Factors contributing towards research productivity and visibility: A case study of Pakistan

Abstract

During the last two decades or so we have witnessed unprecedented growth and expansion in higher education not only in the high income countries but in middle income and low income countries as well, Pakistan being no exception. In 2002 a new apex body, Higher Education Commission was established to manage affairs of higher education which adopted measures to improve the quality of higher education in the country. The HEC adopted a new framework and policy towards higher education and made strenuous efforts not only to bring quantitative expansion but to improve the quality of higher education in the country as well. Consequently, the academic community has witnessed an unprecedented expansion in higher education in terms of number of higher education institutions and its enrolment. One of the goals of Higher Education Commission was to develop research culture within the country and enhance research productivity of the universities and higher education institutions to help achieve the objectives of knowledge economy. This paper attempts to analyse the available data to assess the research productivity of Pakistani institutions of higher education, trends over the last decade or so in the number of articles produced and their citation index and to see what factors have contributed towards increasing the number of research articles, enhancing the visibility of research produced by Pakistani universities and identifying the most productive institutions in this regard. Results of the study may help in framing a policy and developing a strategy increase the research productivity of Pakistani institutions of higher education and improving its visibility and impact.