National Research Output Research Articles

Identification of national research output using Scopus/Web of Science Core Collection: a revisit and further investigation

Identification of national research output using Scopus/Web of Science Core Collection: a revisit and further investigation

Conservation research output in sub-Saharan Africa is increasing, but only in a few countries

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.

Relationship between European postgraduate programme accreditation and national research output: The case of the Network of Erasmus-Based European Orthodontic Postgraduate Programmes (NEBEOP) in orthodontics. A bibliometric study.

To assess in each European country the correlation between the number of Network of Erasmus-Based European Orthodontic Postgraduate Programmes (NEBEOP) members and orthodontic research activity. Secondary objectives were to describe and quantify Europe's orthodontic research. Articles published between 2014 and 2018 in 4 major orthodontic journals (American Journal of Orthodontics and Dentofacial Orthopedics, European Journal of Orthodontics, The Angle Orthodontist, Orthodontics and Craniofacial Research) and oral presentation abstracts of five European Orthodontic Society (EOS) congresses were analysed. For each European country, the total number of orthodontic programmes and NEBEOP memberships were collected. Descriptive statistics were performed, and Spearman correlation coefficients and risk ratios were calculated. 2039 articles and 261 oral presentation abstracts were included. Correlation coefficients between national number of publications, oral presentations, sum of these, all adjusted for population, and number of NEBEOP members in each country were 0.64, 0.65 and 0.62, respectively. Risk ratios were all above 1 and statistically significant for number of NEBEOP memberships per country, indicating positive associations with national orthodontic research productivity. Europe accounted for 30.5% of publications and 68.6% of oral presentations at EOS congresses during this period. European orthodontic research was not evenly distributed, since 9 countries were responsible for around 80% of the output. A positive association was found between number of NEBEOP programmes and national research activity. These results could be an additional argument to support similar pan-European initiatives and guidelines for postgraduate education, not only in orthodontics but in all other dental specialties.

Review of Quantitative Methods Used in Chinese Educational Research, 1978–2018

Purpose: This article reviews the development of quantitative methods in educational research in China since 1978. Design/Approach/Methods: For this summary and literature review, we used data from the China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), relevant books, and research output from the Graduate School of Education, Peking University. Findings: We divided the development of quantitative methods in Chinese educational research into four stages: the Startup Stage (1978–1988), the Gradual Application Stage (1989–1998), the Growth Spurt Stage (1999–2008), and the Integrated and Diverse Development Stage (2009–2018). Overall, the development of quantitative methods in Chinese educational research shows sustained innovation in numerous aspects, including research methods, data sources, utilization of advancements in computing technology and statistical software, and research topics. However, despite the relatively advanced state of quantitative methods, education measurement and evaluation require further attention. The questionnaire and experimental research data currently available indicate the need to improve the mining and utilization of big data. Moreover, while Chinese educational researchers have demonstrated their proficiency in using quantitative research methods, improvements remain to be made with respect to collaboration and sharing. Originality/Value: This article is the first to analyze systemically the development of quantitative methods in Chinese educational research. It provides an original summary of the development and characteristics of quantitative methods in educational research in China.

Bibliometric analysis of publications on Campylobacter: (2000-2015).

Background Campylobacter species are widespread zoonotic pathogens. Campylobacter jejuni causes a form of gastroenteritis called campylobacteriosis. Campylobacter drug resistance is considered a serious threat. In order to better understand national and international research output on Campylobacter, we conducted this bibliometric overview of publications on Campylobacter. This study can be used to assess extent of interaction and response of researchers, food regulators, and health policy makers to global burden of campylobacateriosis.MethodsScopus database was used to retrieve publications with the following keywords (Campylobacter/campylobacteriosis, C. jejuni, C. coli). The study period was set from 2000 to 2015. All types of journal documents, excluding errata, were considered. Bibliometric indicators such as annual growth of publications, country contribution, international collaboration, and citation analysis were presented. The quality of retrieved data was indirectly assessed by Hirsch index and impact factor of journals.ResultsA total of 5522 documents were retrieved with median (Q1–Q3) citations of 9 (2–23) and h-index of 113. Annual number of publications showed a fluctuating increase. The core leading journals were Applied and Environmental Microbiology journal and Journal of Food Protection with 246 (4.46%) publications for each. The USA (1309; 23.6%) was the most productive country while Danmarks Tekniske Universitet (150; 2.7%) was the most productive institution. Half of the top ten productive countries were European. France had the lowest percentage (33.5%) of articles with international collaboration while Netherlands (57.7%) had the highest percentage of articles with international collaboration. Approximately half (50.1%) of retrieved articles were published in journals under the subject area of “immunology/microbiology”. Main themes in highly cited articles were molecular biology/genetics and public health burden of campylobacteriosis. There were 728 (13.1%) articles on campylobacter-related drug resistance, and the top cited articles focused mainly on increasing resistance to quinolones and fluoroquinolones.ConclusionsThere was a clear increase in number of publications on Campylobacter. Rational use of antimicrobials in humans, poultry, and animals is highly recommended. International collaboration is highly required particularly in implementing new diagnostic screening technologies to minimize global health burden of Campylobacter and ensure food safety.

A Comparison of Academic Output Amongst Nations

Although global biomedical research output is steadily increasing over time, individual nations vary in their rates and directions of research growth. The purpose of this article is to review the existing bibliometric literature within radiology to characterize differences in national research output. The United States has historically and continues to publish the largest absolute number of radiologic research articles amongst all nations. However, many European and Asian nations produce more research per capita, per radiologist, and per share of GDP spent on research. While the United States leads in number of research articles, many European and Asian nations demonstrate greater research efficiency than the United States. An area identified for further study is characterization of differences in impact of the research produced by these nations.

Tracking the performance of an R&D programme in the biomedical sciences

This paper aims at offering an evaluation framework of an Research and Development programme in the Biomedical Sciences. It showcases the Spanish Biomedical Research Networking Centres initiative (CIBER) as an example of the effect of research policy management on performance. For this it focuses on three specific aspects: its role on the national research output in the biomedical sciences, its effect on promoting translational research through internal collaboration between research groups, and the perception of researchers on the programme as defined by their inclusion of their CIBER centres in the address field. Research output derived from this programme represents around 25 per cent of the country's publications in the biomedical fields. After analysing a seven year period, the programme has enhanced collaborations between its members, but they do not seem to be sufficiently strong. With regard to the credit given to the initiative, 54.5 per cent of the publications mentioned this programme in their address, however an increase on the share of papers mention it is observed two years after it was launched. We suggest that by finding the point in which the share of mentions stabilises may be a good strategy to identify the complete fulfilment of these types of Research and Development policies.

National versus international growth of medical research of India: a case study

Medical research is known to be the most important research as it is directly related to the well being of humans. The government of India is spending a large amount of money on medical research through ICMR by way of various research projects. In this paper the growth of the research output of top 50 medical institutes of India has been observed in terms of national as well as international collaboration. It has been found that the growth of national research output has doubled and the growth of research with international collaboration has grown four times during 2003---2012. The overall growth is found to be consistent. Top 20 favorite countries of medical professionals in India have also been found with number of publication published with each country during 2003---2012.

Rankings are the sorcerer’s new apprentice

Global university rankings are a powerful force shaping higher education policy worldwide. Several different ranking systems exist, but they all suffer from the same mathemati- cal shortcomingtheir ranking index is constructed from a list of arbitrary indicators combined using subjective weightings. Yet, different ranking systems consistently point to a cohort of mostly US and UK privately-funded universities as being the 'best'. Moreover, the status of these nations as leaders in global higher education is reinforced each year with the exclusion of world-class uni- versities from other countries from the top 200. Rankings correlate neither with Nobel Prize win- ners, nor with the contribution of national research output to the most highly cited publications. They misrepresent the social sciences and are strongly biased towards English language sources. Furthermore, teaching performance, pedagogy and student-centred issues, such as tuition fees and contact time, are absent from the vast majority of ranking systems. We performed a critical and comparative analysis of 6 of the most popular global university ranking systems to help eluci- date these issues and to identify some pertinent trends. As a case study, we analysed the ranking trajectory of Greek universities as an extreme example of some of the contradictions inherent in ranking systems. We also probed various socio-economic and psychological mechanisms at work in an attempt to better understand what lies behind the fixation on rankings, despite their lack of validity. We close with a protocol to help end-users of rankings find their way back onto more meaningful paths towards assessment of the quality of higher education.

Sport and exercise psychology research and Olympic success: An analytical and correlational investigation

The aim of the current inquiry was to identify the national origin of scholars who lead the work in the area of Sport and Exercise Psychology, and to examine whether their research output is connected to the Olympic success of their national athletes. Consequently, the two specialised journals with the highest impact factors in this field were examined for the origin of publications throughout 11 years for authors' national affiliations. Subsequently, the link between national research output and Olympic medals was examined. The results revealed that over 50% of the publications originate from Canada, the UK and the USA. National research output in Sport and Exercise Psychology was correlated with the number of Olympic medals; the proportion of shared variance was 42% and 57%, respectively, in the two journals. Nevertheless, it is posited that the observed link is primarily due to other factors that ought to be examined in future research.

LIS research in Africa : how much is it worth? A citation analysis of the literature, 1986-2006

This paper examines library and information science (LIS) literature as produced and published by researchers in Africa in order to establish the productivity and impact of LIS research in the region. Using publication counts, and more specifically, citation analysis, the paper demonstrates that the research output and impact of LIS literature on the continent is relatively low when compared to other disciplines in Africa, such as social sciences. Correspondingly, the research forms a small percentage of both the national and world total LIS research output. A comparison of countries indicates that South Africa presently leads in terms of both research output and citations, and Nigeria and South Africa account for over 70% of the total number of Africa's publications and citations. Other findings are discussed, in addition to recommendations for further research, and ways in which to improve the visibility of LIS research in Africa.

Scientific publishing in Benin as seen from Scopus

2,215 publications covering the period going from 1959 to 2011, with at least one author affiliated to Benin, were searched from Scopus and analyzed. These publications were co-authored by 10,225 scientists that correspond to 5,122 single authors in several disciplines of which the most prolific are Agricultural and biological science, and Medicine. None of the Benin-based journals were indexed in Scopus; approximately 5 % of the publications appeared in African reviews covered by Scopus. Researchers' home institutions are mainly the University of Abomey-Calavi, its laboratories and some international organizations or cooperation agencies. The private universities were not mentioned in the affiliations list. The yearly percentage of international collaboration is over 80 %; France, the former colonial power is the main research partner whereas the West African region is the main partner at the African continent level; others partners are from Europe and America continents. This study suggests the setting up of a national database to index the domestic scientific literature; it should contribute to the improvement of the national research output.

Moving from Rabies Research to Rabies Control: Lessons from India

BackgroundDespite the availability of effective interventions and public recognition of the severity of the problem, rabies continues to suffer neglect by programme planners in India and other low and middle income countries. We investigate whether this state of ‘policy impasse’ is due to, at least in part, the research community not catering to the information needs of the policy makers.Methods & FindingsOur objective was to review the research output on rabies from India and examine its alignment with national policy priorities. A systematic literature review of all rabies research articles published from India between 2001 and 2011 was conducted. The distribution of conducted research was compared to the findings of an earlier research prioritization exercise. It was found that a total of 93 research articles were published from India since 2001, out of which 61% consisted of laboratory based studies focussing on rabies virus. Animals were the least studied group, comprising only 8% of the research output. One third of the articles were published in three journals focussing on vaccines and infectious disease epidemiology and the top 4 institutions (2 each from the animal and human health sectors) collectively produced 49% of the national research output. Biomedical research related to development of new interventions dominated the total output as opposed to the identified priority domains of socio-politic-economic research, basic epidemiological research and research to improve existing interventions.ConclusionThe paper highlights the gaps between rabies research and policy needs, and makes the case for developing a strategic research agenda that focusses on rabies control as an expected outcome.

A TRIBUTE TO A LIVING LEGEND (Special Issue in Honor of the 70th Birthday of Dr. Atta-ur-Rahman.)

History rarely witnesses the emergence of personalities whose monumental achievements change the course of science and technology in a country. Prof. Atta-ur-Rahman FRS, is one of such outstanding personalities whose contributions are multi-dimensional. For over half a century, he advanced our understanding of natural products and bioorganic chemistry, and inspired several generations of young scientists to choose these branches of chemical science as their future endeavors. From a humble beginning of independent research in an institution of a developing country, he advanced to capture the attention of the world’s natural product and medicinal chemistry communities with his seminal discoveries and his excellent leadership. He mentored a large number of young scholars from all over the world. Thus his enthusiasm for research and learning has spread globally. His research journey began with the development of synthetic approaches to complex anti-tumor alkaloids. He discovered over a thousand natural products, many of which proved to be novel with exciting biological properties. Around 850 publications, 25 international patents and over 114 books, published by major international publishers, are evidence to his enormous contributions in the field of natural products. The contributions of Prof. Atta-ur-Rahman go beyond his achievements in the field of chemical sciences. His leadership as the Federal Minister for Science and Technology, Information Technology and Higher Education of Pakistan, during 2000-2008 has completely changed the landscape of higher education in Pakistan. This included a significant increase in the number of universities from 57 to 137, tripling of the students’ enrolment from 257,000 to 810,000, increasing the national research output from 600 publications annually to 5,000 publications annually and raising university standards so much so that several universities in Pakistan are now ranked among the top 400 in the world. His work has received universal recognition and for this, he was honored with numerous awards and honorary doctorate degrees by many universities including the University of Cambridge. He is also the only scientist from the Islamic world to have been elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society (London) in recognition of research work carried out within an Islamic country in the 350 years old history of the Royal Society. Prof. Rahman is the first scientist from the Muslim world to have won the prestigious UNESCO Science Prize (1999) in the 35 year-old history of the Prize. He was elected Honorary Life Fellow of Kings College, Cambridge University, UK in 2007. Prof. Atta-ur-Rahman was conferred the TWAS (The Academy of sciences for Developing World) Prize for Institution Building in Durban, South Africa in 2009 in recognition of his contributions for bringing about revolutionary changes in the higher education sector in Pakistan. The Austrian government also honoured him with its highest civil award (“Grosse Goldene Ehrenzeischen am Bande

Reporting of health promotion research: addressing the quality gaps in iran.

Quality of health behavior research determines usefulness of the findings for application. The authors individually scrutinized quality of a representative sample of abstracts (n=315) submitted to the 1st International and 4th National Congress on Health Education and Promotion, held in Tabriz, Iran on 16-19 May, 2011. Among the assessed abstracts, introduction section had the standard format in 18.1% (CI: 14.2-22.7%), sampling method and sample size were concurrently explained in 56.3% (CI: 50.3-62.1%), and the data in 40.6% (CI: 35.4-46.1%) were insufficient to support the conclusion section. The observed heterogeneity in the quality of Iranian research may reflect gaps in research methodology education. Revision in the current research performance is recommended to ensure a more stringent national research output.

Post-graduate research in information and knowledge management in LIS schools in South Africa

The purpose of this paper is to highlight salient patterns of post-graduate research in information and knowledge management (I&KM) in LIS (Library and Information Science/Studies) schools in South Africa. The data was extracted from two SABINET (South African Bibliographic and Information Network)-hosted databases, namely the Current and Completed Research (C&CR) and the Union Catalogue of Theses and Dissertations (UCTD). Data was analyzed in order to find out the coverage of I&KM research in the databases; identify the topics of I&KM research; to examine trends in I&KM post-graduate research in South Africa; to determine the academic level at which I&KM research is mostly conducted; to find out the qualifications under which I&KM research is conducted; and to identify the study leaders (or supervisors) and institutions behind I&KM research in South Africa. The study found that there is an increased interest in I&KM by post-graduate students in South Africa; the main topics of research are related to Library and Information Science (LIS) and Business Science; the majority of the study leaders belong to the discipline of LIS; and that the most productive institutions are universities and more particularly, the universities that not only lead in the national research output but also those which have LIS departments. Recommendations for further research are also offered.

Reasons for and developments in international scientific collaboration: does an Asia–Pacific research area exist from a bibliometric point of view?

This paper describes the different forms of and tries to give reasons for international scientific collaboration in general. It focuses on eleven countries in the Asia–Pacific region by evaluating their national research output with the help of bibliometric indicators in particular. Over two million journal articles published by these countries between 1998 and 2007 in ISI-listed periodicals are analyzed. Discipline-specific publication and citation profiles reveal national strengths and weaknesses in the different research domains. The exponential increase in publication output by China over the last few years is astonishing, but in terms of visibility, i.e. citation rates, China cannot keep up with leading science nations, remaining below the world average. A discipline-specific analysis shows that Chinese authors took an active part in more than a quarter of all articles and reviews published in the field of materials science in 2007, while their contribution to medical research is very low. Co-publication networks among the eleven countries are generated to observe the development of cooperation bonds in the region. Applying Salton’s measure of international collaboration strength, an above-average strengthening of scientific collaboration in the Asia–Pacific region can be observed.

Scientists in society: The Royal Society of South Africa

The full account of how the Royal Society of South Africa acquired its Charter and Statutes in 1908 is given here for the first time. The article explains the socio-political context in which the Society was founded in 1908 and analyses the legacies of other learned societies in southern Africa—particularly the South African Philosophical Society which was established in 1877—that preceded it. The relationship between the Royal Society of South Africa, the Royal Society of London and similar societies is briefly examined. As the premier South African multidisciplinary scientific society during the twentieth century, the Royal Society of South Africa has contributed to the intellectual vibrancy of the country as well as to its national research output, and the institutional transformations and challenges relating to the Society over the past one hundred years are explored1.

Using ISI data in the analysis of German national and institutional research output

This paper outlines how private institutions and particularly foundations contribute to the furtherance of higher education and research, and it depicts what role bibliometric analysis can or cannot play in foundations' private research funding and in the process of strategic realignment under financial constraints.

Useful Source Materials on the European Family Policy Process

The items selected below to exemplify recent literature on the European family policy process from national and international perspectives highlight the specificity of family policy research, as reported in the themed articles in this issue of the journal. The publications cited indicate both the need for country-specific solutions and for cross-national comparative research, where potentially transportable examples of best practice can be identified. In multinational studies that straddle the developed countries of western Europe and the emerging countries of Central and Eastern Europe, the contrastive dimension is a key and driving factor of the analysis. Notwithstanding the similarities – in demographic trends, changes in family formation, education and labour market participation – the contrasts remain overwhelming and reflect the specific conditions obtaining in any given country. In turn, these conditions are reflected in the central themes and preoccupations of the analyses of national policy agencies, non-governmental organisations and academics. The position of family-related issues in the respective policy hierarchy is most obviously reflected in the institutional location of these issues. In all European countries, the dominant imperative of economic growth and stability leads to family policy being subsumed predominantly under ministries of social affairs. The experience of former communist states with rapidly growing income disparities, unemployment and meagre state funding has produced a patchwork of institutional and policy initiatives, dominated by the imperative of economic growth and modernisation. The disappearance of the comprehensive infrastructure of childcare in former state socialist countries compounds the problems of adjustment and helps to define the focus of post-communist research. A common feature in many European countries is that, notwithstanding self-funded research on the part of university research groups and NGOs, the influence of ministerial funding priorities on family policy research also determines the focus and weighting of national research output.