Ten Nobel laureates, including four from Harvard, yesterday accused President Ford of erroneously taking credit for the number of Nobel prizes awarded this year to Americans, and of using the occasion to criticize the Democratic challenger.

The statement refers to a comment Ford made at a meeting to award National Medals for Science earlier this month to the effect that despite Jimmy Carter's claims that America has lost its prestige, the country's strength in the sciences is obvious.

George B. Kistiakowsky, Lawrence Professor of Chemistry Emeritus who wrote the statement, said yesterday Ford implied that his support was directly responsible for the prizes.

In fact, this year's appropriation for the National Science Foundation when corrected for inflation is ten per cent less than it was when Ford took office, the statement says.

In addition, the statement says, Nobel prizes are usually awarded for work done over a long period of time and do not reflect this year's strengths.

James. B. Schuman, a spokesman for the White House, said yesterday that Ford was not claiming credit, but simply stating that the nation is "not a weak one."

A scientist who attended the award meeting who is not a laureate and was not asked to sign the statement agreed yesterday that Ford had in fact tried to use the awards "as a political argument" against Carter.

Kistiakowsky and three of the Nobel laureates who endorsed the statement said yesterday the criticism of Ford was not prompted by political motives, and is not connected to the Carter campaign.

Pulling Rank

William N. Lipscomb Jr., Lawrence Professor of Chemistry, who won a Nobel prize this year, said yesterday he hopes the laureates' statement will encourage greater support for basic scientific research, although he said he was aware the statement could be used for political ends.

"I'm an expert in science, not politics," he said.

Kenneth Arrow, Conant University Professor who won a Nobel in 1972, Edward M. Purcell, Gage University Professor who won a Nobel in 1952, and George Wald, Higgins Professor of Biology who won the Nobel in 1967, also endorsed the statement.