Gurumurthy Kalyanaram - We often hear this lament in academic, educational and governmental circles that “Research standards in India are poor” and that unless we improve the research culture, we will be not able to be on par with the advanced nations. The best of our universities do hardly any research which is reflected in the fact that there is no Indian institution in the top 200. Rather than mouth inane explanations, a dispassionate analysis of research output bench marked with the leading nations would be in order.
GLOBAL RESEARCH OUTPUT
In order to assess the quantum of research output, the logical parameter to consider is the number of research publications in peer reviewed journals. In this regard, ‘Scopus’ which is the world’s leading database on research had compiled the research output of the top 20 nations for the period 1996 – 2007.
From a study of the data from OECD Main Science & Technology Indicators as composed by Scopus, the following insights emerge.
• In terms of volume, the USA with 3.4 million publications during the 12 year period was far ahead of the other countries. Japan, UK and Germany are closely bunched with research output ranging from 0.89 million to 0.98 million. China is next on the list with 0.75 million publications. India, is a lowly 12th on the world list with 0.28 million publications.
• One may ascribe the research culture in the USA that has drawn 7.5 lakh researchers (a large percentage from outside USA) to have largely contributed to their research output- the nearest in terms of researchers is China with 1.15 lakhs followed by Japan, Germany and UK. However, in terms of research productivity, UK tops the list with 3.2 publications per researcher followed by Germany, Japan, China and USA. The number of researchers in India is not available and hence it is not possible to comment on the research productivity.
• The citations per publication which is the accepted indicator of quality of research output ranges between 2.14 for China and 12.63 for USA. India appears to be better placed that China in terms quality with 3.47 citations per publication against China’s 2.14. However, the interesting point to be noted is that although USA has higher citations than the other four leading nations, it is not the top ranked in terms of citation per publication, and is marginally pipped to the post by Switzerland which has 12.68 citations per publication.
SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH OUTPUT IN INDIA
While our overall research output is dismal, Thomson Reuters in their report titled ‘Global Research Output-India, October 2009’ report have stated that the scientific research productivity in India is on par with most G-8 nations and that in the next 7-8 years, by 2015-2020, India will go ahead. India’s share of scientific research output in the world is consistently less than 5% in all the disciplines (Source: Thomson Reuters)
While it is believed that India is strong in Chemistry followed by Physics, in reality Agricultural Sciences is next to Chemistry in research output. India’s share of the research output in microbiology is low.
Besides, there are other niche areas where research output in India is significant, namely: Agricultural Engineering, Tropical Medicine, Organic Chemistry, Dairy and Animal science, Crystallography, Integrated and Complementary medicine, Textiles, Medicinal chemistry, Agronomy. India’s share of the global research output (as given in Web of Science) in these areas ranges from 6.07% in Agronomy to 11.21% in Agricultural engineering. Thomson Reuters observe that Indian researchers do not collaborate with counterparts from advanced nations and If collaboration increases the scientific research output can improve considerably.
MANAGEMENT RESEARCH IN INDIA
Based on a study by Professors Nirmalya Kumar and Phanish Puranam of the London Business School, the management research output in India is discouraging. (Source: Aditya Birla India Center, London Business School)
India’s Management research output is very low, an average of 4 publications in the 40 top peer reviewed journals per year between 1990 and 2009. Any contribution worth the name is from Indian Statistical Institute (ISI), ISB, IIM Calcutta and IIM, Bangalore.
Filed by Dr. Gurumurthy Kalyanaram, Dean, NMIMS University
GLOBAL RESEARCH OUTPUT
In order to assess the quantum of research output, the logical parameter to consider is the number of research publications in peer reviewed journals. In this regard, ‘Scopus’ which is the world’s leading database on research had compiled the research output of the top 20 nations for the period 1996 – 2007.
From a study of the data from OECD Main Science & Technology Indicators as composed by Scopus, the following insights emerge.
• In terms of volume, the USA with 3.4 million publications during the 12 year period was far ahead of the other countries. Japan, UK and Germany are closely bunched with research output ranging from 0.89 million to 0.98 million. China is next on the list with 0.75 million publications. India, is a lowly 12th on the world list with 0.28 million publications.
• One may ascribe the research culture in the USA that has drawn 7.5 lakh researchers (a large percentage from outside USA) to have largely contributed to their research output- the nearest in terms of researchers is China with 1.15 lakhs followed by Japan, Germany and UK. However, in terms of research productivity, UK tops the list with 3.2 publications per researcher followed by Germany, Japan, China and USA. The number of researchers in India is not available and hence it is not possible to comment on the research productivity.
• The citations per publication which is the accepted indicator of quality of research output ranges between 2.14 for China and 12.63 for USA. India appears to be better placed that China in terms quality with 3.47 citations per publication against China’s 2.14. However, the interesting point to be noted is that although USA has higher citations than the other four leading nations, it is not the top ranked in terms of citation per publication, and is marginally pipped to the post by Switzerland which has 12.68 citations per publication.
SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH OUTPUT IN INDIA
While our overall research output is dismal, Thomson Reuters in their report titled ‘Global Research Output-India, October 2009’ report have stated that the scientific research productivity in India is on par with most G-8 nations and that in the next 7-8 years, by 2015-2020, India will go ahead. India’s share of scientific research output in the world is consistently less than 5% in all the disciplines (Source: Thomson Reuters)
While it is believed that India is strong in Chemistry followed by Physics, in reality Agricultural Sciences is next to Chemistry in research output. India’s share of the research output in microbiology is low.
Besides, there are other niche areas where research output in India is significant, namely: Agricultural Engineering, Tropical Medicine, Organic Chemistry, Dairy and Animal science, Crystallography, Integrated and Complementary medicine, Textiles, Medicinal chemistry, Agronomy. India’s share of the global research output (as given in Web of Science) in these areas ranges from 6.07% in Agronomy to 11.21% in Agricultural engineering. Thomson Reuters observe that Indian researchers do not collaborate with counterparts from advanced nations and If collaboration increases the scientific research output can improve considerably.
MANAGEMENT RESEARCH IN INDIA
Based on a study by Professors Nirmalya Kumar and Phanish Puranam of the London Business School, the management research output in India is discouraging. (Source: Aditya Birla India Center, London Business School)
India’s Management research output is very low, an average of 4 publications in the 40 top peer reviewed journals per year between 1990 and 2009. Any contribution worth the name is from Indian Statistical Institute (ISI), ISB, IIM Calcutta and IIM, Bangalore.
Filed by Dr. Gurumurthy Kalyanaram, Dean, NMIMS University
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