Who stands on the shoulders of Chinese (Scientific) Giants? Evidence from chemistry
研究发现，即使控制研究质量，美国研究者引用中国化学论文的比例比其他国家低28%，只有在美国有深厚人脉的中国研究者才能部分克服这一引用折扣。
China’s rise in science has the potential to push forward the knowledge frontier, but mere production of knowledge does not guarantee that others are able to build on it. We ask whether chemistry research originating from China offers broad shoulders for follow-on scientists to stand on. We show that even after carefully controlling for the quality of Chinese research, Chinese scientists’ articles receive on average 28% fewer citations from US researchers, relative to scientists from other countries. Only Chinese researchers with unusually deep networks in the US can overcome, at least in part, the citation discount. • Chinese research articles in chemistry are undercited by US researchers. • The citation discount is not attributable to lower quality Chinese research. • The China citation discount has been stable over time. • US-trained Chinese researchers experience a reduced citation discount. • The citation discount for Chinese research can also be found in US patents.