Clarivate and the Chinese Academy of Sciences Release the 2025 Research Fronts Report
Annual report identifies 110 hot and 18 emerging Research Fronts
London, U.K. December 3, 2025. Clarivate Plc (NYSE: CLVT), a leading global provider of transformative intelligence, and the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) today released the 2025 Research Fronts, an annual report that identifies key areas of research to watch. This report marks the 12th annual collaboration between the two organizations and was launched at a ceremony held in Beijing.
The report identifies a total of 128 Research Fronts, which include 110 ‘hot’ Fronts and 18 ‘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 administrators and policymakers who need to monitor, support, and advance research, often in the face of finite resources.
The rapid development of artificial intelligence is reflected in several emerging fronts highlighted in this year’s report. For example:
- In clinical medicine, one emerging front is the applications of the AI language model ChatGPT in the medical and health fields.
- In the biological sciences, a highlighted emerging front is the breakthrough in AI-driven structural prediction and design of biomolecular complexes.
- In economics, psychology, and other social sciences, there is an emerging front on the practical applications and risk management of generative AI in the business domain.
Emmanuel Thiveaud, Senior Vice President, Academia & Government, Clarivate, said: “Our annual Research Fronts report, produced once again with the Chinese Academy of Sciences, helps us to envision the future of sciences and social sciences by identifying the hottest and emerging research specialty areas.
“At Clarivate, we are a long-time partner to libraries, researchers and academic institutions in transforming research and education. The annual Research Fronts report is a great example of how we work with partners to improve critical thinking and discovery, paving the way for future advancements.”
Wang Dujin, Director General, Bureau of Academic Divisions, CAS, said: “The Chinese Academy of Sciences will continue to enhance its understanding of current situations and conduct forward-looking analyses in science and technology. We will conduct more visionary, strategic, and preparatory research. We aim to take on greater responsibilities and achieve new milestones in promoting high-level self-reliance and advancement in science and technology. Our goal is to contribute to the establishment of a strong nation in these fields.”
In conjunction with the Research Fronts 2025 report, Clarivate and CAS also published Research Fronts 2025: Active Fields, Leading Countries/Regions – a comparative analysis of regional performance across the 128 Research Fronts. The report reveals that the United States continues to lead research activities in overall 11 broad areas of sciences and social sciences, with Mainland China ranking second. But the gap between Mainland China and the US has narrowed.
The Research Fronts 2025 report continues to be based mainly on co-citation analysis in the field of bibliometrics. Using 13,830 Research Fronts from the Essential Science Indicators (ESI) database by Clarivate, it identifies 107 hot Research Fronts and 18 emerging Research Fronts, including front clusters. Additionally, based on Emerging Topics from the Research Horizon Navigator database, three more hot fronts were selected, bringing the total to 110 hot fronts and 18 emerging fronts.
Learn more about this year’s report and the highlighted Research Fronts here.
About Clarivate
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