Scientists around the world report millions of new discoveries every year − but this explosive research growth wasn’t what experts predicted

The number of research studies published globally has risen exponentially in the past decades. AP Photo/Frank Augstein, file

Millions of scientific papers are published globally every year. These papers in science, technology, engineering, mathematics and medicine present discoveries that range from the mundane to the profound.

Since 1900, the number of published scientific articles has doubled about every 10 to 15 years; since 1980, about 8% to 9% annually. This acceleration reflects the immense and ever-growing scope of research across countless topics, from the farthest reaches of the cosmos to the intricacies of life on Earth and human nature.