Research Collaboration in Selected
ASEAN Countries
Dr Janet Ilieva
September 27 – 28, 2012
Hong Kong
Research carried out with
SciVal Content & Analytics
27/09/2012
Research networks for innovation in East Asia – who does the future belong to
27/09/2012
Outline
“The scientific world is becoming increasingly interconnected. Collaboration enhances
quality of research and improves efficiency and effectiveness. It responds to global
challenges.” (The Royal Society, (2011), Knowledge, networks and nations)
1.
The major research nations have more than doubled their international
collaborations in 2010 than 10 years ago (5 times greater for China); if the trend
continues China would match the US in terms of international collaborations
2.
Growing role of international research - increasing rates of international
collaboration - 45% in the UK and Germany, 50% in the Netherlands and over
60% in Switzerland
3.
Changing research landscape in South East Asia: what are the opportunities for
international collaboration?
4.
Some early findings from a study on the research capacity in selected ASEAN
countries
Research networks for innovation in East Asia – who does the future belong to
27/09/2012
International research collaboration for impact
Internationally produced research is most cited: 80% of the variation in citation per document
across the top most productive countries is “explained” by their international collaboration rate
(British Council (2012), “Shape of things to come: higher education global trends and
emerging opportunities to 2020”)
Collaboration rate and citation per document (2010)
Citation per document 2010
2.50
CH
y = 3.445x + 0.1677
R2 = 0.8021
NL
2.00
BE
UK
US
1.50
ES
FR
JP
KR
1.00
Source: Scopus, Oxford
Economics and British
Council Analysis
BR
CN
RU
0.50
0.00
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
International Collaboration Rate
Research networks for innovation in East Asia – who does the future belong to
27/09/2012
International research collaborations
1.
The most cited research is produced in multilateral collaborations
2.
Citation per article increases with increase in the number of collaborating countries
3.
Three international collaboration
groups (British Council, 2012)*:
•
•
•
Volume leaders: US, UK,
Germany, France, Italy, China,
Japan
High citation impact:
Switzerland, US, Netherlands,
UK, Sweden
Emerging countries with
growing importance: China,
Malaysia, India, Brazil, Saudi
Arabia
Citations per article vs. number of collaborating countries
Source: Royal Society (2011), Knowledge, networks and nations, p.59
*British Council (2012), “Shape of things to come: higher education global trends and emerging opportunities
to 2020”, http://ihe.britishcouncil.org/educationintelligence/shape-of-things-to-come
Research networks for innovation in East Asia – who does the future belong to
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Growing prominence of research in emerging economies
Marginson (2012)* argues that:
•
at present 49 countries maintain higher education systems that publish
more than 1000 journal papers per year in science and social science (as
collated by Thomson Reuters)
•
the threshold of 1000 journal papers is a useful indicator for the presence of
local research and doctoral capacity
•
this number of 49 countries is an increase of almost 30% in the number of
countries with research capacity in just 15 years
*[1]
Marginson, S. (2012), Future paths of international higher education, EAIE Conference,
http://www.eaie.org/blog/future-paths-of-international-higher-education/
Research networks for innovation in East Asia – who does the future belong to
27/09/2012
Research collaborations in ASEAN – opportunities
and challenges
•
•
Research carried out with SciVal Content & Analytics
Two-fold research objective:
– analysis of the research capacity in selected ASEAN countries in key subject areas
– Identify key universities and their international networks (main research
collaborators at institutional level)
•
•
Selected ASEAN countries: Laos, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam,
Cambodia, Myanmar and the Philippines
Using the OECD 6 Subject area classification:
– Medical Sciences, Natural Sciences, Agricultural Sciences, Engineering &
Technology, Social Sciences & Humanities
•
•
This bibliometric analysis is based on the Scopus database
Most analysis is based on the past 5 years: 2007 – 2011
Research networks for innovation in East Asia – who does the future belong to
27/09/2012
Malaysia and Thailand produce the
largest amount of scientific output
• Malaysia and Thailand are the most productive of the selected countries. Indonesia, Viet
Nam and Philippines form the middle section
• Fastest growing rates for Malaysia (5 yr CAGR of 38%) and Indonesia (5 yr CAGR of 24%)
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Research networks for innovation in East Asia – who does the future belong to
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Varied output for the selected ASEAN countries
• Malaysia overtook Thailand in
2008 and is the most productive
ASEAN country after Singapore
• Even the least productive of the
selected countries show above
average output growth:
- Cambodia 7%
- Philippines 11%
- Myanmar 15%
- Laos 18%
- Viet Nam 19%
As a benchmark, the world 5yr
CAGR is just under 3%.
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Research networks for innovation in East Asia – who does the future belong to
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Citation share
• Thailand and Malaysia have the
highest citation share
• Indonesia, Viet Nam and Philippines
form the middle section, and citation
shares for Myanmar, Laos and
Cambodia are low
• The picture emerging from citation
data is very similar to the one
emerging from article output data (see
previous slide)
• Malaysia has overtaken Thailand in
output, but in citation share Thailand
is still ahead (although growth is
stronger in Malaysia, indicating that in
a few years the picture will be the
same as the previous slide)
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Research networks for innovation in East Asia – who does the future belong to
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High relative citation impact for low output countries
• Relative Citation Impact is
each country’s citations per
article (impact) divided by the
average impact. With low
output numbers, this metric
becomes unreliable
•
Above average impact is
only realised in countries with
extremely low output, such
as Cambodia, Laos. With
higher output, it is difficult to
maintain this level of impact
and (Viet Nam, Indonesia,
Thailand, Malaysia).
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Research networks for innovation in East Asia – who does the future belong to
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Lower international collaboration rate for high output countries
• Inverse relationship between countries’ research output and collaboration rate (-0.58)
• Malaysia and Thailand have the highest output and lower international collaboration rate
• With increasing output, countries’ share of internationally co-authored articles is showing
a slight downward trend
• All countries have collaboration rate above the world average. The UK’s percentage in
2011 was 46.1% while China’s percentage in 2011 was 13.6%.
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Research networks for innovation in East Asia – who does the future belong to
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High international collaboration rate for low output countries
• Laos and Cambodia have relatively high percentages of internationally co-authored
articles and seem to rely on this collaboration substantially
• Myanmar shows much variation (between 82% and 48%), due to lower output numbers
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Research networks for innovation in East Asia – who does the future belong to
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Impact (citations per article) of internationally coauthored papers (all subjects) 2007-2011
Citations per article: international vs.
national co-authorship
National
International
Thailand
1.0
2.2
Malaysia
1.0
1.9
Indonesia
1.0
6.0
Viet Nam
1.0
2.9
Philippines
1.0
4.9
Laos
1.0
1.9
Cambodia
1.0
0.8
Myanmar
1.0
2.8
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Research networks for innovation in East Asia – who does the future belong to
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Most countries have highest output and citation
impact in agricultural sciences
Impact (citations per article) of internationally co-authored papers in agricultural
sciences (2007-2011):
Citations per article fold increase over national co-authorship
National
International
Thailand
Malaysia
Indonesia
Viet Nam
Philippines
Laos
Cambodia
Myanmar
1.0
1.0
1.0
1.0
1.0
1.0
1.0
1.0
1.6
1.1
2.8
2.8
4.1
n/a
n/a
n/a
Research networks for innovation in East Asia – who does the future belong to
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Observations
•
The selected ASEAN countries have a strong and above average output growth in
output. The international collaboration rate is inversely related to the output growth
•
Strongest research output growth in Malaysia (5 yr CAGR of 38%) and Indonesia (5
yr CAGR of 24%)
•
The high output countries Malaysia and Thailand also have a larger citation share,
however their relative citation impact is below the world average. These countries are
increasing diversifying their subject areas
•
The middle group Viet Nam, Indonesia and the Philippines have lower output and
have below average impact. Strongest focus on agricultural sciences
•
The low output countries Myanmar, Laos and Cambodia. Laos and Cambodia have
above world average impact but this is unreliable due to low output numbers. Due to
low output numbers, it is difficult to define their subject focus
•
Next steps – identify strong universities and their international research networks
Research networks for innovation in East Asia – who does the future belong to
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Wider implications:
•
•
International collaborations:
–
growing importance of multilateral collaborations (vs. bi-lateral). Is there role
for wider ASEAN involvement in collaborative research?
–
choosing the right partners for impact now and investing in research
partnerships for the future (long-term investment)
–
Funding schemes need to support, multilateral research collaborations at all
levels: institutional, national and supranational
Greater role for UNESCO and other international organisations in capturing
research trends and flow of scientists/researchers – assessment of impact of
research and vitality of the research environment across countries
Research networks for innovation in East Asia – who does the future belong to
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Further country specific information on
research output and citation impact
Research networks for innovation in East Asia – who does the future belong to
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Malaysia
Activity Index - share of total articles
relative to the world’s share of articles
Relative Citation Impact - citations per article
divided by the average impact in each subject
Research networks for innovation in East Asia – who does the future belong to
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Malaysia (Cont’d)
Key Findings
•
In earlier years, Malaysia showed strong scientific focus on agricultural
sciences, which shifted to also include engineering and technology
•
Most productive collaborations in agricultural sciences are with Japan,
US, Iran, UK, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Australia, India, Thailand, France.
– However, highest impact results are from collaboration (n>10) with the
US, France, Thailand, Switzerland, Italy, New Zealand, Denmark,
Canada, Philippines and Germany
Research networks for innovation in East Asia – who does the future belong to
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Thailand
Activity Index - share of total articles
relative to the world’s share of articles
Relative Citation Impact - citations per article
divided by the average impact in each subject
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Thailand
Key Findings:
•
Thailand’s scientific output shows increasing focus on agricultural sciences
and medical and health sciences (although decreasing)
•
Most productive collaborations in agricultural sciences are with the US,
Japan, Australia, Germany, UK, France, China, Canada, Netherlands &
South Korea
– However, highest impact results are from collaboration (n>10) with
Canada, the Netherlands, South Korea South Africa, Ireland,
Denmark, India, Belgium, Italy and Singapore
•
Most productive collaborations in medical and health Sciences are with
US, Japan, UK, Australia, China, France, Canada, Germany, South Korea
and Switzerland
– However, highest impact results from collaboration (n>10) with Hungary,
Finland, Turkey, Mexico, Hong Kong, Poland, Brazil, Israel, Spain and
Norway.
Research networks for innovation in East Asia – who does the future belong to
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Indonesia
Activity Index - share of total articles
relative to the world’s share of articles
Relative Citation Impact - citations per article
divided by the average impact in each subject
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Indonesia (Cont’d)
Key Findings:
•
Still heavy, however decreasing, focus on agricultural sciences
•
Most collaborations in agricultural sciences are with Japan, US, Australia,
Malaysia, Netherlands, Germany, UK, Thailand, France and the Philippines.
– However, highest impact results (n>10) are with the US, Philippines,
France, Switzerland, Italy, New Zealand, Denmark, Canada, Thailand
and Germany
•
Most productive collaborations in medical and health sciences are with
the US, Japan, UK, Australia, China, France, Canada, Germany, South
Korea and Switzerland
– However, highest impact results (n>10) are with the US, UK, Canada,
China, Philippines, Viet Nam, Denmark, the Netherlands, Thailand and
Italy
Research networks for innovation in East Asia – who does the future belong to
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The Philippines
Activity Index - share of total articles
relative to the world’s share of articles
Relative Citation Impact - citations per article
divided by the average impact in each subject
• The output has dominant focus on agricultural sciences with above world average
impact in that area.
• Close to world average output in Medical and Health Sciences with impact also
above world average.
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Research networks for innovation in East Asia – who does the future belong to
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Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar
• Viet Nam’s profile is slightly different: numbers are higher but the
output is dominated by natural sciences with over 60% of total output
published in that area. However, low relative impact
• Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar have low output, making an activity
index or relative impact analysis unreliable
• Over the last years, Cambodia consistently publishes most of its
articles in medical and health sciences.
• Laos and Myanmar publish a handful of articles in each subject area,
with small differences between the areas.
* Even though Scopus is rapidly increasing its coverage in Humanities, the fact that other sources such as books play such an important role
in this subject area means we need to interpret these numbers with caution.
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Top collaborating countries for Cambodia, Myanmar and Laos
Number of co-authored papers and their share (2007-2011)
Cambodia
US
Thailand
France
Japan
UK
Australia
170
124
121
109
91
87
23.8%
17.4%
17.0%
15.3%
12.8%
12.2%
Myanmar
Japan
83
19.4%
US
Thailand
Australia
India
43
39
32
22
10.0%
9.1%
7.5%
5.1%
UK
20
4.7%
Laos
Thailand
Japan
UK
US
Australia
France
102
92
80
68
64
62
22.9%
20.6%
17.9%
15.3%
14.4%
13.9%
Thailand, Japan, the US, UK and Australia appear to be key collaborating partners
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