Social Science research landscape in South Asia: a comparative assessment of research output published during 1996-2013.
Dhawan, S.M. ; Gupta, B.M. ; Gupta, Ritu 等
1. Introduction
South Asian economies have been evolving, experiencing a long
period of robust economic growth, averaging 6% a year over the past 20
years. They have increased their economic profile on the world stage,
built human capital by ensuring that the people of South Asia have
access to education, health care, and social safety nets. But in their
race for socio-economic development, these economies had followed
different trajectories for the expansion of social sciences to achieve
the levels of growth needed to meet the aspirations of all their people.
South Asian countries as such have come to experience widely varying
impact on their national research output in social science disciplines.
There exist sharp differences between South Asia nations both in the
nature of their social science institutional structures and in the pace
at which these economies have grown. India leads in the number of
universities, specialized research institutions, and other governmental
and non-governmental bodies conducting social science research. Research
and educational opportunities here are highly developed compared to its
neighbouring countries. In contrast, social science landscapes in
Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Nepal are different. Their
educational and research enterprises are not so large in number count as
India's. Their institutions of higher learning, NGOs, and
specialised research institutes highly differ in research facilities and
quality (1).
The 'Report of the Committee Constituted by Government of
India to Review the Functioning of ICSSR, 2011' (2) had observed
that the current number of universities, research institutes, NGOs and
their research outputs in the region were lopsided, no longer meeting
rising demands for higher education access. Their R&D sector was
lacking high quality research facilities, despite their growing
importance to the economic development agenda. Their public spending in
the higher education sector was less compared to the needs, and not able
to withstand the impact that the fast growing young population in the
region is having on the higher education and research sector. India,
Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Nepal together account for around
25% of the world's population.
Given the wide differences in their social science landscapes,
South Asia countries are bound to have wide differing impact on the
research emanating from their respective countries. To determine and
evaluate their comparative research performance from a regional
perspective, it would be useful to undertake a detailed analysis of
their scholarly output in social sciences using publication and citation
indicators. Mapping social science research would give stakeholders
across South Asia countries an opportunity to understand and ascertain
their comparative strength and weaknesses in social science disciplines.
Such an insight would provide fresh opportunities to introspect and
frame future policies pertaining to research spending, quality,
visibility and ensuring long term growth and development of social
science research from a regional perspective.
This paper therefore looks at the status of social sciences
research in South Asia and determines what impact the socio-economic
developments within India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Nepal
had had on their comparative research profiles in social sciences. This
paper therefore compares and benchmarks their research performance on
publication and citation indicators. These indicators provide a
reasonable measure of research publication size, publication growth
rate, visibility and impact of research. This study covers research
publication and citation data pertaining to South Asia countries in
social sciences for the years 1996 to 2013.
1.1 Literature Review
Bibilometric literature comprises a good number of studies on
social science research in South Asia. But comparative evaluation
undertaken in these studies is focused mainly on publications
productivity made by select three or four South Asia countries and the
captured data analysed using select publication and citation indicators.
There is no study till date which has sought to undertake comparative
assessment and evaluation of social science research in five South Asia
countries covering India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Nepal.
Mehbuba and Rousseau (2010)(3) compared India vis-a-vis Bangladesh,
Pakistan and Sri Lanka publications in social sciences using three
indicators: percentage of un-cited articles, citations per document and
h-indices. Gupta and Bala (2012)(4) examined S&T publications of
four South Asia countries (Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Nepal)
published during 2001-10, using measures such as global publication
contribution and share, growth pattern, distribution of publications by
subjects and geographical areas, share of international collaborative
publications and characteristics of high productivity institutions and
highly cited papers. Gupta and Mahesh (2013)(5) compared social science
research in four South Asia countries, namely Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri
Lanka and Nepal for the period 1996-2011 using various quantitative and
qualitative indicators. They looked at the similarities in the research
profile of these four countries, and their research priorities across
sub-fields under the five broad social science subjects, such as
business, management & accounting, decision sciences, economics,
econometrics & finance, psychology and social sciences-general in
these three countries. Gupta, Kumbar and Gupta (2013)(6) analysed
India's performance on social sciences on publications growth rate,
citation quality, internationally collaborative publications in the
national output, productivity distribution by broad and narrow subjects.
Gupta, Tiwari and Gupta (2014)(7) examined social science research by
four South Asia countries on indicators including publication growth
rate, citation impact, share of internationally collaborative papers,
leading collaborators, broad subject-wise scatter of publications
productivity, geographical distribution of publications productivity,
institutional contribution and impact, and most productive journals in
social science research. Gupta and Kumbar (2014)(8) examined the status
of social science research of India, China and Brazil for their
comparative performance on quantitative and qualitative indicators
including global publication share and rank, annual growth rate,
national publication share, internationally collaborative publications
share, and research impact as reflected in citation analysis. They
brought out similarities in their research profiles, looked at their
research priorities, the citation impact of their publications across
subfields under the five broad social science subjects, such as
business, management and accounting, decision sciences, economics,
econometrics and finance, psychology and social sciences (general) in
the countries.
To fill the gap in the literature, this study aims to look at
comparative performance of five South Asia countries including India,
Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Nepal using a different methodology
to aggregate and analyse publications data on a series of publication
and citation indicators.
2. Objectives
The main objective of this study is to analyze publications and
citations data for comparative assessment of social science research in
five South Asia countries, namely Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and
Nepal. The study uses a series of quantitative and qualitative measures
to: (i) measure and analyse annual growth and the growth pattern of
South Asia countries; (ii) measure national output and the global share
of South Asia countries; (iii) analyse the citation visibility and
impact of research output by South Asia countries; (iv) compare the
share of internationally collaborative papers in the national output of
South Asia countries; (v) study the research productivity distribution
by broad subjects to discover publications growth pattern, identify
national research priorities, impact of research, and the extent of
international collaboration in social sciences.
3. Methodology & Data Source
The study is a bibliometric analysis of social sciences research
conducted in five South Asia countries, viz. India, Pakistan,
Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Nepal. The data for the study has been
sourced from SCImago (using its Journal and Country Rank website,
http://www.scimagojr.com) developed by Prof. Felix de Moya Anegon of the
University of Granada in Spain from the Scopus database
(http://www.scopus.com/search/) The social sciences data captured for
the study is limited to five major sub-categories viz i) Social
Science--general, ii) Business, Management, & Accounting, iii)
Decision Science, iv) Economics, Econometrics, & Finance, and v)
Psychology. The study covers 18 years data pertaining to the period
1996-2013. For capturing trends in overall social science output coming
from five countries South Asia countries, the output under the above
five subject categories has been combined
Publication data count is based on publication year. Citation and
bibliometric indicators have been derived, not on yearly publication
data count, but on five-yearly overlapping publication count.
Accordingly, the annual time series data covering publication years
1996-2013 has been split into 14 five-year overlapping data subsets
ranging from 1996-2000, 1997-2001, 1998-2002 ... to 2009-2013. Each
subset aggregates data pertaining to corresponding five publication
years it covers. For example, 1996-2000 data subset aggregates data
corresponding to publication years 1996/1997/1998/1999/2000; data subset
1997-2001 aggregates data corresponding to the years
1997/1998/1999/2000/2001; ........ and moving likewise on to the last
data subset 2009-2013. The data analysis based on five-year moving
aggregate helps to avoid year-to-year aberrations, smooth out
irregularities in annual times series data, and capture underlying
trends in a data set even when time series data happens to be volatile.
Citation count is also based on five-year citation window. For
example, data subset 1996-2000 would include citations from year 1996 to
end-2000 for papers published in 1996-2000. Five-year citation window
has been chosen mainly because this period is considered long enough to
capture macro changes in the publication and citation performance of
South Asia countries.
A number of quantitative and qualitative measures have been used in
this study, which are described below:
(i) Growth Rate--Growth rate has been computed on Compounded Annual
Growth Average (CAGR) instead of annual average growth. Annual average
growth rate is the arithmetic mean of the growth rate over each annual
period i.e. the average growth from 2005-2006, 2006-2007, 2007-2008 etc.
CAGR is preferred because it depends upon mean average rate and in
addition it addresses data volatility in annual output data figures. For
example, two samples with same mean may return different CAGR rates. The
one with larger data volatility will return smaller CAGR. CAGR is
considered a more reliable metric compared to annual average growth
rate.
(ii) Relative Citation Index--Relative citation index (RCI) has
been used to compare countries performance in research. RCI number
denotes the country citations per paper average in relation to world
average. Relative Citation Index (RCI) is both a measure of impact and
visibility of a country's research. The RCI score is used to show
how often papers are cited relative to the world average in the relevant
domain and year of publication. By definition the RCI for the world is
always 1.00 for any domain. If the RCI for an institution/country/region
is greater than 1.00, it is performing above the world average for that
field. Conversely, if the RCI is less than 1.00, the
institution/country/region is performing poorly compared to the world
average in that field. For this study, RCI has been calculated using
data for papers published and citations received during every
five-yearly overlapping time intervals covered by data subsets ranging
from 1996-2000 to 2009-2013.
RCI is different from citation impact which is citation count
divided by publication count for a group of papers over a certain time
period. The relative citation index is computed by dividing the number
of citations per paper for a country in a domain with the number of
citations per paper for the world in the same domain.
(iii) Specialisation Index--The Specialisation Index (SI) is an
indicator of the research intensity of a country/region/institution
relative to the world in a given field of research. It describes the
extent to which a country is specialised relative to the rest of the
world in that discipline. This is used to show where a country might
have a comparative advantage in terms of its research focus to
particular areas of research. By definition the Speciaisation Index for
the world is always 0.00 for any domain. If SI score is above 0 the
country is more specialised relative to the world in a discipline, it
places more emphasis on that particular discipline compared to its other
research areas. If it is below 0.00, it would mean that the country has
less of a focus in that field relative to the rest of the world. It
compares the country share of articles with the world's share in
the same discipline.
SI (Specialisation Index) = (AI - 1)/(AI + 1)
Wherein AI (Activity Index) = (Papers by a country in a subject
divided by Papers by the country in all subjects)/ (World papers in the
subject divided by World papers in all subjects)
(iv) National Pub Int--National Pub Int is an indicator of
publication share of internationally collaborated papers in the national
output of a country in a given domain and in a given publication period.
It describes the extent to which a country has its research focus on
international collaboration.
v) World Share--World share is is an indicator of publication share
of a country in the world publication out in a given domain and year of
publication. It describes the extent to which has a country comparative
advantage in its research performance over others.
Indicators Summary
Pub Count Moving Five-Year Aggregate of
papers (integer count). For
example, 1996-2000 count is an
aggregate of papers published in
five consecutive years i.e.
1996/1997/1998/1999/2000
Citation Count Citation count is based on
five-year citation window. Total
citations, say, during 1996-2000,
are to all papers published during
this same period.
Citations Per Paper Total citations per paper (5 year
window, i.e., for articles in
1996-2000 count citations received
during 1996-2000)
Compounded CAGR is mean average rate and in
Annual Growth Rate addition it addresses data
volatility in annual output data
figures. For example, two samples
with same mean may return different
CAGR rates.
National PubInt National share of internationally
co-authored papers.
World Share National percentage share in the
world publications output in a
given domain and year of
publication
Relative Citation A comparative indicator of a
Index nation/region/institute measuring
its average citations per paper
relative to world average of one
per paper in the relevant domain
and year of publication.
Specialisation Index A comparative indicator of a
nation/region/institute measuring
the intensity of research
publications in a subject relative
to world average index of value
zero
4. Data Analysis
4.1 Publications Growth Landscape
The social sciences research in the South Asia region has been
found to be growing, almost doubling in publication size every six
years. Publications output in the region jumped 95% in six years between
2001 and 2007 (up from 769 to 1496 papers) and 135% in next six years
between 2007 and 2013 (up from 1496 to 3513 papers). The time series
publication data recorded in 18 years between 1996 and 2013 approximates
growth to exponential trend line (goodness of fit R2= 0.95). This
demonstrates statistically that publication size of social science
research in South Asia is growing exponentially, doubling in every six
years (Figure 1).
The increase in social science publications within the region
between 1996 and 2013 corresponds to 13.37% compounded growth a year
computed on five-year aggregate data. Given this growth trend in social
sciences, projections are that South Asia's publication output may
jump to approximately 8000 papers by the year 2019 (Figure 2).
[FIGURE 1 OMITTED]
[FIGURE 2 OMITTED]
South Asia countries differ sharply in their growth rates in social
science research. Pakistan tops the region, registering strongest
publication growth rate 17.28% a year followed by India (13.21%),
Bangladesh (12.43%), Nepal (10.31%), and Sri Lanka (9.76%).
Pakistan's publications growth rate in social science (17.28%) is
nearly twice that of Sri Lanka (9.76%). This study used five-year moving
aggregate data for comparing South Asia countries' growth rates
computed using CAGR method. Figure 2 shows how compounded annual growth
rates in social sciences research are lower than growth rates measured
using annual average method.
4.2 World Share
South Asia is not very prolific in social sciences in the global
context. South Asia region accounts for 1.573% share (61851 papers) in
the world output in social sciences in 18 years period 1996-2013.
Compared to rest of the world share (98.427%, 3931442 papers) South
Asia's share in social sciences research looks small. South
Asia's share of world publications in social sciences increased
from 1.026% to 2.097% in 14 years between 1996-2000 and 2009-13. The
percentage share of the region in world publications averaged 1.573%.
India averaged its largest percentage share (1.324%) of world papers
within the region, followed by Pakistan (0.136%), Bangladesh (0.057%),
Sri Lanka (0.036%), and Nepal (0.02%). Pakistan displayed strongest
growth in its percentage share of world publications in social sciences
8.82% (up from 0.064 to 0.209%) in 14 years from 1996-00 to 2009-13,
followed by India which displayed 5.24% growth (up from 0.87 to 1.324%),
Bangladesh's 4.25% (up from 0.043 to 0.077%), Sri Lanka's
1.84% (from 0.031% to 0.040%) and Nepal's 2.37% (from 0.018 to
0.025%) (Table 1).
4.3 Country Share in South Asia Region
Social sciences research in South Asia is heavily skewed due to
India's dominating publication activity, accounting for as much as
84.2% publication share (52052 papers) to the region in 14 years during
1996-2013. In contrast, comparator countries taken together account for
15.8% publication share to the region--Pakistan (5329, 8.6% share),
Bangladesh (2256, 2.3% share), Sri Lanka (1415, 2.3% share) and Nepal
(799, 1.3% share) during 1996-2013.
India's publication share in South Asia output has declined in
14 years marginally by 1.68% (down from 84.93% to 83.25%). On the other
hand, combined publication share of other four South Asia countries
(Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Nepal) has gone up by 1.68% (from
15.07% to 16.75%) in 14 years from 1996-2000 to 2009-2013 (Figure 3).
[FIGURE 4 OMITTED]
Within the confines of South Asia region, there is a great social
science research divide between nations that publish papers in bulk and
those that publish very little. India which alone published prolific
share between 83% and 85% is a nation that publishes social science
research in bulk compared to Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Nepal
which as a nation published very little in social science between 3% and
6% in 14 years between 1996-2000 and 2009-2013. The gap between India
and comparator countries in their national publication share in social
sciences is indeed wide and it continued to persist for 14 long years
period between 1996-2000 and 2009-2013 (Figure 4).
4.4 Citation Visibility & Impact
All five South Asia countries averaged their relative citation
index below the world average of 1. This implies that visibility and
impact of social sciences research in South Asia countries has been less
than that of the world average. Sri Lanka tops among South Asia
countries on relative citation index in social sciences (0.920),
followed by Nepal (0.878), Bangladesh (0.811), India (0.483) and
Pakistan (0.361). India's low RCI score (0.483), despite its
prolific publication share in South Asia (84%), points to the necessity
of analysing the efficacy of public funding with respect to quality, and
its adjustment to newer research areas (Table 2 and Figure 5).
South Asia region witnessed 1.92% rise in its relative citation
index overtime, up from 0.512 to 0.688. But South Asia countries
individually showed mixed trend in RCI change. India averaged 2.57%
increase up from 0.462 to 0.659, Sri Lanka (2.61%) up from 0.746 to
1.070, Nepal (1.66%) from 0.931 to 1.172, and Pakistan (0.62%) up from
0.456 to 0.497. Bangladesh's RCI slipped marginally 0.37% down from
0.861 to 0.829 (Table 2 and Figure 5).
4.5 International Collaboration
Co-authored papers serve as a measure of collaborative efforts in
research. In addition, internationally co-authored papers are known to
give the country more visibility and impact in research. Internationally
co-authored papers account for 14.61% share in the total regional output
by South Asia countries in social sciences published during 1996-2013.
Nepal tops among South Asia countries accounting for (61.58%) highest
share of internationally co-authored papers in the national output.
Bangladesh ranked second accounting for 52.44% national share, followed
by Sri Lanka (48.34% share), Pakistan (28.52% share), and India (7.15%
share) (Table 3 and Figure 6).
[FIGURE 6 OMITTED]
4.6 Distribution of Publications Productivity across Main Subjects
4.61 Comparison of Publication Growth Rate across Subjects: South
Asia vs World
South Asia displayed 13.5% growth a year in social sciences in 14
years relative to the whole world (8.7%). Besides, South Asia displayed
faster growth in all five fields of social sciences relative to the
whole world. Economics, Econometrics, and Finance has seen the strongest
growth (17.32%) within South Asia vs whole world (8.84%). In Business,
Management & Accounting displayed 13.39% growth in South Asia vs
whole world (7.33%). South Asia displayed 13.16% growth in Social
Sciences-General vs whole world (8.38%). In Psychology South Asia's
growth was 13.01% vs whole world (5.41%). South Asia's growth in
Decision Science was 10.68% vs whole world (8.57%). This analysis covers
data between 1996-2000 and 2009-2013 (Table 4 and Figure 7-8).
[FIGURE 8 OMITTED]
4.62 National Research Priorities of Individual South Asia
Countries
South Asia countries share similar national research priorities in
social science disciplines. The distribution of research publications
across subject fields is a broad reflection of research priorities of a
country. In order to get an insight into research priorities of South
Asia countries, their national publication shares were estimated and
compared across five fields in social sciences: i) Social
Science-General, ii) Business, Management, & Accounting, iii)
Economics, Econometrics, & Finance, iv) Decision Science, and v)
Psychology. Comparison of research publications data across five subject
fields reveals that South Asia countries share similar national research
priorities in social science disciplines (Table 5 and Figure 9).
Social science-general has emerged as the top priority research
area of interest in every South Asia nation; each country displayed its
highest national percentage share in this very field only. However,
South Asia countries differ in their national share figures in this
field significantly. Across South Asia, Nepal displayed strongest
national percentage share in social science-general (75.84%), followed
by Bangladesh, 64.94%; Sri Lanka, 61.48%; Pakistan, 57.33%; and India,
43.33%.
Business, Management & Accounting is the 2nd top priority
research area of interest in every South Asia nation; each country
displayed its 2nd highest national percentage share in this field only.
However, South Asia countries differ in their percentage share figures
in this field differed significantly. Across South Asia, India displayed
strongest national publication share in business, management &
accounting (26.96%), followed by Pakistan, 16.33%; Sri Lanka, 15.5%;
Bangladesh, 12.59%; and Nepal, 5.51%.
Decision Science is the 3rd top priority area of research of
interest in every South Asia nation; each country displayed its 3rd
highest national percentage share in this field only. However, South
Asia countries differ significantly in their national share figures in
this field. Across South Asia, Pakistan displayed strongest national
publication share in this field (15.05%), followed by Bangladesh,
13.3%%; India, 12.78%; Nepal, 11.14%; Sri Lanka, 11.02%.
Economics, Econometrics, & Finance is the 4th priority area of
research of interest in all South Asia nations; each country displayed
its 4th highest national percentage share in this field only. However,
South Asia countries differ significantly in their national share
figures in this field. Across South Asia, India displayed strongest
national publication share is this field (12.26%), followed by Sri
Lanka, 7.28%, Pakistan, 7%;, Bangladesh, 5.41%; and Nepal, 1%.
Psychology is the least prolific research area of interest amongst
South Asia nations; each country displayed its least national percentage
share in this field only. However, South Asia countries differ
significantly in their national share figures in this field. Across
South Asia, Nepal contributed strongest national share in this field
(6.51%), followed by Sri Lanka, 5.16%, India, 4.66%; Pakistan, 4.3%, and
Bangladesh, 3.77%.
[FIGURE 9 OMITTED]
4.63 Comparison of Research Priorities: South Asia vs World
South Asia and the 'whole world' do not follow similar
distribution pattern in select main fields in social sciences.
Psychology has been the least prolific area in South Asia accounting for
4.63% share in the combined output by comparator countries in the
region; but in the world output ranking psychology is the 3rd priority
area in social sciences (16.16%).
Economics, Econometrics, & Finance is the least prolific area
in the world's output (6.16% share), but in South Asia's
output it is the 2nd least priority area (11.3%). 'Social
Sciences-General' has continued to remain as the top priority area
in both South Asia's output and world's output. Business,
Management, & Accounting stands as the 2nd priority area of both
South Asia and the world. Decision Science ranks as the 3rd priority
research area for South Asia (12.94% share) but in the world output
(10.65% share) it ranks as the 4th priority research area (Table 6).
Relative specialization index is about the publication share of
South Asia from across different main subject fields in social sciences
relative to share of these fields in the whole world publications. If
specialisation index is above 'zero', it indicates that a
country has a relatively higher share in a particular field of social
science than its overall share in world total publications. If it is
below 'zero' it indicates that a country's specialisation
in the field is below the world average (Table 7 and Figure 10-11).
Comparison of South Asia's research output on specialisation
index reveals that both South Asia and the whole world do not follow
similar distribution pattern across select fields.
In social sciences-general Pakistan (0.23) and Nepal (0.10)
displayed their research activity above the world average. Bangladesh is
just close to world average (0.02). The research activity of both India
(-0.04) and Sri Lanka (-0.05) in this field is marginally below world
average.
[FIGURE 10 OMITTED]
[FIGURE 11 OMITTED]
In Business, Management, & Accounting Nepal (-0.51), Pakistan
(-0.41), and Bangladesh (-0.13) have displayed their research activity
much below the world average. Sri Lanka (0.22) is well above world
average in this field while India's activity (0.05) is marginally
above world average.
In Decision Science Pakistan (-0.49), Nepal (-0.48), and Sri Lanka
(-0.11) have displayed their research activity much below the world
average. Bangladesh (0.22) and India (0.05) are marginally above world
average.
In Economics, Econometrics, & Finance Pakistan (-0.18) is below
average, Nepal (-0.02) marginally below average. Bangladesh is above the
world average (0.15). Both India (0.01) and Sri Lanka a(0.01) are
marginally above world average.
In Psychology both Nepal (0.015) and Sri Lanka (0.12) are above the
world average. (0.15). Both India (0.01) and Sri Lanka a(0.01) are
marginally above world average. Bangladesh (-0.07) and Pakistan (-0.01)
are marginally below average. India (0.00) is neither below nor above
world average.
South Asia is well above the world average (0.30) in Decision
Science (0.30) and Business, Management, & Accounting (0.14) but
below average (-0.58) in Psychology. In Social Science-General and
Economics, Econometrics, & Finance its research activity is at par
with the world average.
4.64 Relative Citation Index across Subjects
Relative citation impact of South Asia countries has been below the
world average of 1 in all main fields of social sciences. Social
Sciences-General (which also is accounting for largest share in South
Asia's combined output in the field) has shown the relative
citation index (0.507 score). RCI is highest in Decision Science
(0.622), followed by Psychology (0.48 score), Business, Management &
Accounting (0.447 score), and Economics, Econometrics & Finance
(0.383 score) (Table 8 and Figure 12).
4.65 National Share of South Asia Countries in International
Collaboration across Subjects
The South Asia countries differ widely in their national share of
internationally collaborative papers across main social science fields
(Table 9 and Figure 13).
Psychology is the most sought after area in South Asia region for
international collaboration in research. Except for Pakistan, all
comparator South Asia countries registered highest national share of
internationally co-authored papers in psychology. Nepal's national
share of international collaborative was 84.72%, Bangladesh (75.29%),
Sri Lanka (67.21%), Pakistan (43.67%), and India (34.03%).
Decision Science is the 2nd most sought after area for
international collaboration in research by all comparator South Asia
countries except for Sri Lanka. Nepal registered 87.5% share followed by
Bangladesh (53.28%), Pakistan (52.82%), and India (30.99%). For Sri
Lanka, Decision Science is the least priority area for international
collaboration (32.04%).
Economics, Econometrics, & Finance is the 3rd most sought after
area for international collaboration in research by all comparator South
Asia countries--Nepal (66.29%), Bangladesh
[FIGURE 13 OMITTED]
Business, Management & Accounting is the 4th most sought after
area for international collaboration in research by all comparator South
Asia countries--Nepal (65.9%), Bangladesh (55.99%), Sri Lanka (49.77%),
Pakistan (32.18%), and India (13.8%).
Social Sciences-General is the least prolific area in social
sciences for international collaboration in research in South Asia
countries--Nepal (58.25%), Bangladesh (49.21%), Sri Lanka (47.01%),
Pakistan (22.62%), and India (16.51%).
4.652--National Share of Internationally Co-authored Papers across
Comparator Countries
Nepal's national share of internationally co-authored papers
has been the largest across all main fields of social sciences relative
comparator countries in the region. National share of Bangladesh's
has been 2nd largest across all fields of social sciences, except
Decision Science.
[FIGURE 14 OMITTED]
National share of Sri Lanka's has been 3rd largest across all
fields of social sciences, except Decision Science. Pakistan has been
the 4th largest country for its national share of internationally
collaborative papers across all fields of social sciences. India's
share of internationally collaborative papers compared to other
comparator countries has been the lowest across all fields of social
sciences. It is a pointer for investigation why India should rank at the
bottom in South Asia on international collaboration even though its
share in South Asia output in social Sciences research is as high as 80%
(Figure 14).
5. Conclusion
Research papers in journals are considered as valid indicators of
research activity of a country. Bibliometric analysis of publication and
citation data of five South Asia countries in social science during the
years 1996-2013 reveals that social science research in South Asia is
growing exponentially, doubling in publication size every six years.
South Asia averaged 13.37% growth a year compared to world average of
7.73%.
Within South Asia region, there is a great divide in social
sciences research between nations that publish papers in bulk and those
that publish very little. India alone accounts for prolific share 84.2%
in South Asia region compared to 6.4% by Pakistan and 3.2% by
Bangladesh. Distribution of social science research in the region is
highly skewed. India accounts for bulk of the productivity in the
region. On the other hand, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Nepal
are relatively smaller regional players in social science research
together accounting for 16% output.
South Asia countries differ sharply in their growth rates in social
science research. Pakistan tops the region, registering 17.28% fastest
growth a year followed by India (13.21%), Bangladesh (12.43%), Nepal
(10.31%), and Sri Lanka (9.76%). Pakistan's publications growth
rate in social science (17.28%) is nearly twice that of Sri Lanka
(9.76%).
South Asia countries share similar national research priorities in
social science disciplines. Social Science-General is their top research
priority area followed by Business, Management, & Accounting;
Economics, Econometrics, & Finance; Decision Science; and
Psychology. Despite similarities in their research priorities, South
Asia differ in their national share figures in each main subject field.
South Asia is still not a very prolific region in social sciences
in the global context. Its world share is relatively low, merely 1.573%
in 14 years. India's with its world share of 1.324% leads the
region. However, world shares of comparator countries Pakistan,
Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Nepal are abysmally low ranging between 0.02%
and 0.136%. If South Asia is to become a strong and leading world player
in social science research, it must aim to strengthen its world share
and also accelerate growth in the region, far above 13.37% a year.
Research collaboration coupled with higher spending on R&D in social
science research can foster growth in South Asia.
South Asia and the 'whole world' do not follow similar
distribution pattern across select main fields in social sciences.
Though Psychology ranks as the least prolific area in South Asia, but in
the world output distribution it ranks as the 3rd priority area.
Economics, Econometrics, & Finance is the least prolific area in the
world output, but in South Asia it ranks as the 2nd least priority area.
South Asia and the 'whole world' nearly share similar
distribution pattern in 'Social Sciences-General (top
priority)', 'Business, Management, & Accounting (2nd
ranking)' and Decision Science (4th in world ranking and 3rd in
South Asia ranking).
Specialisation index of South Asia has been above the world average
in all social sciences fields, except psychology. In Decision Science
South Asia's index has been three times above the world average
'zero'. In Psychology, South Asia's specialisation index
is 0.5, above the world average. Economics, Econometrics, and Finance
has been seen as the fastest growing subject field (17.32%) in South
Asia relative to its world average (8.84%). However, in terms of quality
indicator 'relative citation index' South Asia countries have
displayed performance below the world average in all main fields of
social sciences.
In global context, South Asia is strong in quantity but not in
quality output in social sciences research. Visibility and impact of
social sciences research in South Asia countries has been below the
world average; Sri Lanka' RCI score was 0.920 followed by Nepal
(0.878), Bangladesh (0.811), India (0.483) and Pakistan (0.361).
India's low RCI score (0.483), despite its prolific publication
share in South Asia (84%), points to the necessity of analysing the
efficacy of public funding with respect to quality, and its adjustment
to newer research areas. Even at subject level RCI of South Asia
countries is below world average ranging between 0.383 (Economics,
Econometrics & Finance) and 0.507 Social Sciences-General.
South Asia is also not very strong in international collaboration;
its share of internationally co-authored papers in the national output
of each country is low (14.15% of the regional output). India's
share of internationally collaborative papers has been the least across
all fields of social sciences. It is a pointer for investigation why
India should rank at bottom in South Asia countries ranking on
international collaboration despite its prolific share (84%) in South
Asia output in social Sciences research.
References
(1.) Krishna, V V. Krishna and Usha Krishna. Social Sciences in
South Asia: 2010 World. Social Science Report.
http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0019/001906/190658E.pdf
(2.) India, Govt of. (2011). Report of the Committee Constituted by
Government of India to Review the Functioning of ICSSR.New Delhi. 28
June 2011.
(3.) Mehbuba, D. and Rousseau, R. (2010) Scientific research in the
Indian sub-continent: Selected trends and indicators 1973-1007 comparing
Bangladesh, Pakistan and Sri Lanka with India, the local giant.
Scientometrics, 2010, 84(2), 403-20.
(4.) Gupta, B.M. and Bala, Adarsh. (2012) South Asia S&T Output
during 2001-10: A Comparative Analysis of Pakistan with Bangladesh, Sri
Lanka, and Nepal (2012). Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal).
Paper 799 http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/libphilprac/799
(5.) Gupta, B M and Mahesh, G. (2013) A comparative Analysis of
Social Sciences Research Publications in four South Asia countries
(2013). Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal). Paper 956.
http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/libphilprac/956
(6.) Gupta, B.M., Kumbar, B.D and Gupta, Ritu. (2013) Social
Science Research in India: A Scientometric Analysis of Publications
(2001-10). DESIDOC Journal of Library & Information Technology
November 2013, 33(6), 442-50 442-450
(7.) Gupta, Ritu, Tiwari, Rishi and Gupta, B.M. (@014) Social
Sciences Research in Select Four South Asia Countries: A Quantitative
Analysis of Publications, 2008-12. SRELS Journal of Information
Management June 2014, 51(3), 141-154
(8.) Gupta, B M and Kumbar, B D. (2014) Social Science Research: A
Comparative Study in Terms of Output From India, China and Brazil.
Informatics Studies. January--March, 2014. 1(1) P 30-49
S M Dhawan
National Physical Lab.,New Delhi, India
smdhawan@yahoo.com
B M Gupta
National Institute of Science, Technology & Development
Studies, Dr K.S.Krishnan Marg, New Delhi 110 012, India
bmgupta1@gmail.com
Ritu Gupta
Shri Venkateswar University, Tirupati
ritu7648@gmail.com
Table 1: Global Share of South Asia Countries in Overall
Social Science
(Based on Five-Year Moving Aggregate Data)
Publication World Global Publication Share
Period Output
South India Pakistan
Asia
1996-00 594590 1.026 0.871 0.064
2009-13 1685901 2.097 1.746 0.209
Mean 3931442 1.573 1.324 0.136
Publication Global Publication Share
Period
Bangladesh Sri Nepal
Lanka
1996-00 0.043 0.031 0.018
2009-13 0.077 0.040 0.025
Mean 0.057 0.036 0.020
Table 2: Relative Citation Index of South Asia Countries in
Overall Social Science
Period World South India Pakistan Bangladesh Sri Nepal
Asia Lanka
1996-00 1 0.512 0.462 0.456 0.861 0.746 0.931
2009-13 1 0.668 0.659 0.497 0.829 1.070 1.172
Mean 1 0.507 0.483 0.361 0.811 0.920 0.878
Table 3: International Collaborative Output Share of South Asia
Countries
Overall Social Science
Period South India Pakistan Bangladesh Sri Nepal
Asia Lanka
1996-00 14.17 6.41 36.68 49.80 43.96 54.29
2009-13 15.23 7.24 29.43 53.18 49.70 68.67
Mean 14.61 7.15 28.52 52.44 48.34 61.58
CAGR 0.52 0.87 -1.56 0.47 0.88 1.69
Table 4: Compounded Annual Growth Rate across Main Fields in
Social Sciences
(Based on Five-Year Moving Aggregate Data)
Main Fields World South India Pakistan
of Social Sc Asia
SSG 8.38 13.16 13.52 14.19
BMA 7.33 13.39 12.86 22.79
DS 8.57 10.68 10.11 21.67
EEF 8.84 17.32 16.87 24.48
Psy 5.41 13.01 12.73 17.42
Mean 7.7 13.5 13.2 20.1
Main Fields Bangladesh Sri Nepal
of Social Sc Lanka
SSG 10.54 8.42 9.98
BMA 19.64 11.09 14.61
DS 12.60 20.74 3.72
EEF 16.99 11.01 12.80
Psy 12.87 13.88 8.78
Mean 14.5 13.0 10.0
SSG = Social Sciences-General; BMA=Business, Management &
Accounting; EEF = Economics, Econometrics, and Finance;
Psy = Psychology; DS = Decision Science
Table 5: National Research Priorities of South Asia Countries in
Social Sciences
(Based on Five-Year Moving Aggregate Data)
Region SSG BMA DS EEF Psy
World 47.91 19.12 10.65 6.16 16.16
South Asia 46.16 24.97 12.94 11.3 4.63
India 43.33 26.96 12.78 12.26 4.66
Pakistan 57.33 16.33 15.05 7 4.3
Bangladesh 64.94 12.59 13.3 5.41 3.77
Sri Lanka 61.48 15.05 11.02 7.28 5.16
Nepal 75.84 5.51 11.14 1 6.51
SSG = Social Sciences-General; BMA = Business, Management &
Accounting; EEF = Economics, Econometrics, and Finance;
Psy = Psychology; DS = Decision Science
Table 6: National Research Priorities of South Asia Countries in
Social Sciences
(Based on Five-Year Moving Aggregate Data)
World Vs Regional SSG BMA DS EEF Psy
Distribution
World Output 47.91 19.12 10.65 6.16 16.16
Distribution
South Asia Output 46.16 24.97 12.94 11.3 4.63
Distribution
World Rank 1 2 4 5 3
South Asia Rank 1 2 3 4 5
SSG = Social Sciences-General; BMA = Business, Management &
Accounting; EEF = Economics, Econometrics, and Finance;
Psy = Psychology; DS = Decision Science
Table 7: Specialisation Index across Subject Fields in Social
Sciences
(Based on Five-Year Moving Aggregate Data)
Region/Country SSG BHA Psy EEF DS
India -0.04 0.05 0.00 0.01 0.05
Pakistan 0.23 -0.41 -0.01 -0.18 -0.49
Bangladesh 0.02 -0.13 -0.07 0.15 0.10
Sri Lanka -0.05 0.22 0.12 -0.02 -0.11
Nepal 0.10 -0.51 0.15 0.01 -0.48
South Asia 0.00 0.14 -0.58 0.00 0.30
SSG = Social Sciences-General; BMA = Business, Management &
Accounting; EEF = Economics, Econometrics, and Finance;
Psy = Psychology; DS = Decision Science
Table 8: RCI of South Asia Countries in Social Sciences
Region/Countries SSG BMA Psy EEF DS
Sri Lanka 0.92 0.764 0.705 0.527 0.164
Nepal 0.878 0.468 0.883 0.681 0.123
Bangladesh 0.811 0.368 0.129 0.612 0.494
India 0.483 0.458 0.479 0.379 0.652
Pakistan 0.361 0.229 0.458 0.267 0.275
South Asia 0.507 0.447 0.48 0.383 0.622
SSG = Social Sciences-General; BMA = Business, Management &
Accounting; EEF = Economics, Econometrics, and Finance;
Psy = Psychology; DS = Decision Science
Table 9: Share of Internationally Co-authored Papers in the
National Output of South Asia Countries in Social Sciences
Fields: 1996-2013
Comparator Decision Psychology Economics,
Countries Science Econometrics,
& Finance
Nepal 87.5 84.62 66.29
Bangladesh 53.28 75.29 58
Sri Lanka 32.04 67.12 55.77
Pakistan 52.82 43.67 31.42
India 30.99 34.03 19.97
Comparator Business, Social
Countries Management, Science-
& Accounting General
Nepal 65.9 58.25
Bangladesh 55.99 49.21
Sri Lanka 49.77 47.01
Pakistan 32.18 22.62
India 13.8 16.51
Figure 3. Comparison of Publications Share of South Asia Countries
in Social Sciences
% Share
India 84.2
Pakistan 8.6
Bangladesh 3.6
Sri Lanka 2.3
Nepal 1.3
Note: Table made from bar graph.
Figure 5. RCI of South Asia Countries in Social Sciences: 1996-2013
Based on Fiver-Year Moving Aggregate data
Average of Relative Citation Index World Share
Citation Index Growth Rate %
Sri Lanka 0.92 2.61 0.036
India 0.48 2.57 1.324
Nepal 0.88 1.66 0.02
Pakistan 0.36 0.62 0.136
Bangladesh 0.81 -0.27 0.057
Note: Table made from bar graph.
Figure 7. Comparison of Growth in Social Sciences
Research: World Vs South Asia
Based on Five-Year Moving Aggregate Data
World South Asia
EEF 8.84 17.32
BMA 7.33 13.39
SSG 8.38 13.16
Psy 5.41 13.01
DS 8.57 10.68
Note: Table made from line graph.
Figure 12. Comparison of South Asia Countries on RCI across
Subject Fields in Social Sciences
DS EEF Psy BMA SSG
South Asia 0.622 0.383 0.48 0.447 0.507
Pakistan 0.275 0.267 0.458 0.229 0.361
India 0.652 0.379 0.479 0.458 0.483
Bangladesh 0.494 0.612 0.129 0.368 0.811
Nepal 0.123 0.681 0.883 0.468 0.878
Sri Lanka 0.164 0.527 0.705 0.764 0.92
Note: Table made from bar graph.
