THE SCIENCE STRATEGY INDEX

A new indicator, Science Strategy Index, is proposed, which is based on the scattering of a country's science activity over all science fields and related to the world distribution of the science fields. The indicator allows to compare the structure of the publication output of countries as reflected by the used database, irrespective of the size of the countries. If the science structure of each country is related for comparison to that one of each other country, the indicator converts into a structural measure which enables to cluster countries according to their structural similarity. The cluster map of countries achieved in this way deserved intense discussion upon the different science strategies of countries and their geographic, political, communicative, and socio-cultural background.