Aslib Proceedings

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to carry out a bibliometric analysis of the development of Chinese research in superconductivity since the advent of high-temperature superconductivity (HTS) in the mid-1980s, and to compare Chinese research with that of its international competitors.

Design/methodology/approach – This research used publications, citations, journals, subject categories and institutional data from the Web of Science database.

Findings – Chinese HTS research has grown steadily in importance over the period, with a significant increase in peer-recognition, as measured by citations from non-Chinese researchers. A comparison with superconductivity research in England, France, Germany, Japan, Russia and the USA shows that the impact of the Chinese work is growing relative to the other countries, with a cluster analysis showing that the current bibliometric status of Chinese research is most similar to that of England, France and Russia.

Originality/value – This is both the first bibliometric study of Chinese research in superconductivity and the first bibliometric comparison of different countries' research in superconductivity since the advent of HTS. Cluster analysis provides an interesting way of identifying analogous international bibliometric profiles.