The Center for Research and Development Strategy (CRDS) of the Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST) monitors, surveys, and analyzes trends in society and science and technology innovation both domestically and internationally. By doing so, it proposes science and technology innovation policies and research and development strategies while also undertaking initiatives aimed at their realization.

Since its establishment in 2003, CRDS has engaged in broad surveys of science and technology fields to enhance its ability to develop critical research and development strategies. This foundational activity is grounded in the need to address the increasing difficulty of seeing the big picture due to the subdivision of science. Even within the policy-making community that examines the relationship between societal expectations and science and designs policies to transform scientific value into social value, forming an understanding of the overall picture of science has become increasingly challenging. Given this current situation, dialogue with various stakeholders in society, including those in the research and development community, and broad surveys of different fields are essential for formulating research and development strategies. Through continuous dialogue with the policy-making and research and development communities, CRDS has been publishing its unique insight-based foundational document on devising research and development strategies, the "Panoramic View Reports."

TThe "R&D Trends Seen in Scientific Papers and Patents Statistics (2024)" report, which we present here, aims to complement the Panoramic View Reports by grasping the status of research and development from the past to the present from numerical aspects across various fields and countries. The targeted countries and regions include Japan, the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, France, South Korea, China, and the EU, with the survey period covering the most recent ten years for which data is available (2012-2021 for scientific papers and 2013-2022 for patents).

Chapter 1 summarizes data on research and development expenditures and the number of researchers as input information related to research and development. Chapters 2 and 3 compile data on trends in scientific papers and patents as output information of research and development. In Chapter 2, we analyze seven key fields (environment & energy, systems & information science & technology, nanotechnology / materials, life sciences & clinical research, quantum, telecommunications, and semiconductors). Chapter 3 analyzes 142 research and development areas covered in the "Panoramic View Reports (2023 edition)" segmented by field. Additionally, characteristic trends seen in each field and research development area have also been included as "key points" of data. Please note that it is challenging to grasp trends in each field solely based on the numerical data provided in this report. It is important to also ascertain cutting-edge research trends that are not visible in the numbers while grasping societal and policy movements, so this report should be read in conjunction with the respective field-specific Panoramic View Reports.

We hope that these comprehensive surveys will be utilized not only by the policy-making community but also by researchers in understanding the status of related research and exploring collaboration opportunities by gaining insights into the status of science and technology outside their expertise. We also aim for this report to be widely used by those interested in understanding research and development trends across various scientific and technological fields and countries. Based on the hints obtained, CRDS will also continue its deliberations and strive to provide proposals and communications that contribute to Japan's development.