Contrasting High Scientific Production with Low International Collaboration and Scientific Impact: The Brazilian Case

Scientific research in the communication field has experienced great growth in recent years. Recent technological changes, as well as the emergence of Web 2.0 and 3.0 and new forms of communication, such as social networks, have led to new and varied studies in the discipline. This paper analyzes the scientific production of the 27 countries with the greatest scientific production in the communication field in the period from 2003 to 2018. The results indicate that: the most productive countries are the USA, UK, and Spain; there is less international collaboration than in other disciplines, but there is a network of European collaboration that is quite dense and has great impact, and another network in Pacific countries (Asia + Oceania), albeit with lower density and impact. Resumen En los últimos años la disciplina Comunicación ha experimentado un gran crecimiento en investigación. Los recientes cambios tecnológicos, así como la irrupción de la web 2.0 y 3.0 y nuevas formas de comunicación, como las redes sociales, han propiciado nuevos y variados estudios. En este trabajo se analiza la producción científica de los 27 países con mayor producción científica en Comunicación en el período 2003-2018. Algunos resultados son: los países más productivos son Estados Unidos, Reino Unido y España; y hay menos colaboración internacional que en otras disciplinas, sin embargo, existe una red de colaboración europea bastante densa y de gran impacto, y otra red de menor densidad e impacto de países del Pacífico (Asia + Oceanía).

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Publication rate and citation counts for preprints released during the COVID-19 pandemic: the good, the bad and the ugly

PeerJ ◽

10.7717/peerj.10927 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 9 ◽

pp. e10927

Author(s):

Diego Añazco ◽

Bryan Nicolalde ◽

Isabel Espinosa ◽

Jose Camacho ◽

Mariam Mushtaq ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Citation Count ◽

Publication Rate ◽

Scientific Production ◽

Scholarly Journal ◽

Time Interval ◽

Scholarly Journals ◽

Scientific Impact ◽

Peer Reviewing ◽

Citation Counts ◽

Novel Coronavirus

Background Preprints are preliminary reports that have not been peer-reviewed. In December 2019, a novel coronavirus appeared in China, and since then, scientific production, including preprints, has drastically increased. In this study, we intend to evaluate how often preprints about COVID-19 were published in scholarly journals and cited. Methods We searched the iSearch COVID-19 portfolio to identify all preprints related to COVID-19 posted on bioRxiv, medRxiv, and Research Square from January 1, 2020, to May 31, 2020. We used a custom-designed program to obtain metadata using the Crossref public API. After that, we determined the publication rate and made comparisons based on citation counts using non-parametric methods. Also, we compared the publication rate, citation counts, and time interval from posting on a preprint server to publication in a scholarly journal among the three different preprint servers. Results Our sample included 5,061 preprints, out of which 288 were published in scholarly journals and 4,773 remained unpublished (publication rate of 5.7%). We found that articles published in scholarly journals had a significantly higher total citation count than unpublished preprints within our sample (p < 0.001), and that preprints that were eventually published had a higher citation count as preprints when compared to unpublished preprints (p < 0.001). As well, we found that published preprints had a significantly higher citation count after publication in a scholarly journal compared to as a preprint (p < 0.001). Our results also show that medRxiv had the highest publication rate, while bioRxiv had the highest citation count and shortest time interval from posting on a preprint server to publication in a scholarly journal. Conclusions We found a remarkably low publication rate for preprints within our sample, despite accelerated time to publication by multiple scholarly journals. These findings could be partially attributed to the unprecedented surge in scientific production observed during the COVID-19 pandemic, which might saturate reviewing and editing processes in scholarly journals. However, our findings show that preprints had a significantly lower scientific impact, which might suggest that some preprints have lower quality and will not be able to endure peer-reviewing processes to be published in a peer-reviewed journal.

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HIV/AIDS research in Africa and the Middle East: participation and equity in North-South collaborations and relationships

Globalization and Health ◽

10.1186/s12992-020-00609-9 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 16 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Gregorio González-Alcaide ◽

Marouane Menchi-Elanzi ◽

Edy Nacarapa ◽

José-Manuel Ramos-Rincón

Keyword(s):

Middle East ◽

International Collaboration ◽

Research Output ◽

Scientific Activity ◽

Scientific Production ◽

African Countries ◽

Research Attention ◽

Global North ◽

Public Health Epidemiology ◽

Hiv Aids

Abstract Background HIV/AIDS has attracted considerable research attention since the 1980s. In the current context of globalization and the predominance of cooperative work, it is crucial to analyze the participation of the countries and regions where the infection is most prevalent. This study assesses the participation of African countries in publications on the topic, as well as the degree of equity or influence existing in North-South relations. Methods We identified all articles and reviews of HIV/AIDS indexed in the Web of Science Core Collection. We analyzed the scientific production, collaboration, and contributions from African and Middle Eastern countries to scientific activity in the region. The concept of leadership, measured through the participation as the first author of documents in collaboration was used to determine the equity in research produced through international collaboration. Results A total of 68,808 documents published from 2010 to 2017 were analyzed. Researchers from North America and Europe participated in 82.14% of the global scientific production on HIV/AIDS, compared to just 21.61% from Africa and the Middle East. Furthermore, the publications that did come out of these regions was concentrated in a small number of countries, led by South Africa (41% of the documents). Other features associated with HIV/AIDS publications from Africa include the importance of international collaboration from the USA, the UK, and other European countries (75–93% of the documents) and the limited participation as first authors that is evident (30 to 36% of the documents). Finally, the publications to which African countries contributed had a notably different disciplinary orientation, with a predominance of research on public health, epidemiology, and drug therapy. Conclusions It is essential to foster more balance in research output, avoid the concentration of resources that reproduces the global North-South model on the African continent, and focus the research agenda on local priorities. To accomplish this, the global North should strengthen the transfer of research skills and seek equity in cooperative ties, favoring the empowerment of African countries. These efforts should be concentrated in countries with low scientific activity and high incidence and prevalence of the disease. It is also essential to foster intraregional collaborations between African countries.

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Scientific impact increases when researchers publish in open access and international collaboration: A bibliometric analysis on poverty-related disease papers

PLoS ONE ◽

10.1371/journal.pone.0203156 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 13 (9) ◽

pp. e0203156 ◽

Cited By ~ 15

Author(s):

J. Gabrielle Breugelmans ◽

Guillaume Roberge ◽

Chantale Tippett ◽

Matt Durning ◽

David Brooke Struck ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Open Access ◽

Bibliometric Analysis ◽

International Collaboration ◽

Scientific Impact ◽

Related Disease

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Scientific production and international collaboration in occupational health, 1992-2001

Scandinavian Journal of Work Environment & Health ◽

10.5271/sjweh.783 ◽

2004 ◽

Vol 30 (3) ◽

pp. 223-233 ◽

Cited By ~ 16

Author(s):

Albert Navarro ◽

Miguel Martín

Keyword(s):

Occupational Health ◽

International Collaboration ◽

Scientific Production

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A Scientometric Study on Depression among University Students in East Asia: Research and System Insufficiencies?

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su12041498 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 12 (4) ◽

pp. 1498 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Minh-Hoang Nguyen ◽

Manh-Tung Ho ◽

Viet-Phuong La ◽

Quynh-Yen Thi. Nguyen ◽

Manh-Toan Ho ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

University Students ◽

International Collaboration ◽

Mental Health Problems ◽

P Value ◽

Scientific Quality ◽

Scientific Impact ◽

International Collaborations ◽

Japan And China

Given that mental health issues are acute in Asian countries, particularly Japan and Korea, and university students are more vulnerable to depression than the general population, this study aims to examine the landscapes of scientific research regarding depressive disorders among university students and evaluate the effectiveness of international collaboration and funding provision on the scientific impact in Korea, Japan, and China. Based on articles retrieved from the Web of Science database during the period 1992–2018, we found that the number of scientific publications, international collaborations, and allocated funds regarding depressive disorder among university students in China (97 articles, 43 international collaborations, and 52 funds provided, respectively) overwhelmingly surpassed the case of Korea (37 articles, 12 international collaborations, and 15 funds provided, respectively) and Japan (24 articles, 5 international collaborations, and 6 funds provided, respectively). The differences in collaboration patterns (p-value < 0.05) and the proportion of allocated funds (p-value < 0.05) among Korea, Japan, and China were also noted using Fisher’s exact test. Based on the Poisson regression analysis, China’s associations of scientific impact with international collaboration (β = −0.322, p-value < 0.01) and funding provision (β = −0.397, p-value < 0.01) are negative, while associations of the scientific impact and scientific quality with funding provision and international collaboration were statistically insignificant. These findings hint that Korea and Japan lacked scientific output, diversity in research targets, international collaboration, and funding provision, compared to China, but the quality of either China’s internationally collaborated or funded articles was contentious. As a result, policymakers in Korea and Japan are suggested to raise the importance of mental health problems in their future policy planning and resource distribution. Moreover, it would be advisable to establish a rigorous system of evaluation for the quality of internationally collaborated and funded studies in order to increase scientific impact and maintain public trust, especially in China.

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The global scientific research response to the public health emergency of Zika virus infection

10.1101/19001313 ◽

2019 ◽

Author(s):

Juliane Fonseca de Oliveira ◽

Julia Moreira Pescarini ◽

Moreno de Souza Rodrigues ◽

Bethania de Araujo Almeida ◽

Claudio Maierovitch Pessanha Henriques ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Public Health ◽

International Collaboration ◽

Science Studies ◽

Scientific Research ◽

Scientific Production ◽

Public Health Emergency ◽

Clinical Aspects ◽

Scientometric Analysis ◽

Research Areas ◽

The Usa

AbstractBackgroundScience studies have been a field of research for different knowledge areas and they have been successfully used to analyse the construction of scientific knowledge, practice and dissemination. In this study, we aimed to verify how the Zika epidemic has moulded scientific production worldwide analysing international collaboration and the knowledge landscape through time, research topics and country involvement.MethodologyWe searched the Web of Science (WoS) for studies published up to 31st December 2018 on Zika using the search terms “zika”, “zkv” or “zikv”. We analysed the scientific production regarding which countries have published the most, on which topics, as well as country level collaboration. We performed a scientometric analysis of research on Zika focusing on knowledge mapping and the scientific research path over time and space.FindingsWe found two well defined research areas divided into three subtopics accounting for six clusters. With regard to country analysis, the USA followed by Brazil were the leading countries in publications on Zika. China entered as a new player focusing on specific research areas. When we took into consideration the epidemics and reported cases, Brazil and France were the leading research countries on related topics. As for international collaboration, the USA followed by England and France stand out as the main hubs. The research areas most published included public health related topics from 2015 until the very beginning of 2016, followed by an increase in topics related to the clinical aspects of the disease in 2016 and the beginnings of laboratorial research in 2017/2018.ConclusionsMapping the response to Zika, a public health emergency, demonstrated a clear pattern of the participation of countries in the scientific advances. The pattern of knowledge production found in this study represented the different perspectives and interests of countries based firstly on their level of exposure to the epidemic and secondly on their financial positions with regard to science.

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HIV/AIDS research in Africa and the Middle East: participation and equity in North-South collaborations and relationships.

10.21203/rs.2.20230/v2 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Gregorio González-Alcaide ◽

Marouane Menchi-Elanzi ◽

Edy Nacarapa ◽

José-Manuel Ramos-Rincón

Keyword(s):

Middle East ◽

International Collaboration ◽

Research Output ◽

Scientific Activity ◽

Scientific Production ◽

African Countries ◽

Research Attention ◽

Global North ◽

Public Health Epidemiology ◽

Hiv Aids

Abstract Background HIV/AIDS has attracted considerable research attention since the 1980s. In the current context of globalization and the predominance of cooperative work, it is crucial to analyze the participation of the countries and regions where the infection is most prevalent. This study assesses the participation of African countries in publications on the topic, as well as the degree of equity or influence existing in North-South relations.Methods We identified all articles and reviews of HIV/AIDS indexed in the Web of Science Core Collection. We analyzed the scientific production, collaboration, and contributions from African and Middle Eastern countries to scientific activity in the region. The concept of leadership, measured through the participation as the first author of documents in collaboration was used to determine the equity in research produced through international collaboration. Results A total of 68,808 documents published from 2010 to 2017 were analyzed. Researchers from North America and Europe participated in 82.14% of the global scientific production on HIV/AIDS, compared to just 21.61% from Africa and the Middle East. Furthermore, the publications that did come out of these regions was concentrated in a small number of countries, led by South Africa (41% of the documents). Other features associated with HIV/AIDS publications from Africa include the importance of international collaboration from the USA, the UK, and other European countries (75%-93% of the documents) and the limited participation as first authors that is evident (30% to 36% of the documents). Finally, the publications to which African countries contributed had a notably different disciplinary orientation, with a predominance of research on public health, epidemiology, and drug therapy.Conclusions It is essential to foster more balance in research output, avoid the concentration of resources that reproduces the global North-South model on the African continent, and focus the research agenda on local priorities. To accomplish this, the global North should strengthen the transfer of research skills and seek equity in cooperative ties, favoring the empowerment of African countries. These efforts should be concentrated in countries with low scientific activity and high incidence and prevalence of the disease. It is also essential to foster intraregional collaborations between African countries.

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Research Impact and International Collaboration: A Study of Ecuadorian Science

Journal of Hispanic Higher Education ◽

10.1177/1538192718779169 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 19 (3) ◽

pp. 232-249 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

José Antonio Castillo ◽

Michael A. Powell

Keyword(s):

North America ◽

International Collaboration ◽

Research Impact ◽

Scientific Performance ◽

Scientific Impact ◽

High Level

Scientific performance in Ecuador has been traditionally low; however, in recent years, government has put various policies in place aimed at improving outcomes. This is an analysis of scientific impact of Ecuadorian publications using bibliometric tools for the 2006-2015 period. Impact of publications produced by Ecuadorian researchers is low; however, it highly increased with international collaboration mostly from North America and Europe, what allowed the publication of articles in journals of high level and prestige.

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Public-private collaboration and scientific impact: An analysis based on Danish publication data for 1995–2013

10.31235/osf.io/6u547 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Carter Bloch ◽

Thomas Kjeldager Ryan ◽

Jens Peter Andersen

Keyword(s):

International Collaboration ◽

Citation Impact ◽

Academic Research ◽

Academic Disciplines ◽

Journal Articles ◽

Research Papers ◽

Scientific Impact ◽

Significant Difference ◽

Academic Researchers

In the past few decades, there has been increasing interest in public-private collaboration, which has motivated lengthy discussion of the implications of collaboration in general, and co-authorship in particular, for the scientific impact of research. However, despite this strong interest in the topic, there is little systematic knowledge on the relation between public-private collaboration and citation impact. This paper examines the citation impact of papers involving public-private collaboration in comparison with academic research papers. We examine the role of a variety of factors, such as international collaboration, the number of co-authors, academic disciplines, and whether the research is mainly basic or applied. We first examine citation impact for a comprehensive dataset covering all Web of Science journal articles with at least one Danish author in the period 1995–2013. Thereafter, we examine whether citation impact for individual researchers differs when collaborating with industry compared to work only involving academic researchers, by looking at a fixed group of researchers that have both engaged in public-private collaborations and university-only publications. For national collaboration papers, we find no significant difference in citation impact for public-only and public-private collaborations. For international collaboration, we observe much higher citation impact for papers involving public-private collaboration.

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