Abstract
This article reports the results of a scientometric assessment of agricultural research in South Africa over the period 1974–1984. The Science Literature Indicators Database of CHI is used and South Africa is compared with 7 other countries spread in America, Asia, Oceania, and Africa. The criteria used for the assessment are the contribution of each country to international agricultural literature (in terms of publications) and their impact in the “Schubert-Glänzel-Braun Impact Scale“. It was found that, although the South African contribution has improved in that period, it is comparable to that of Brazil and Argentina; that Nigeria and Israel produce 3 times more, and: that Australia and Canada contribute more than one order of magnitude of publications more than South Africa. As far as research impact is concerned “Plant Science” research in South Africa is rated “fair” in the Schubert-Glänzel-Braun scale, whilst “Dairy and Animal Science” and “Veterinary” research are rated “poor”.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
ARUNACHALAM S. RAO M. K. D., SHIRASTRAVA P. K. (1984), Physics research in Israel. A premliminary bibliometric analysisJournal of the American Society for Information Science, 8: 185–95.
ARVANITIS R. CHATELIM Y., (1988), National scientific strategies in tropical soil,Social Studies of Science, 8(1): 113–146.
BRAUN T., GLÄNZEL W., SCHUBERT A., (1987), One more version of the facts and figures on publication output and relative citation impact of 107 countries 1987–1980,Scientometrics, 11: 9–15.
CAWKELL A. E., (1978), Evaluating scientific journals with journal Citation Reports. A case study in acoustics,Journal of the American Society for Information Science, Jan 1978, pp. 41–6.
CARPENTER M. P., NARIN F., (1981), The adequacy of the Science Citation Index (SCI) as an indicator of international sicentific activity,Journal of the American Society for Information Science, Nov 1981, pp. 430–439.
CROUCH D., IRVINE J., MARTIN B. R., (1986), Bibliometric analysis for science policy. An evaluation of the UK's research performance in Ocean Currents and Protein Crystallography,Scientometrics, 9: 239–7.
Department of National Education (1986) “Annual Report” Government Printer, Pretoria RSA.
FRAME J. D., (1979) National economic resources and the production of research in lesser developed countries,Social Studies of Science, 9: 233–46.
GARFIELD E., (1983), How to use citation analysis for faculty evaluations, and when it is relevant,Current Contents, Oct 31, 1983.
GARFIELD E., (1984), Latin American research — Where it is published an how often it is cited,Current Contents, May 7, 1984.
IRVINE J., MARTIN B., PEACOCK T., TURNER R., (1985), Charting the decline in British science,Nature, 316: 587–90.
LEDERMAN L. L., LEHMING R., BOND J. S., (1986), Research policies and strategies in six countries. A comparative analysis.Science and Public Policy, 13 (2): 67–76.
POURIS A., (1986), The South African Journal of Science — A bibliometric evaluation,South African Journal of Science 82: 401–2.
POURIS A., (1988), Assessing basic research in South Africa,South African Journal of Science, June 1988.
SCHUBERT A., GLÄNZEL W., BRAUN T., (1987), Subject field characteristic citation scores and scales for assessing research performance,Scientometrics, 12: 267–92.
SMITH D. C., COLLINS P. M. D. HICKS-SWYATT D. M., (1986), National performance of basic research,Nature, 23 Oct, 1986.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Pouris, A. A scientometric assessment of agricultural research in South Africa. Scientometrics 17, 401–413 (1989). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02017461
Received:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02017461