The volume of peer-reviewed articles published per 1,000 academic SEH doctorate holders is an approximate measure of their contribution to scientific knowledge. This indicator should not be seen as a measure of an individual’s efficiency; publications are only one measure of academic productivity; other measures may include personnel trained, patents, trademarks, copyrights, and other outputs. A high value on this indicator shows that the SEH faculties in a state’s academic institutions are generating a high volume of publications relative to the number of SEH doctorate holders employed at academic institutions in the state. Academic institutions include 2-year colleges, 4-year colleges and universities, medical schools, and university-affiliated research centers. Research is more central to the mission of some of these institutions than others.

Publication counts are based on the number of articles that appear in a set of journals tracked by Elsevier’s Scopus database. The journal set consists of S&E publications (including publications on the natural sciences, applied sciences, medical sciences, and social sciences but excluding the arts and humanities). Only documents published in referred scientific journals were counted (mostly articles, reviews, and conference proceedings) because these documents were reviewed by peers prior to being accepted for publication. The peer-review process is designed to ensure that the research is of good quality and constitutes an original contribution to scientific knowledge. Fractional counting at the level of researchers is used to ensure that a single paper is not counted several times. For example, if two of three authors are in state A and the third author is in state B, then two-thirds of the publication is attributed to state A, and one-third is attributed to state B. SEH doctorates include those in computer sciences; mathematics; biological, agricultural, or environmental life sciences; physical sciences; social sciences; psychology; engineering; and health fields. SEH doctorate data are estimates and exclude those with doctorates from foreign institutions and those older than 75 years. Data for SEH doctorate holders in academia are presented by employment location, regardless of residence. Estimates for states with smaller populations of SEH doctorate holders are generally less precise than estimates for states with larger populations. Data on employed SEH doctorate holders are collected by the Survey of Doctorate Recipients.

Nationally, both S&E article output and employment of SEH doctorate holders in academia have experienced long-term increases. However, the growth in article output has outpaced that of employment, meaning that this indicator has risen over time for most states and the nation overall.

The bibliometric data was revised in 2026 to reflect the data provider's updated methodology. For additional information, please see the Technical Notes.

Data sources: Science-Metrix, special tabulation from Scopus; National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics, Survey of Doctorate Recipients.