Elsevier Assessment of Knowledge Economies Helps States Identify Research Advantages

As a whole, research produced in the U.S. is cited 49 percent more than the world average, according to a new report by the academic publishing company Elsevier in partnership with the Council of State Governments (CSG). In a data-driven assessment of each state’s comparative knowledge economy advantages based on the research they conduct and the knowledge they produce, America’s Knowledge Economy: A State-by-State Review outlines a process to help policymakers and other decision makers identify where states have research strengths and where they can improve. A ranking of states along select indicators of research performance can be found in the appendices of the report, though Elsevier and CSG also created state profiles containing information on the amount and types of publications in each state, comparative research advantages, citation impact tendencies, and other individualized characteristics.

The combined number of research publications of the top five states (California, New York, Massachusetts, Texas, and Maryland) comprised more than 50 percent of the total U.S. output, and in general, states with larger populations tended to produce more publications.  The four states that had the highest compound annual growth rate (CAGR) in publications between 2004 and 2013 were those that produced the fewest amount: South Dakota (50 in total populations), North Dakota (47), Wyoming (49), and Alaska (48).  The CAGRs in North Carolina, which ranked 11 in absolute publications, and Florida, which ranked 9, were among the highest in the country. 

Seven of the 10 states with the most publications per 1,000 residents were on the United States’ East Coast, led by Massachusetts, Maryland, and Rhode Island. New Mexico, which ranked fourth with 3.77 publications per 1,000 residents in 2013, had more than twice the concentration of publications than the national average of 1.70 per 1,000 residents. Nevada was the only state with less than one publication per 1,000 residents (0.81).

In addition to assessing the volume of a state’s research through publication data, the Elsevier report also presents citation data to get at the quality of a state’s research. While citations are widely recognized as a proxy for research quality, field-weighted citation impact (FWCI) further adjusts for differences across a state’s research strengths and across fields of study. FWCI is calculated by dividing the number of citations received by a publication by the average number of citations received by publications in the same field. Values above 1.00 indicate above-average citation impact, while values below 1.00 would indicate below-average citation impact. Massachusetts (2.10) and Washington (2.03) had the highest FWCI, indicating that in each state the average paper from that state was cited at a rate more than twice that of the world average. Rounding out the top five, California (1.95), Maryland (1.90), and Minnesota (1.86) had a FWCI considerably higher than the 1.49 national averages for FWCI between 2004 and 2013. 

The ratio of national patent citation share to national publication share suggests that in some states, research outputs had a greater impact on innovation than their research volume would suggest. Research in states with the highest ratios, such as Massachusetts (1.69), Maryland (1.54), Maine (1.45), Michigan (1.40), and Washington (1.38) is cited in patents at rates higher than their national publication shares. While these states may not produce the most absolute research, their findings are of critical importance to the development of patents.

Through the analysis of four different perspectives – research output and impact, research focus, research inputs, and knowledge transfer and collaboration – the Elsevier and CSG report ultimately determines that although the production of research is not evenly balanced throughout the United States, over the past decades several states have greatly expanded their research practices, and globally the country still produces highly impactful research. By helping identify comparative research strengths, the report provides an opportunity for states and other institutions to leverage assets for innovation and future economic growth.