Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Medical research in South Africa: a scientometric analysis of trends, patterns, productivity and partnership

  • Published:
Scientometrics Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Being a scientifically active country in Africa, South Africa has made significant strides in the production of scientific publications. Medicine is one branch of science that has achieved a remarkable position in this regard. Extracting and analyzing medical publications for three decades and at regular intervals (1975–2005) from the SCI database, this paper pioneers an attempt to find out whether the reported pace of growth in the production of scientific papers in medicine is an effect of partnerships that scholars have with their counterparts within the organization, within the country, or with those in other countries. This paper also presents the unique patterns of scientific research in medicine, taking into account factors such as the count and fractional count of papers, citations, trends of growth, sectoral participation, partners, and publication outlets, and seeks to provide new insights into the directions medical science is taking in South Africa today.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7
Fig. 8
Fig. 9

Similar content being viewed by others

Notes

  1. There are 17 journals that originate in South Africa and appear in the SCI database: African Entomology, African Journal of Marine Science, African Zoology, Bothalia, Journal of the South African Institute of Mining and Metallurgy, Journal of the South African Veterinary Association, Onderstepoort Journal of Veterinary Research, Ostrich, South African Journal of Animal Science, South African Journal of Botany, South African Journal of Chemistry, South African Journal of Geology, South African Journal of Science, South African Journal of Surgery, South African Journal of Wildlife Research, SAMJ South African Medical Journal, and Water SA.

References

  • Anuradha, K. T., & Urs, S. R. (2007). Bibliometric indicators of Indian research collaboration patterns: A correspondence analysis. Scientometrics, 71, 179–189.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Beaver, D. D. (2001). Reflections on scientific collaboration (and its study): Past, present and future. Scientometrics, 52, 365–377.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Beaver, D. D., & Rosen, R. (1978). Studies in scientific collaboration, part i: The professional origins of scientific co-authorship. Scientometrics, 1, 65–84.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Beaver, D. D., & Rosen, R. (1979). Studies in scientific collaboration, part ii: Scientific coauthorship, research productivity and visibility in the French scientific elite, 1799–1830. Scientometrics, 1, 133–149.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bliziotis, I. A., Paraschakis, K., Vergidis, P. I., Karavasiou, A. I., & Falagas, M. E. (2005). Worldwide trends in quantity and quality of published articles in the field of infectious diseases. BMC Infectious Diseases, 5, 1–8.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bonaccorsi, A., Daraio, C., & Simar, L. (2006). Advanced indicators of productivity of universities: An application of robust nonparametric methods to Italian data. Scientometrics, 66, 389–410.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bornmann, L., & Daniel, H.-D. (2008). What do citation counts measure? A review of studies on citing behavior. Journal of Documentation, 61, 45–80.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Boshoff, N. (2009). Neo-colonialism and research collaboration in Central Africa. Scientometrics, 81, 413–434.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bozeman, B., & Boardman, C. (2003), Research and technology collaboration and linkages: implications from two U.S. case studies. Georgia Institute of Technology. Accessed April 24, 2007, from, http://www.csta-cest.ca/files/usa.pdf.

  • Brink, A. (2009). The development of cardiology in South Africa. Cardiovascular Journal of Africa, 20, 5–6.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chen, T.-J., Chen, Y.-C., Hwang, S.-J., & Chou, L.-F. (2007). International collaboration of clinical medicine research in Taiwan, 1990–2004: A bibliometric analysis. Journal of Chinese Medical Association, 70, 110–116.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • DST (Department of Science and Technology) (2002), South Africa’s National Research and Development Strategy. Pretoria: Department of Science and Technology. Accessed August 31, 2007, from http://www.dst.gov.za/publications/reports.php.

  • Falagas, M. E., Papastamataki, P. A., & Bliziotis, I. A. (2006). A bibliometric analysis of research productivity in Parasitology by different world regions during a 9-year period (1995–2003). BMC Infectious Diseases, 6, 1–6.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Farahat, H. (2002). Authorship patterns in agricultural sciences in Egypt. Scientometrics, 55, 157–170.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Glover, S. W., & Bowen, S. L. (2004). Bibliometric analysis of research published in tropical medicine and international health 1996–2003. Tropical Medicine and International Health, 9, 1327–1330.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Goldfinch, S., Dale, T., & Derouen, K., Jr. (2003). Science from the periphery: collaboration, networks and ‘periphery effects’ in the citation of New Zealand Crown Research Institutes articles, 1995–2000. Scientometrics, 37, 321–337.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Habib, A., & Morrow, S. (2006). Research, research productivity and the state in South Africa. Transformation, 62, 9–29.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hajra, K. B., & Sen, P. (2005). Aging in citation networks. Physica A, 346, 44–48.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hellsten, I., Lambiotte, R., Scharnhorst, A., & Ausloos, M. (2007). Self-citations, co-authorships and keywords: A new approach to scientists’ field mobility? Scientometrics, 72, 469–486.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ingwersen, P., & Jacobs, D. (2004). South African research in selected scientific areas: Status 1981–2000. Scientometrics, 59, 405–423.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jacobs, D., & Ingwersen, P. (2000). A bibliometric study of the publication patterns in the sciences of South African scholars 1981–96. Scientometrics, 47, 75–93.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jeenah, M., & Pouris, A. (2008). South African research in the context of Africa and globally. South African Journal of Science, 104, 351–354.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kaplan, D. (2004). South Africa’s national research and development strategy: A review. Science, Technology and Society, 9, 273–294.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Katz, J. S., & Martin, B. R. (1997). What is research collaboration? Research Policy, 26, 1–18.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kundra, R., & Kretschmer, H. (1999). A new model of scientific collaboration: Part 2, collaboration patterns in Indian medicine. Scientometrics, 46, 519–528.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lee, S., & Bozeman, B. (2005). The impact of research collaboration on scientific productivity. Social Studies of Science, 35, 673–702.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ma, N., & Guan, J. (2005). An exploratory study on collaboration profiles of Chinese publications in molecular biology. Scientometrics, 65, 343–355.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mayhew, S. H., Doherty, J., & Pitayarangsarit, S. (2008). Developing health systems research capacities through north-south partnership: An evaluation of collaboration with South Africa and Thailand. Health Research Policy and Systems, 6, 1–12.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Narvaez-Berthelemot, N., Russel, J. M., Arvanitis, R., Waast, R., & Gaillard, J. (2002). Science in Africa: An overview of mainstream scientific output. Scientometrics, 54, 229–241.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Navarro, A., & Martin, M. (2004). Scientific production and international collaboration in occupational health, 1992–2001. Scandinavian Journal of Work, Environment and Health, 30, 223–233.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nordkvelle, Y. (1990). The academic boycott of South Africa debate: Science and social practice. Studies in Higher Education, 15, 253–275.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pouris, A., & Pouris, A. (2009). The state of science and technology in Africa (2000–2004): A scientometric assessment. Scientometrics, 79, 297–309.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schuber, T., & Sooryamoorthy, R. (2009), Can the centre-periphery model explain patterns of international scientific collaboration among threshold and industrialised countries? The case of South Africa and Germany, Scientometrics. doi:10.1007/s11192-009-0074-2.

  • Sooryamoorthy, R. (2009). Collaboration and publication: How collaborative are scientists in South Africa? Scientometrics, 80, 419–439.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Uthman, O. A., & Uthman, M. B. (2007). Geography of Africa biomedical publications: An analysis of 1996–2005 PubMed papers. International Journal of Health Geographics, 6, 1–11.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wagner, C. S., & Leydesdorff, L. (2005). Network structure, self-organization, and the growth of international collaboration in science. Research Policy, 34, 1608–1618.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wilson, C. S., & Markusova, V. A. (2004). Changes in the scientific output of Russia from 1980 to 2000, as reflected in the science citation index, in relation to national politico-economic changes. Scientometrics, 59, 345–389.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Sociology Programme, Howard Campus, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 4041, South Africa

    Radhamany Sooryamoorthy

Authors
  1. Radhamany Sooryamoorthy
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Radhamany Sooryamoorthy.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Sooryamoorthy, R. Medical research in South Africa: a scientometric analysis of trends, patterns, productivity and partnership. Scientometrics 84, 863–885 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11192-010-0169-9

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11192-010-0169-9

Keywords

Search

Navigation