Highlights

• ScholarGPS published comprehensive bibliometric analysis of rare earth research:
  • 50,000+ publications
  • 1.18M citations
  • 87,000 scholars across decades
• China dominates recent academic output while U.S. leads lifetime scholarship, reflecting Beijing's transition from mining to knowledge-driven control of processing and materials.
• Bibliometric rankings measure scientific prestige, not industrial capability:
  • Chemistry dominates 75% of publications
  • Mining engineering represents only 1.3%.

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ScholarGPS has released (opens in a new tab) one of the most comprehensive bibliometric portraits of rare earth element (REE) scholarship ever assembled. Sponsored by Meta Analytics LLC, the platform aggregates publication volume, citations, institutional output, and scholar rankings across decades, offering what is essentially a cartography of global REE knowledge production rather than a map of supply-chain power itself.

That distinction matters.

At a glance, the scale is striking: more than 50,000 lifetime publications, 1.18 million citations, and 87,000 scholars engaged in rare earth–related research. The academic signal is undeniable. Chemistry, physics, and materials science dominate, accounting for nearly three-quarters of publications—an accurate reflection of where rare earth science has historically lived: in laboratories, not loading docks.

The Academic Gravity Centers

The institutional rankings tell a familiar story. China’s Changchun Institute of Applied Chemistry (Chinese Academy of Sciences (opens in a new tab)) leads lifetime output, while U.S. and Chinese universities dominate the past five years. This aligns with known realities: China has invested relentlessly in rare earth chemistry, separation science, and materials research since the 1980s, while U.S. institutions have resurged more recently amid national-security and industrial-policy concerns.

Country rankings reinforce this shift. The United States leads in lifetime scholarship, but China now dominates recent output—mirroring Beijing’s transition from volume-driven mining to knowledge-driven control of processing, magnetics, and advanced materials. On this point, ScholarGPS captures intellectual momentum accurately.

Where the Lens Narrows Too Much

For supply-chain investors and policymakers, however, the ranking risks being misread as a proxy for industrial strength. It is not.

Mining engineering represents just 1.3% of publications. Environmental sciences, metallurgy at scale, permitting economics, and downstream manufacturing integration are marginal. The dataset overwhelmingly reflects scientific prestige, not operational capability. A country can dominate citations while remaining dependent on others for refining, alloying, or magnet manufacturing.

Even the appearance of firms such as General Motors among top non-academic institutions reflects research collaboration—not control over rare earth supply.

The Quiet Distortion of Bibliometrics

This is not ideological bias, but structural distortion. Bibliometric systems reward publishable science over commercially sensitive engineering, proprietary processing know-how, and defense-linked innovation—precisely the domains now shaping real-world REE power. Citation gravity lags supply-chain reality.

The danger here is not misinformation, but overinterpretation.

The Bottom Line for Investors

ScholarGPS provides a valuable intelligence layer on who is thinking hardest about rare earths, not who controls them. Used properly, it complements—rather than replaces—analysis of reserves, mineralogy, separation capacity, magnet production, and geopolitical alignment.

In the rare earths market, knowledge matters. But control still happens far downstream from the journal page.

See the link (opens in a new tab).

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