China accounts for over half of world's hot papers: report

BEIJING -- China for the first time contributed to more than half of the world's hot papers, accounting for 53.2 percent of the total and maintaining its top global ranking, according to a statistical report released on Thursday.

The country also maintained its position as the world's second-largest producer of highly cited papers, closing the gap with the United States, said a report on China's scientific papers output 2025 released by the Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (ISTIC).

Hot papers refer to those published within the last two years that have received a significant number of citations during the statistical period, placing them within the top 0.1 percent of their academic field in terms of citation frequency. Highly cited papers are those that rank in the top 1 percent globally for citations over the past decade within their respective fields.

As of August 2025, China had 2,342 hot papers, marking a 4.6 percent increase compared to 2024, while the United States followed with 1,511 hot papers, ranking second globally.

China had 76,271 highly cited papers, accounting for 37.41 percent of the world's total. The gap with the United States, which holds the top position, has now narrowed to just 11 papers.

Additionally, the report included a statistical analysis of China's high-quality international journal papers. These are papers published in selected representative scientific journals across various disciplines worldwide, meeting two criteria: both the impact factor and total citation frequency ranking in the top 10 percent of their respective fields, and publishing more than 50 academic articles and reviews annually.

Analysis based on the first author and first affiliation showed that in 2024, China published 154,900 high-quality international journal papers, accounting for 39.2 percent of the global total. These papers received 1.01 million citations, ranking first in the world in both the number of publications and citations.

Relevant experts noted that the quantity of high-level scientific research papers from China continues to grow, with most statistical indicators now ranking among the top globally. The evaluation of academic papers is shifting from an emphasis on quantity to a prioritization of quality, which is showing positive results. The next step involves further promoting and refining the evaluation system for representative works in scientific research to enhance the quality and influence of China's research papers.

The ISTIC, a national non-profit scientific and technical information research institution directly under the Ministry of Science and Technology, has been conducting statistical analyses of papers published by Chinese researchers both domestically and internationally since 1987. It regularly releases annual analysis reports on China's scientific paper output.