  Institutions and their aggregates are not the right units of analysis for
developing a science policy with cognitive goals in view. Institutions,
however, can be compared in terms of their performance with reference to their
previous stages. King's (2004) 'The scientific impact of nations' has provided
the data for this comparison. Evaluation of the data from this perspective
along the time axis leads to completely different and hitherto overlooked
conclusions: a new dynamic can be revealed which points to a group of emerging
nations. These nations do not increase their contributions marginally, but
their national science systems grow endogenously. In addition to publications,
their citation rates keep pace with the exponential growth patterns, albeit
with a delay. The center of gravity of the world system of science may be
changing accordingly.
