U.S. institutes lead in environmental research expertise

— -- U.S. laboratories lead the world in green energy and environmental research expertise, an analysis of science journals shows. But Germany and China are not far behind.

The study of 3,000 research institutions and universities will be released Wednesday by Elsevier, the largest publisher of research journals. Ranked by areas of expertise, NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., tops the list in alternative energy, such as solar cells, and environmental science from 2003 to 2007.

"The only area in which the United States has overwhelming leadership is in environmentally related research. In fuel cells and solar, leadership is much more diffused," says study analyst Kevin Boyack. "We're finding institutions will have a lot of depth of expertise in one area, but not broad expertise everywhere."

Among the top institutions for "distinctive competencies" — expertise in narrow research areas — are familiar names such as Harvard, Caltech and the Energy Department's National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden, Colo. Penn State tops all universities in fuel-cell experts, and Germany's Hahn Meitner Institute leads in solar cells.

Nine U.S. labs or schools are among the top 25. The analysis includes research citations, how often scientists reference one another's work in publications, and "social network" statistics designed to reveal which researchers are the most influential in an area of research.

"These kind of analyses can be revealing, and they can be deceptive," says James Pringle of Thomson Reuters, a journal publisher that also examines study citations to analyze research trends. Pringle says a "spirited debate" rages among research policy analysts over how to weigh links between researchers in assessing scientific expertise.

At Goddard, Earth science director Franco Einaudi says he is "surprised and puzzled" to find his lab topping others in alternative-energy expertise. "We are experts in science, not technology. Our strengths are areas like atmospheric chemistry."