The growing number of patent citations to scientific papers: Changes in the world, nations, and fields

Ali Gazni

Technology in Society, 2020, vol. 62, issue C

Abstract: This study analyzes USPTO patents in the period 1998–2017. The number of science-related patents has increased twice as fast as the number of patents and scientific publications, and the number of cited papers per patent has almost doubled. These results vary substantially from one scientific and technological field to another. The proportion of the research papers cited by a patent has doubled. It refers to papers that are mostly published by the countries that have developed both scientific and technological capability and, surprisingly, are mainly used by inventors abroad. However, a weak relationship between the number of citations received from patents and papers reveals that the assessment of research performance needs some changes as the percentage of papers related to the innovations has grown over time.

Keywords: Science-technology relationship; Science-related inventions; Patent citations; Research assessment; Innovation systems; National systems of innovation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (6)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:teinso:v:62:y:2020:i:c:s0160791x19306633

DOI: 10.1016/j.techsoc.2020.101276

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