Britain's scientists are punching above their weight and come second only to the US in the impact of their research, according to a new study released by the Department of Trade and Industry today.
Lord Sainsbury, the science minister, said the report into the outputs and outcomes from UK science confirmed the continued success of the UK research base.
The study, undertaken by Evidence Ltd on behalf of the Office of Science and Technology, looked at papers published in academic journals and how often they were cited by other researchers as a measure of the impact they made in their field.
"The UK produces 9% of the world's scientific papers and has a citation share of 12%, second only to the USA," said Lord Sainsbury.
"The study also shows that the UK continued to strengthen its share of the world's most influential papers, from 12.9% to 13.2%.
"China and some smaller nations are rapidly increasing their global share of publications and citations, but the study shows the UK continues to maintain world share and benefits from a consistently good performance across disciplines."
The Evidence study of research from around the world showed the UK ranked in the top three in eight disciplines - biological (2), clinical (2), environmental (2), humanities (2), maths (3), pre-clinical and health (2), social sciences (2) and business (2).
The annual study, which goes under the catchy title of the Public Service Agreement Target Metrics for the UK Research Base, includes data for the arts and humanities for the first time.
The Treasury will be pleased to hear that the UK's strong performance has been achieved with lower investment than competitors.
"This report shows the continued strength of UK science, not just in specific areas, but across the full range of scientific disciplines from engineering and physical sciences right through to the arts and humanities," added Lord Sainsbury.
In some areas the impact of UK research has surpassed the US - in 2004, the UK had the highest citation impact in biology and health.
The report was welcomed by the eight research councils, which together invest more than £2.5bn a year in research.
Speaking on behalf of Research Councils UK, Julia Goodfellow said: "I am very pleased to see that the impact of UK research is not only very high, but in terms of our proportion of global citations, it is also rising. Biology and medicine are both outstanding highlights, but across the board UK research is delivering high impact results for the investment being made."
She added: "However, we must make sure that we are not complacent. For example, Germany has more PhD students, and we have to be aware of the obvious rise of China. It is important that both government and private sector investment in research and development grows in the future and we invest in growing capacity in areas where we currently have skills shortages."