Europe trailing the US on top science

A snail with a US flag on it beats one with an EU flag on it in a race

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US up to three times better when it comes to making ground-breaking discoveries

The EU lags far behind the US when it comes to producing highly cited research, according to analysis by a Spanish–US team. The EU might mass produce research papers but this does not make it a leading scientific power, they argue. In terms of research efficiency, the EU has a big problem the authors contend.