United States: Scientific and technical journal articles

Key figures

What the numbers say

In 2023, United States' scientific and technical journal articles fell 3.7% on 2022 (from 447,539 to 430,843).

Across the 26 yearly changes before that (1997 to 2022), the average change was +1.4% and a typical year strayed about 2.8% from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 1.9 standard deviations below that average, so it was larger than a typical year, though not out of the range seen before.

On record, the biggest yearly rise was 8.1% in 2005 and the biggest yearly fall was 5.1% in 2022. The numbers show how large and when, not why; for the cause, look at what happened in that country in those years.

From 2014 to 2023 the straight-line trend is upward, about 2,475 a year. A straight line explains 30% of the movement over 10 observed years.

Worked out from the yearly values above. How the checks work: standard deviation, z-scores and straight-line trends.

How it compares

In 2023, United States had the 2nd highest value of the 197 economies reporting that year. Higher is not always better: for some indicators the lowest value is the one to aim for. See the full ranking.

Closest to United States in the 2023 ranking

• China — 1st of 197: 932,712
• India — 3rd of 197: 228,174
• Germany — 4th of 197: 108,782
• United Kingdom — 5th of 197: 97,536

What this measures

Article counts refer to publications from a selection of conference proceedings and peer-reviewed journals from Scopus in science and engineering fields, according to the National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics Taxonomy of Disciplines.

Limitations: Because the bibliometric database is constantly updated, the National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics (NCSES) does not recommend comparing bibliometric data across different editions of the Science and Engineering Indicators publication. For each edition of Indicators, NCSES uses a fixed snapshot of the database. This means that although trends are comparable, the exact number of articles, citations, and other data will vary across editions. For more information about comparing fixed versus dynamic journal data sets, see Schneider et al. (2019).

Regional and income-group figures are computed by the World Bank as a gap-filled total.

All 28 values

Scientific and technical journal articles in nearby economies

• Canada — 63,720 (2023)

More infrastructure data for United States

• Fixed telephone subscriptions — 81.55 million (2024)
• Fixed telephone subscriptions (per 100 people) — 23.61 (2024)
• ICT service exports (BoP, current US$) — US$101.73 billion (2025)
• ICT service exports (% of service exports, BoP) — 8.22% (2025)
• Air transport, registered carrier departures worldwide — 9.27 million (2023)
• Air transport, freight (million ton-km) — 42,763 (2023)
• Air transport, passengers carried — 941.56 million (2023)
• Mobile cellular subscriptions — 390.99 million (2024)
• Mobile cellular subscriptions (per 100 people) — 113.19 (2024)

Reading data like this

• Where to find free public data, and how to check it before you trust it — 2 min read
• Data analysis examples: 6 worked from one dataset — 3 min read
• Real change or random noise? A plain guide to reading your numbers — 2 min read

Questions people ask

What is United States's scientific and technical journal articles?

430,843 in 2023, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 1996?

It is up 37.48% from 313,392 in 1996 (1.19% a year on average, compounded). The highest value was 471,378 in 2021 and the lowest 296,941 in 1999.

How does United States rank?

2nd highest of 197 economies with data for 2023.

Is the latest change in scientific and technical journal articles unusual for United States?

In 2023, United States' scientific and technical journal articles fell 3.7% on 2022 (from 447,539 to 430,843). Across the 26 yearly changes before that (1997 to 2022), the average change was +1.4% and a typical year strayed about 2.8% from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 1.9 standard deviations below that average, so it was larger than a typical year, though not out of the range seen before.

Source

World Bank, World Development Indicators, indicator IP.JRN.ARTC.SC, licensed CC BY 4.0. Original source: Science and Engineering Indicators, National Science Foundation (NSF), uri: https://ncses.nsf.gov/indicators Figures are fetched from the World Bank API and refreshed monthly; see the series on data.worldbank.org. The full definition and method are in the World Bank's metadata glossary. Comparisons use the same World Bank release.

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