Since the COVID-19 outbreak began, a large number of studies have been conducted in a short period. However, it is unclear whether countries involved in this crisis have made adequate efforts and allocated resources to cutting-edge SARS-CoV-2 research. We analyzed the dynamics of and professional fields represented by papers about this novel coronavirus published before June 15, 2020. High-infection countries produced more scientific output than low-infection countries, and high-income and upper-middle-income countries were the main contributors. However, the research areas overlapped substantially, indicating a waste of resources. Our findings also suggest that international cooperation among countries is still relatively lacking, and all countries should make better use of their strengths to face the epidemic jointly.