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Abstract
AbstractWe tested if peer-reviewed conservation research output has increased in sub-Saharan African countries over the last 30 years in response to increased development. We carried out a bibliometric analysis to identify the number of conservation research papers published by national authors of 41 sub-Saharan African countries during 1987–2017, to provide an index of national conservation research output. We identified country-specific development factors influencing these totals, using general linear modelling. There were positive relationships between conservation research output and population size, GDP, literacy rate, international tourism receipts and population growth rate, and negative relationships with urban population and agricultural land cover, in total explaining 77% of variation. Thirty-eight per cent of countries contributed < 30 conservation research papers (of 12,701) in 30 years. Analysis of trends in primary authorship in a random subsample of 2,374 of these papers showed that primary authorship by sub-Saharan African authors has increased significantly over time but is now at a lower rate than primary authorship for authors from countries outside the country associated with the search term, usually a European or North American country. Overall, 46% of papers had national primary authors, but 67% of these were South African. The results show that conservation research output in sub-Saharan Africa overall is increasing but only significantly in a few countries, and is still dominated by non-national scientists, probably as a result of a lack of socio-economic development.
Highlights
One of the major responses to global anthropogenic environmental change is scientific research
Because significant development in the number of papers produced each year has only occurred in a few countries, and not at all in many countries, we suggest that this may indicate a selfperpetuating cycle in conservation research: conservation researchers working in countries that lack well developed educational institutions and a scientific tradition are at a disadvantage in securing funding to initiate projects because of the significance attached to publication for career development (Meijaard et al, ; Mammides et al, )
The proportion of African primary authors to primary authors from outside the region decreased over time, we found that this was the result of the high rate of increase in primary authorship in the USA, UK, and possibly South Africa, which was greater than the rate of increase in other sub-Saharan African countries
Summary
One of the major responses to global anthropogenic environmental change is scientific research. (Fazey et al, ; O’Connell et al, ). In theory, such conservation research should serve as a channel of communication for scientists, students, conservation practitioners, local communities, non-governmental organizations, and governments to catalyse the action necessary to meet this environmental challenge (Wilson, ; Sodhi & Ehrlich, ). To attain positive conservation outcomes, individuals, communities and organizations need to acquire a diversity of data, skills and knowledge. These elements comprise capacity (O’Connell et al, ). Inequalities in terms of research capacity across the conservation community limit our ability to meet conservation needs effectively in the face of the current environmental crisis (Wilson et al, )
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