Research preferences of the G20 countries: a bibliometrics and visualization analysis

The purpose of this study is to reveal the differences both in research output and research preferences of the G20 countries. The research outputs of the nineteen G20 countries (excluding the European Union) are measured based on their publications indexed in Web of Science (TM) Core Collection. The research preferences of the G20 countries were investigated by comparing their research output in each research subject. Clustering method was then employed to classify the countries according to their research preferences. Nineteen countries are classified into four clusters. Countries assigned in same cluster are similar in distribution of research subjects. In the end, by VOSviewer, we showed research pattern of each cluster. For example, USA in Cluster A is characterized by the emphasis on the medical sciences; while China in Cluster C is characterized by paying more attention to physical sciences.