Public Policy Professor Philip Shapira and Dr. Jan Youtie, Principal Research Associate at Georgia Tech's Economic Development Institute have released updated data from their nanotechnology research activity database indicating growth in absolute annual publication numbers for every year from 1990 through mid-2008.

Given the rapid growth and multidisciplinary nature of nanotechnology, the ability to map the boundaries of this emerging field is central to understanding its research paths and commercialization prospects. Shapira and Youtie have developed a search strategy that enables them to create real-time databases of nanotechnology research activity in the U.S. and globally, through Georgia Tech's Program on Nanotechnology Research and Innovation Systems Assessment which partners with the Center for Nanotechnology in Society at Arizona State University. Nano research publications are identified using Science Citation Index (SCI) records from the Web of Science (WOS) reference tool. Nano publications can then be represented as a percentage of overall SCI publications.

This nano research database has recently been updated to reflect nanotechnology publications from 1990 through June 2008. The data indicate that there has been growth in absolute annual publication numbers for every year from 1990 through mid-2008. However, there have been fluctuations in the rate of growth, with four observable periods: the first period (1990-1996) represented a steadily increasing share of nano publications; the second period (2001-2005) saw a steep rise in share; the third period (2005-2007) showed a slight downturn in the rate of nano publication growth in 2006-2007; but in the fourth period (first half of 2008) the percentage is again larger. Similar updates to databases indicating nanotechnology publications in China show that China continues to gain on U.S. nanotechnology research and engineering publication activity. For more information on nanotechnology research and innovation systems assessment, see http://www.nanopolicy.gatech.edu

Shapira and Youtie, with Public Policy Professor Juan Rogers, direct the Georgia Tech Program in Science, Technology and Innovation Policy (STIP) --a collaborative initiative of the Ivan Allen College, School of Public Policy and the Georgia Tech Enterprise Innovation Institute.