The Visibility of Engineering Research in South Africa, 1975-2005

Sooryamoorthy, R.

doi:10.7166/21-2-45

Cited by 3 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 24 publications

(19 reference statements)

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“…The model of scientific collaboration in South Africa that has emerged from a series of studies conducted in the last few years [41][42][43][44][45][46][47][48][49][50] is unique in several respects and can perhaps offer some lessons for other countries. In South Africa, scientific collaboration is an accepted practice among scientists, supported by the government, higher education institutions, research institutes, industry, the private sector and individual scientists.…”

Section: The South African Modelmentioning

confidence: 99%

Scientific collaboration in South Africa

Sooryamoorthy

2013

S. Afr. J. Sci.

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Science is a priority for most countries. But for a host of reasons science is on the decline on the African continent, the Cradle of Humankind. This crisis has been brewing since the 1990s, after an active institutional development in the 1970s and 1980s. 1 The reasons for this decline range from a lack of resources (human and machine) to deprived working environments. Besides these reasons, diminishing resources in general, and for science in particular, tyrannical rule in many countries, deterioration of teaching and research, and the demoralisation of scientists have contributed to the situation, and not in a small measure. 2 As the former Deputy Director General of UNESCO aptly said, 'Political independence without scientific knowledge and competence is as contradictory as the concept of a vegetarian tiger' (cited in Odhiambo 3). Science in Africa is now centred in the northern and southern extremities of the continent. 1 There is a clear division in scientific productivity between the northern African states and the sub-Saharan states. Egypt, Algeria, Mauritania, Libya, Morocco and Tunisia are prominent among the northern African countries for their growing scientific outputs. The location of a nation on the map of scientific research is determined not solely by its scientific activity, but also by factors that contribute to that very activity. Studies have examined and found the conditions that control the production of scientific knowledge. Research undertaken by a nation is strongly influenced by its wealth which is a prerequisite for scientific growth. 4 Gross national product and its proportion spent on R&D are some straightforward indicators of scientific activity. But there are others, and not all are obvious. Intrinsically, scientific activity is an interaction between scientists and their socio-technological environment. Processes such as collaboration are part of this interaction, having consequences for the production of knowledge and the scientific wealth of nations. Collaboration, domestic or international, accelerates scientific growth and advancement. Science is no longer a centralised activity located in a single place, but is dispersed far and wide. Hicks and Katz 5 rightly predicted that, in future, items of knowledge will be produced by more people in more locations. Scientific research is increasingly carried out collaboratively in teams of individuals, institutions and countries. Collaboration enhances the competency, skills and knowledge of partners while ensuring the quality of research. It strengthens scientific activities and capabilities; and failure in collaboration weakens science and technical enterprise. 6 The substantial fall in the costs of air travel and communication, and advances in effective information and communication methodologies accelerate collaborative activities. 7 In collaborative enterprises, the location of partners is shifting and is becoming more dispersed. 8 Distance is no longer a matter of serious concern in collaboration, although progress in information ...

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Section: The South African Modelmentioning

confidence: 99%

Scientific collaboration in South Africa

Sooryamoorthy

2013

S. Afr. J. Sci.

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“…Sooryamoorthy [9], making a pioneering attempt, provides a bibliometric analysis of the trends and patterns of South African engineering research since 1975. Another study on the visibility of engineering publications, which appeared in the South African Journal of Industrial Engineering, has examined the visibility of South African engineering research as measured by the number of citations that engineering publications received [8]. This study showed how the visibility of South African engineering research is determined by certain key variables.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Studies have investigated trends in engineering research, as shown in the publications stored in different databases for varying periods of time [3][4][5][6][7][8][9]. Some have explored the collaborative dimensions hidden in such scientific publications [10][11][12].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Collaboration in South African Engineering Research

Sooryamoorthy

2011

The South African Journal of Industrial Engineering

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The production of scientific publications in engineering in South Africa has expanded over the last three decades. Because engineering is an important science, this expansion has implications for the growth and development of the economy. Drawing on a sample range of years of the publications stored in the ISI Web of Knowledge, the engineering publications of South Africans for a 30-year period from are analysed. This analysis shows that the production of scientific publications in engineering by South African researchers has increased during the analysed period; that the number of researchers per publication has grown; that the number of countries collaborating with South Africa has increased; and that the number of sole-authored papers has decreased. Domestic collaboration (between researchers within South Africa) has decreased, while international collaboration has grown considerably. The key objective of the paper is to find out whether the production of publications is related to the level of collaboration, and to see how collaboration can be regressed from other known variables. It is clear from the study that collaboration is a decisive factor in the production of scientific publications in engineering in South Africa.

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Researching Science in Africa

Sooryamoorthy

2023

Sustainable Development Goals Series

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The Visibility of Engineering Research in South Africa, 1975-2005

Cited by 3 publications

References 24 publications

Scientific collaboration in South Africa

Scientific collaboration in South Africa

Collaboration in South African Engineering Research

Researching Science in Africa

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