recognized with the accolade after their authors’ research was analyzed using Scientific’s Research Front methodology (sidebar) to access their level of influence on specific scientific fields and other researchers.

The award is significant to China’s science community as it accords global recognition to their collaborative research work undertaken across all disciplines and institutions. It also highlights the community’s contribution to groundbreaking research that has made China one of the world’s leading countries for the influence of its scientific papers. According to the citation analysis based on data from Scientific’s Web of Science, China is ranked second in the world by number of scientific papers published in 2007.

The Thomson Reuters Research Fronts Awards 2008 are presented based on the most influential research fronts to which China scientists have made major contribution followed by the most cited China papers within these research fronts. The number of citations that an academic research paper has reflects its impact and influence on a given subject and the importance attributed to it by subsequent research.

The Awards event is part of a series of Asia Pacific Research Days hosted by Scientific. These events recognize research excellence in countries and regions demonstrating they are leading the world through innovation in their respective fields. Similar events have taken place most recently in Australia and previously in countries such as South Korea, Japan and India.