2025 Volume 40 Issue 1 Pages 5-21
The National Institute of Science and Technology Policy (NISTEP) annually publishes the "Science and Technology Indicators" as foundational resource for systematically understanding Japan's science and technology activities based on objective and quantitative data. Among these, the "highly cited papers (Top 10% papers)" often gain attention in policy documents and media. However, with the rise of China and countries in the Global South, the meaning of this indicator has changed over time. Moreover, this indicator reflects only one aspect of research capability and does not represent Japan's overall research capability. Additionally, output indicators provide a snapshot of research activities at a specific point in time and may not reflect the ability to consistently produce desirable research outcomes in the future. Particularly in discussions about enhancing Japan's future research capabilities, research capability should also suggest potential future performance.
This article introduces changes in the meaning of "highly cited papers" in the first half and introduces NISTEP's efforts to understand the research process from input to output indicators through the "Laboratory Panel Survey" in the second half. Through this, we aim to address the challenges of paper-based indicators and propose a new set of indicators related to research capability.
