Clarivate Plc, a leading global provider of transformative intelligence, and the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) today released 2024 Research Fronts™, identifying the most dynamic and rapidly growing specialties in sciences and social sciences. This marks the eleventh annual collaboration between the two organizations, with the report launched at a ceremony held in Beijing today.

The report identifies 125 Research Fronts, comprising 110 ‘hot’ Fronts and 15 ‘emerging’ Fronts. A hot Research Front represents an active area of study, while an emerging Research Front indicates a rapidly developing field in scientific research. The ability to identify these specialty areas of research provides a distinct advantage for those who seek to monitor, support and advance research, often in the face of finite resources. This includes governments, policymakers, publishers, research administrators and companies.

Bar Veinstein, President, Academia & Government, Clarivate, said: “The annual Research Fronts report guides us to look to the future of research by identifying the hottest and emerging specialty areas. At Clarivate, our mission is to advance the success of researchers and organizations through transformative intelligence and trusted partnership. Research Fronts provides valuable insights for leading research organizations, such as the Chinese Academy of Sciences by enabling them to identify the areas for development.”

This year’s Research Fronts address a diverse range of societal challenges. For example, in clinical medicine, a Research Front focuses on the use of monoclonal antibodies for the treatment of early Alzheimer’s disease. This research aims to accelerate the global effort to eliminate the disease. In the field of economics, psychology and other social sciences, another emerging front highlights the application and impact of Generative AI in education, which has already made a significant difference.

Wu Zhaohui, Vice President of CAS said: “CAS has consistently prioritized in-depth strategic research to prepare for future development. Since 2014, CAS has collaborated with Clarivate to release the Research Fronts report series. This report highlights the frontiers of global science and technology, analyzes significant scientific breakthroughs that could impact the future of the world and aligns with China’s national strategy for scientific and technological innovation. Furthermore, the report strongly supports research in key frontier fields, addresses major scientific issues, and contributes to the establishment of the international science and technology innovation centers in China.”

Research Fronts are defined by examining patterns of co-citation among scientific papers, reflecting a specific commonality in their research – sometimes experimental data, or a method, a concept or hypothesis. Expert analysts at Clarivate used the Essential Science Indicators (ESI)™ database which is built on the foundation of the Science Citation Index Expanded (SCIE)™ and Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI)™, to conduct co-citation analysis. They track clusters of frequently co-cited papers over a five-year period. Once such a group of highly cited papers attains a certain level of activity and coherence, it is classified as a Research Front.

In conjunction with the Research Fronts 2024 report, Clarivate and CAS also published 2024 Research Fronts: Active Fields, Leading Countries/Regions – a comparative analysis of regional performance across the 125 Research Fronts. The report reveals that the United States continues to lead research activities in 11 areas of sciences and social sciences, with Mainland China ranking second. The United Kingdom, Germany and France round out the top five countries in terms of performance in Research Fronts 2024.

Learn more about this year’s report and the highlighted Research Fronts here.

Sage continues to build its portfolio in business and management by acquiring Cambridge Business Publishers, a US-based provider of college textbooks and technology focused on accounting and finance courses. 

“Cambridge Business Publishers’ respected authors and high-quality educational resources extend the scope and impact of Sage’s existing business offerings,” said Reid Hester, vice president of Sage’s US College division. “We are delighted to make this long-term investment to build on the success of Cambridge Business Publishers in supporting learning outcomes for business students.”

Founded by George Werthman in 2004, Cambridge Business Publishers is known for outcome-focused learning materials that have become staples in leading MBA and undergraduate programs across the United States and Canada. Its resources are developed in alignment with professional benchmarks set by various associations, reflect ever-changing accounting standards, and support students studying to become certified public accountants, certified management accountants, chartered financial analysts, and more.

“In looking for an organization that would greatly expand on Cambridge Business Publishers’ successes, we found that Sage’s guaranteed independence and global reach would assure continuity of our core achievements and accelerate our growth,” said Werthman. “Contemplating the needs of our major stakeholders—our employees, authors, instructors, students, and the organization as a whole—Sage emerged as the publisher best positioned to meet our collective aspirations.”

In addition to Cambridge Business Publishers’ catalog of more than 30 textbooks, its online learning and assessment platform, myBusinessCourse, helps students learn accounting through instructional videos, detailed worked-out examples, and other learning aids. The platform offers auto-graded homework and quizzes, providing instant feedback and a personalized learning experience. It can integrate with leading learning management systems and can be used separately or linked to textbook content.

Cambridge Business Publishers will benefit from Sage’s extensive distribution network, increasing the reach and impact of its resources. “I am proud of what we have built and excited for our future,” said Werthman.

Sage publishes journals, textbooks, and digital resources, including case studies and skills support on various business topics, such as ethics, human resource management, entrepreneurship, and leadership. Leadership: Theory and Practice, a Sage textbook by Peter Northouse, is the best-selling academic textbook on leadership in the world.

In 2023, Sage acquired Chicago Business Press, a textbook publisher focused on mid-to upper-level business, management, marketing, and sales courses; and Hubro Education, a developer of business simulations for academic institutions, corporations, and individual skill development.