The report, published on 6?December, compares the performance of the UK¡¯s research base with that of similar countries.

UK researchers were responsible for 6.4?per cent of all papers published worldwide in 2012, the third-highest proportion among the comparator countries (beaten only by the US and China).

Yet when the nations are ranked by?field-weighted citation impact, the UK?tops the list.

Field-weighted citation impact can be used as an indicator of research quality. The UK¡¯s has been rising at a rate of 1.28 per cent a?year since 2008 and in 2012 had reached just over 1.6. The world average is 1.

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The figure varies across the UK¡¯s constituent countries. Scottish researchers rank highest, at about 1.75, with researchers from Northern Ireland lowest at just under 1.5. Citation impact has improved since 2008 across all four countries. Wales¡¯ impact factor rose by about 1.5?points between 2008 and 2012, reaching the same level as?the UK overall.

Although the UK is top for field-weighted impact factor among the comparator countries, it ranks sixth in the EU group, behind small research nations including Denmark, the Netherlands, Belgium, Sweden and Austria.

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Among Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development members, the UK comes eighth.

Source: Elsevier, International Comparative Performance of the UK Research Base - 2013; data from Scopus

holly.else@tsleducation.com