A bibliometric analysis of malaria research in India during 1998-2009

Abstract

Objective: This study analyses the research output of India in malaria research in national and global context, as reflected in its publications output during 1998-2009. Methods: SCOPUS Citation database has been used to retrieve the publication data, which has been further analyzed on several parameters including its growth, rank and global publications share, citation impact, overall share of international collaborative papers and share of major collaborative partners and patterns of research communication in most productive journals. The publications output, impact and collaborative publication share of India is also compared with South Africa, Brazil and China. Results: Indian scientists together have published 2786 papers in malaria research during 1998-2009 and registered an average citation per paper of 3.49. The country ranks 4th among the top 20 most productive countries in malaria research with its global publications share of 6.47% during 1998-2009. Conclusion: Quantum of Indian research output in malaria research is high but its citations per paper is low compared to select developing countries, which can be improved by investing more funds in international and national collaborative research projects, as well as increasing the participation of researchers in such projects.