Recent developments in the international scenario of coal science

The distribution of papers published in the 1999 International Conference on Coal Science (ICCS) Proceedings is analyzed according to various criteria. Results are compared with findings of previous conferences of the same series. The progression of papers according to scientific topics and countries is analyzed. The impact of international cooperation in the various areas of coal science is examined. Finally, the most frequent cases of international cooperation and the principal bodies that finance coal science research are identified.