A comparison of disciplinary structure in science between the G7 and the BRIC countries by bibliometric methods

Using a collection of papers gathered from the Web of Science, and defining disciplines by the JCR classification, this paper compares the disciplinary structure of the G7 countries (representing high S&T level countries) and the BRIC countries (representing fast breaking countries in S&T) by using bibliometric methods. It discusses the similarity and the balance of their disciplinary structure. We found that: (1) High S&T level countries have a similar national disciplinary structure; (2) In recent years the disciplinary structure of the BRIC countries has become more and more similar to that of the G7 countries; (3) The disciplinary structure of the G7 countries is more balanced than that of the BRIC countries (4) In the G7 countries more emphasis goes to the life sciences, while BRIC countries focus on physics, chemistry, mathematics and engineering.