Abhishek Nagaraj of the University of California, Berkeley and Randol Yao of MIT have arrived at a nuanced understanding of the geography of science after analysing data from 44 million publications between 1980 and 2022. Their paper, published by the National Bureau of Economic Research, shows that growing from near-zero levels four decades ago China today accounts for more than a third of all publications in top-rated journals. But the production dominance has not yet translated into a shift in global diffusion and impact. American researchers still account for two-fifths of breakthrough publications and citations to Chinese research come more from within China than outside. While it aligns with C V Raman’s conviction that science offers the best possibility for fellowship, it also implies that global fellowship fosters better science.