Brazilian scientists' publications and mainstream science: Some policy implications

Abstract

Against the common view that scientific output in peripheral and non-English speaking countries is largely underrepresented inScience Citation Index (SCI), this study shows that academic Brazilian scientists in chemistry and electrical engineering tend to publish in “good” international journals covered bySCI. The rate of citations they earn, however, looks rather poor. The reasons why Brazilian scientists publish in foreign journals are analysed and the policy of encouraging scientists to publish their best contributions abroad is questioned.