Mapping the Nordic Research Landscape for the period 2016-2020: a comprehensive study of research outcomes, collaborations, and impact

Abstract

Background This article aims to study the research outcomes of five Nordic countries in terms of research publications, spend on R&D, outcomes and collaborations as these are important parameters to understand research thrust of the countries/regions, in addition to their innovation capability. Methods The research outcomes of the Nordic countries in terms of the total number of publications, coauthored publications, publications with corporate collaborators, citations, the Field Weighted Citation Index (FWCI) and publications in different subject areas were retrieved using Scopus and its associate SciVal. The research outcomes were extracted for five years from 2016-2020. In addition, total population, researcher population and research spend of these countries have been obtained from World Bank data available for the year 2021. Results The analysis showed that Sweden has the highest population and the highest number of researchers in this region. All countries have the highest number of coauthored publications with the United States, followed by the United Kingdom, except Iceland, which has the second highest number of coauthored publications with Sweden. Denmark, followed by Iceland, stands prominent with reference to having publications with corporate collaborations. Denmark and Sweden have a high percentage of articles in first quartile journals, which is above the average for Nordic countries. Iceland stands at the top with the highest citations, which is depicted by high FWCI. Across subject areas, the Nordic countries have maximum publications in life sciences. Other prominent subject areas include technology and natural sciences. Conclusion On analysing the research landscape of Nordic countries, maximum research output is in the field of life sciences and medicine, and most of the coauthored publications of these countries are with the United States. Denmark, with its exemplary research output, excels with maximum papers in top quartile journals and with maximum corporate collaborations and the highest FWCI.