An Introduction
Have you ever wondered how many papers are written by scientists in India! Are S&T activities progressing or declining? A lot of information to answer such questions can be gathered from a detailed analysis of the publication pattern of research papers and patents issued. The present study makes an attempt in this direction.
You may be surprised at some of the figures given here from the study National Mapping of Science conducted at NISTADS. All papers from India indexed in Science Citation Index (SCI) have been analysed for the calendar years 1990, 1994 and 1997 after extensive data cleaning and value addition. You may draw your own conclusions.
Limitations: SCI covers about 4000 Journals including 12 from India. Our study is limited to these 4000 journals. If papers from other journals especially those published from India were included the numbers could change drastically and the pattern might also change. Any conclusions therefore are subject to this limitation.
Number of Indian papers and journals in the Science Citation index
State Outputs and Change
Change in the number of scientific papers from Indian states
POLICY & PLANNING
Technological solutions based on R&D are necessary in all areas be it Health, Self sufficiency in Food or Communication and Wealth Generation. It is imperative for any country to evaluate its activity in Science and take steps to direct it to national objectives or developmental goals. Knowledge of the state of Science should form the foundation of informed decision making at any level from Nation, state, sector to institution.
As the scientific system gets larger it becomes increasingly difficult to gauge the direction in which science is moving. As in any complex system some parts will be experiencing growth – others decline. A thriving research area or institution is usually characterised by a rapid increase in output. Published papers, therefore, can indicate areas of growth in science. The citation levels of journals in which they appear (Impact Factor) can act as a surrogate measure of quality.
While keeping relevance to society as well as the cause of science in mind, basic statistics of scientific output and impact can assist expert opinion in providing direction to scientific research
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