Publication Efficiency in Astronomy: A Global GDP Based Comparison (2019–2023)

• Published in: Research notes of the AAS Vol. 9; no. 8; pp. 211 - 210
• Main Authors: Guevara-Montoya, Sofía, Silva-Arevalo, María Paula, Ortiz-Ferreira, Felipe, Forero-Romero, Jaime E.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: The American Astronomical Society 06.08.2025
• Subjects: Astronomical research; Astronomy education
• ISSN: 2515-5172; 2515-5172
• DOI: 10.3847/2515-5172/adf74c

This comment examines the relationship between GDP and astronomy publications for 106 countries in 2019 and 103 countries in 2023. The data show a strong positive correlation: countries with higher GDP typically produce more astronomy papers. To analyze this relationship, we divided the GDP range into four bands, making it easier to compare countries with similar economic output. We also examined regional patterns in astronomical research output. We introduce a new metric, publication efficiency, defined as the number of astronomy papers per unit of GDP. This measure reveals which countries produce unusually high levels of astronomy-specific output relative to their economic size, often due to targeted funding, effective policies, or other favorable conditions. On a global scale, astronomical publication efficiency was 0.37 ± 0.56 publications per billion USD of GDP in 2019 and 0.39 ± 0.49 in 2023.