International Journal of Civil Engineering and Technology (IJCIET) Volume 10, Issue 03, March 2019, pp. 1097–1106, Article ID: IJCIET_10_03_106 Available online at http://www.iaeme.com/ijmet/issues.asp?JType=IJCIET&VType=10&IType=3 ISSN Print: 0976-6308 and ISSN Online: 0976-6316 © IAEME Publication Scopus Indexed RESEARCH TRENDS IN NIGERIAN UNIVERSITIES: ANALYSIS OF NUMBER OF PUBLICATIONS IN SCOPUS (2008-2017) Inioluwa C. Afolabi Department of Pure and Applied Chemistry, Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, Ogbomoso, Nigeria. Segun I. Popoola, Anthony U. Adoghe, Aderemi A. Atayero IoT-Enabled Smart and Connected Communities (SmartCU) Research Cluster, Department of Electrical and Information Engineering, Covenant University, Ota, Nigeria. Oluyemi O. Fayomi Department of Political Science and International Relations, Covenant University, Ota, Nigeria. ABSTRACT Among other things, the performance of a university can be measured based on the volume and the impact of their scholarly research publications. However, the empirical evidence that are needed for objective analysis, evaluation, and ranking of universities based on this factor are often not readily and freely accessible to the public. In this paper, the trends of research publications in Nigerian Universities are analyzed. The total number of scholarly articles published by academic researchers in 67 Nigerian universities over a period of ten years (2008-2017) were sourced from Scopus abstracting/indexing database. Nigerian universities covered include 32 federal universities, 26 state universities, and nine private universities. The publication trends are presented using tables and graphs. Also, yearly percentage growth in scholarly research outputs are computed for each university. In practice, the insights provided will propel a more informed policy formulation and implementation towards improving institutional academic research productivity. Key words: Research Publications, Scopus, Nigerian Universities, Education. Cite this Article: Inioluwa C. Afolabi, Segun I. Popoola, Anthony U. Adoghe, Aderemi A. Atayero, Oluyemi O. Fayomi, Research Trends in Nigerian Universities: Analysis of Number of Publications in Scopus (2008-2017), International Journal of Civil Engineering and Technology 10(3), 2019, pp. 1097–1106. http://www.iaeme.com/IJCIET/issues.asp?JType=IJCIET&VType=10&IType=3 http://www.iaeme.com/IJCIET/index.asp 1097 editor@iaeme.com Inioluwa C. Afolabi, Segun I. Popoola, Anthony U. Adoghe, Aderemi A. Atayero, Oluyemi O. Fayomi 1. INTRODUCTION Socio-economic development in Africa largely depend on the level of applicable knowledge generated and disseminated by universities in the continent. Relative to the contribution of universities in other parts of the world, knowledge produced in African universities has been rated low (1.6% of the total global research publication outputs) [1]. Conradie et al [2] conducted a quantitative and qualitative survey of clinical researchers in 27 African countries in a bid to understand the particular barriers to clinical research in this environment. In order to measure the contributions of academic researchers in African universities, Abd-Allah et al [3] reviewed the publications of neuroscience research within the 52 African countries. In a different study, Chiware & Becker [1] analyzed the trends of research publications in the field of applied sciences at Universities of Technology in South Africa. Useful information about a typical African university can be found in [4-7]. For better understanding of the contributions of African researchers to global scholarly publications, there is a need to encourage more bibliometric and scientometric studies. Hence, required data must be made freely and publicly available in an easily reproducible format. In this paper, the trends of research publications in Nigerian Universities are analyzed. The findings of this paper will help university administrators in Nigeria to gain better understanding of the trends of scholarly research publications in their respective universities. In practice, the insights gained will propel a more informed policy formulation and implementation towards improving institutional academic research productivity. The comprehensive analysis of the trends of scholarly research publications in Nigerian universities will help the National Universities Commission (NUC) in fulfilling her vision, mission, mandate, and functions of developing and monitoring research policy for the Nigerian University System (NUS) in line with national goals and needs. Measurement of the volume, income, reputation, and influence of academic research carried out and published by universities is a major performance indicator in world university rankings. In addition, free access to this information will help postgraduate students, academics, university leaders, industry, and the Federal Ministry of Education to identify universities with highest research potentials that can engender productive partnerships and collaborations. Furthermore, the data provided may facilitate bibliometric and scientometric studies on this subject. 2. METHODOLOGY Although there are many abstracting and citation databases of scientific and technical literature, data contained in this data article were extracted from Scopus abstracting/indexing database only. Scopus contains the largest number of peer-reviewed multidisciplinary publications with the following outstanding records: (a) over 5,000 publishers (b) more than 22,800 serial titles (c) above 150,000 books (d) approximately 70,000 main institutional profiles (e) 70 million items (f) 60 million author profiles and (g) 1.4 billion cited references dating back to 1970. Scopus database was systematically queried to retrieve information about the research outputs of accredited universities in Nigeria. The search was conducted based on affiliation with “Nigeria” as the country of preference. This search query returned 171 Nigerian affiliation results. The activities of universities in Nigeria are coordinated, monitored, and regulated by the National Universities Commission (NUC). The list of accredited Nigerian universities is categorized into three groups namely: federal, state, and private universities. In Nigeria, there are 165 accredited universities i.e. 43 federal universities, 47 state universities, and 75 private universities. However, only 67 of these universities (32 federal universities, 26 state universities, and 9 private universities) are indexed in Scopus as institutional affiliations of Nigerian researchers. The remaining 104 affiliation results were discarded as such names cannot be found on the list of accredited universities in Nigeria as regulated by the NUC. The http://www.iaeme.com/IJCIET/index.asp 1098 editor@iaeme.com Research Trends in Nigerian Universities: Analysis of Number of Publications in Scopus (2008-2017) lists of abbreviations (and the full meanings) of the names of federal, state, and private universities are presented in Tables 1-3 respectively. Table 1. List of Nigerian federal universities indexed in Scopus database Abbreviation ABU ATBU BUK FUAAB FUD FUDM FUL FULO FUO FUOYE FUTA FUTM FUTMINNA FUTO FUW MOUAU NAU NOUN OAU UAM UDU UI UNIBEN UNICAL UNILAG UNILORIN UNIMAID UNIPORT UNIUYO UNN UNNAB Full Meaning Ahmadu Bello University Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University Bayero University, Kano Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta Federal University Dutse Federal University Dutsin-ma Federal University Lafia Federal University Lokoja Federal University Otuoke Federal University Oye-Ekiti Federal University of Technology, Akure Federal University of Technology, Modibbo Adama Federal University of Technology, Minna Federal University of Technology, Owerri Federal University Wukari Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike Nnamdi Azikiwe University National Open University of Nigeria Obafemi Awolowo University University of Agriculture, Markudi Usmanu Danfodiyo University University of Ibadan University of Benin University of Calabar University of Lagos University of Ilorin University of Maiduguri University of Port Harcourt University of Uyo University of Nigeria, Nsukka University of Abuja Table 2. List of Nigerian state universities indexed in Scopus database Abbreviation AAU AISU AMAU ANSU ASU BSU DESU EBSU ESUST EUI IIBU ISU KASU KSU Full Meaning Adekunle Ajasin University Akwa Ibom State University Ambrose Alli University Anambra State University Abia State University Bauchi State University Delta State University Ebonyi State University Enugu State University of Science and Technology Edo University, Iyamho Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida University Imo State University Kaduna State University Kwara State University http://www.iaeme.com/IJCIET/index.asp 1099 editor@iaeme.com Inioluwa C. Afolabi, Segun I. Popoola, Anthony U. Adoghe, Aderemi A. Atayero, Oluyemi O. Fayomi KSUST KUST LASU LAUTECH OOU OSU PSU RSUST SSU TSU UMYU YSUD Kebbi State University of Science and Technology Kano University of Science and Technology Lagos State University Ladoke Akintola University of Technology Olabisi Onabanjo University Osun State University Plateau State University Rivers State University of Science and Technology Sokoto State University Taraba State University Umaru Musa Yar'adua University Yobe State University Damaturu Table 3. List of Nigerian private universities indexed in Scopus database Abbreviation ABUAD BIU BU BUT CU LCU LU NUN RU Full Meaning Afe Babalola University Benson Idahosa University Bingham University Bells University of Technology Covenant University Lead City University Landmark University Nile University of Nigeria Redeemer's University 3. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION Total number of scholarly articles published by academic researchers in the identified 67 Nigerian universities over a period of 10 years (2008-2017) were collected from Scopus database. The data collected were properly formatted in a Microsoft Excel Spreadsheet file for easy data presentation and data analysis. Percentage growth rate analysis of each of the university category were performed using MATLAB 2016a software produced by Mathworks Inc. The number of research outputs published by federal, state, and private universities in Nigeria over the last ten years are presented in Tables 4-6 respectively. Figures 1-4 show the trends of research publications in top ten Nigerian universities, top ten Nigerian federal universities, top ten Nigerian state universities, and top ten Nigerian private universities as ranked in Scopus abstracting/indexing database. Tables 7-9 present data on the percentage growth rate of research outputs of Nigerian federal, state, and private universities respectively. Table 4. Scholarly research publication outputs of federal universities in Nigeria Rank 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 University UI UNN OAU UNILAG ABU UNILORIN UNIBEN FUTA UNIPORT UNICAL NAU 2008 741 358 227 238 336 217 176 89 129 107 82 2009 739 331 409 351 240 257 334 165 172 142 80 2010 816 400 364 357 229 273 298 145 158 152 118 http://www.iaeme.com/IJCIET/index.asp 2011 871 457 595 429 375 284 305 175 210 160 149 1100 2012 864 406 355 413 327 262 294 196 210 173 137 2013 820 416 423 343 313 245 274 169 173 173 137 2014 818 529 418 345 310 317 243 209 169 192 134 2015 785 522 427 381 290 262 245 205 194 178 157 2016 920 623 471 358 311 301 188 250 259 169 184 2017 967 632 575 448 316 391 220 315 189 162 151 editor@iaeme.com Research Trends in Nigerian Universities: Analysis of Number of Publications in Scopus (2008-2017) 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 UNIUYO BUK UNIMAID FUAAB FUTMINNA FUTO UDU UNNAB MOUAU UAM ATBU FUOYE FUTM FUD FUW NOUN FUL FUDM FULO FUO FUBK 62 87 47 63 43 45 127 43 45 21 21 23 0 0 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 124 55 105 4 39 55 45 40 56 47 12 0 21 0 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 148 70 121 6 72 105 59 44 50 64 22 0 23 0 0 12 0 0 0 0 0 137 88 106 4 76 109 77 65 84 77 33 0 26 0 0 14 0 0 0 0 0 169 87 131 45 86 68 48 79 60 76 17 2 21 0 0 18 1 0 1 0 0 128 105 103 104 99 72 72 69 61 61 21 10 27 7 14 8 3 6 1 0 0 139 98 126 141 109 87 82 66 61 44 44 26 20 7 16 7 12 12 4 8 0 105 154 94 157 96 85 71 72 58 35 54 25 22 11 13 10 15 17 4 7 0 109 149 92 197 142 65 90 95 51 53 74 57 21 14 15 10 23 15 10 8 1 137 162 104 207 117 88 99 66 80 51 49 89 26 49 28 9 19 10 13 12 4 Table 5. Scholarly research publication outputs of state universities in Nigeria Rank 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 University LAUTECH DESU LASU OOU EBSU RSUST AMAU AAU OSU ISU ASU KSU ESUST ANSU KUST KASU KSUST AISU IIBU BSU UMYU TSU EUI PSU SSU YSUD 2008 104 127 114 109 88 51 61 22 50 25 0 6 0 10 1 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2009 129 164 118 122 65 88 81 35 6 32 48 0 7 6 4 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 2010 160 186 115 134 83 71 71 46 17 25 35 0 17 11 9 5 9 1 3 0 2 2 0 0 0 0 2011 167 222 133 115 66 44 63 43 35 45 37 0 21 25 10 2 16 2 8 0 1 6 0 0 0 0 2012 170 160 120 112 32 42 43 35 50 25 42 0 8 30 12 4 8 6 6 0 1 9 0 0 0 0 2013 191 128 117 87 47 28 33 62 60 38 26 0 13 34 9 6 3 15 9 3 7 3 0 2 0 0 2014 160 110 148 83 50 45 32 50 47 30 16 31 14 20 12 11 13 6 7 3 8 7 0 2 0 0 2015 143 103 122 69 52 43 33 43 51 29 17 47 22 13 14 22 1 11 10 9 7 2 0 1 2 0 2016 146 81 114 109 88 46 23 40 46 27 25 68 26 22 13 20 8 17 16 11 19 3 2 2 3 1 2017 167 62 133 79 93 45 30 39 50 31 15 68 25 7 23 34 22 15 19 40 13 5 9 5 1 2 Table 6. Scholarly research publication outputs of private universities in Nigeria http://www.iaeme.com/IJCIET/index.asp 1101 editor@iaeme.com Inioluwa C. Afolabi, Segun I. Popoola, Anthony U. Adoghe, Aderemi A. Atayero, Oluyemi O. Fayomi Rank 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 University CU ABUAD RU LU BUT NUN BIU BU LCU 2008 56 0 7 0 14 9 0 2 1 2009 77 0 19 0 23 0 17 0 4 2010 99 0 39 1 21 0 13 4 12 2011 110 4 43 6 21 0 16 4 12 2012 110 3 60 9 18 0 12 12 7 2013 168 34 47 17 17 25 2 6 6 2014 230 42 47 32 15 20 7 2 2 2015 307 49 31 32 17 6 3 12 6 2016 444 103 34 56 39 7 4 12 4 2017 548 121 36 72 26 12 6 13 9 Figure 1. Trends of research publications in top 10 Nigerian universities Figure 2. Trends of research publications in top 10 Nigerian federal universities http://www.iaeme.com/IJCIET/index.asp 1102 editor@iaeme.com Research Trends in Nigerian Universities: Analysis of Number of Publications in Scopus (2008-2017) Figure 3. Trends of research publications in top 10 Nigerian state universities Figure 4. Trends of research publications in top 10 Nigerian private universities Table 7. Percentage growth rate of research outputs of Nigerian federal universities S/N 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 University UI OAU UNN ABU UNILAG UNIBEN UNILORIN UNIPORT FUTA UNICAL UNIMAID 2009 2010 (%) 10.42 -11.00 20.85 -4.58 1.71 -10.78 6.23 -8.14 -12.12 7.04 15.24 2010 2011 (%) 6.74 63.46 14.25 63.76 20.17 2.35 4.03 32.91 20.69 5.26 -12.40 2011 – 2012 (%) -0.80 -40.34 -11.16 -12.80 -3.73 -3.61 -7.75 0.00 12.00 8.13 23.58 http://www.iaeme.com/IJCIET/index.asp 1103 2012 – 2013 (%) -5.09 19.15 2.46 -4.28 -16.95 -6.80 -6.49 -17.62 -13.78 0.00 -21.37 2013 2014 (%) -0.24 -1.18 27.16 -0.96 0.58 -11.31 29.39 -2.31 23.67 10.98 22.33 2014 – 2015 (%) -4.03 2.15 -1.32 -6.45 10.43 0.82 -17.35 14.79 -1.91 -7.29 -25.40 2015 – 2016 (%) 17.20 10.30 19.35 7.24 -6.04 -23.27 14.89 33.51 21.95 -5.06 -2.13 2016 – 2017 (%) 10.42 -11.00 20.85 -4.58 1.71 -10.78 6.23 -8.14 -12.12 7.04 15.24 editor@iaeme.com Inioluwa C. Afolabi, Segun I. Popoola, Anthony U. Adoghe, Aderemi A. Atayero, Oluyemi O. Fayomi 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 NAU UNIUYO BUK FUTO FUTMINNA UDU FUAAB UAM MOUAU UNNAB ATBU FUTM FUOYE FUD NOUN FUW FUL FUDM FUO FULO FUBK 47.50 19.35 27.27 90.91 84.62 31.11 50.00 36.17 -10.71 10.00 83.33 9.52 300.00 - 26.27 -7.43 25.71 3.81 5.56 30.51 -33.33 20.31 68.00 47.73 50.00 13.04 16.67 - -8.05 23.36 -1.14 -37.61 13.16 -37.66 1025.00 -1.30 -28.57 21.54 -48.48 -19.23 28.57 - 0.00 -24.26 20.69 5.88 15.12 50.00 131.11 -19.74 1.67 -12.66 23.53 28.57 400.00 -55.56 200.00 0.00 - -2.19 8.59 -6.67 20.83 10.10 13.89 35.58 -27.87 0.00 -4.35 109.52 -25.93 160.00 0.00 -12.50 14.29 300.00 100.00 300.00 - 17.16 -24.46 57.14 -2.30 -11.93 -13.41 11.35 -20.45 -4.92 9.09 22.73 10.00 -3.85 57.14 42.86 -18.75 25.00 41.67 -12.50 0.00 - 17.20 3.81 -3.25 -23.53 47.92 26.76 25.48 51.43 -12.07 31.94 37.04 -4.55 128.00 27.27 0.00 15.38 53.33 -11.76 14.29 150.00 - 47.50 19.35 27.27 90.91 84.62 31.11 50.00 36.17 -10.71 10.00 83.33 9.52 300.00 - Table 8. Percentage growth rate of research outputs of Nigerian state universities S/N 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 University UI OAU UNN ABU UNILAG UNIBEN UNILORIN UNIPORT FUTA UNICAL UNIMAID NAU UNIUYO BUK FUTO FUTMINNA UDU FUAAB UAM MOUAU UNNAB ATBU FUTM FUOYE FUD NOUN FUW FUL FUDM FUO FULO FUBK 2009 2010 (%) 10.42 -11.00 20.85 -4.58 1.71 -10.78 6.23 -8.14 -12.12 7.04 15.24 47.50 19.35 27.27 90.91 84.62 31.11 50.00 36.17 -10.71 10.00 83.33 9.52 300.00 - 2010 2011 (%) 6.74 63.46 14.25 63.76 20.17 2.35 4.03 32.91 20.69 5.26 -12.40 26.27 -7.43 25.71 3.81 5.56 30.51 -33.33 20.31 68.00 47.73 50.00 13.04 16.67 - 2011 – 2012 (%) -0.80 -40.34 -11.16 -12.80 -3.73 -3.61 -7.75 0.00 12.00 8.13 23.58 -8.05 23.36 -1.14 -37.61 13.16 -37.66 1025.00 -1.30 -28.57 21.54 -48.48 -19.23 28.57 - http://www.iaeme.com/IJCIET/index.asp 2012 – 2013 (%) -5.09 19.15 2.46 -4.28 -16.95 -6.80 -6.49 -17.62 -13.78 0.00 -21.37 0.00 -24.26 20.69 5.88 15.12 50.00 131.11 -19.74 1.67 -12.66 23.53 28.57 400.00 -55.56 200.00 0.00 - 1104 2013 2014 (%) -0.24 -1.18 27.16 -0.96 0.58 -11.31 29.39 -2.31 23.67 10.98 22.33 -2.19 8.59 -6.67 20.83 10.10 13.89 35.58 -27.87 0.00 -4.35 109.52 -25.93 160.00 0.00 -12.50 14.29 300.00 100.00 300.00 - 2014 – 2015 (%) -4.03 2.15 -1.32 -6.45 10.43 0.82 -17.35 14.79 -1.91 -7.29 -25.40 17.16 -24.46 57.14 -2.30 -11.93 -13.41 11.35 -20.45 -4.92 9.09 22.73 10.00 -3.85 57.14 42.86 -18.75 25.00 41.67 -12.50 0.00 - 2015 – 2016 (%) 17.20 10.30 19.35 7.24 -6.04 -23.27 14.89 33.51 21.95 -5.06 -2.13 17.20 3.81 -3.25 -23.53 47.92 26.76 25.48 51.43 -12.07 31.94 37.04 -4.55 128.00 27.27 0.00 15.38 53.33 -11.76 14.29 150.00 - 2016 – 2017 (%) 10.42 -11.00 20.85 -4.58 1.71 -10.78 6.23 -8.14 -12.12 7.04 15.24 47.50 19.35 27.27 90.91 84.62 31.11 50.00 36.17 -10.71 10.00 83.33 9.52 300.00 - editor@iaeme.com Research Trends in Nigerian Universities: Analysis of Number of Publications in Scopus (2008-2017) Table 9. Percentage growth rate of research outputs of Nigerian private universities S/N University 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 CU ABUAD RU LU BUT BIU NUN BU LCU 2009 2010 (%) 37.50 0.00 171.43 0.00 64.29 88.89 0.00 -100.00 300.00 2010 2011 (%) 28.57 0.00 105.26 0.00 -8.70 -23.53 0.00 0.00 200.00 2011 – 2012 (%) 11.11 0.00 10.26 500.00 0.00 23.08 0.00 0.00 0.00 2012 – 2013 (%) 0.00 -25.00 39.53 50.00 -14.29 -25.00 0.00 200.00 -41.67 2013 2014 (%) 52.73 1033.33 -21.67 88.89 -5.56 -83.33 0.00 -50.00 -14.29 2014 – 2015 (%) 36.90 23.53 0.00 88.24 -11.76 250.00 -20.00 -66.67 -66.67 2015 – 2016 (%) 33.48 16.67 -34.04 0.00 13.33 -57.14 -70.00 500.00 200.00 2016 – 2017 (%) 44.63 110.20 9.68 75.00 129.41 33.33 16.67 0.00 -33.33 4. CONCLUSIONS In this paper, research trends in Nigerian Universities were analyzed based on the number of scholarly articles published in ten years (2008-2017). Out of the 165 NUC accredited universities in Nigeria, only 67 universities have research visibility in Scopus database. This shows that only 40.61% of the NUC accredited universities in Nigeria have research visibility in Scopus. The remaining 98 universities do not have any research output which bears their institutional affiliations indexed in Scopus within the selected 10-year range. The list of the 67 Scopus-indexed Nigerian universities comprises of 32 federal, 26 state, and 9 private universities. Whereas, there are 43 federal, 47 state, and 75 private universities in Nigeria as at the time of this study. This implies that the research outputs of 11 federal universities (25.58%), 21 state universities (44.68%) and those of 66 private universities (88%) are not visible in Scopus. All the Scopus-indexed Nigerian universities were ranked based on the total number of research publications generated within the 10-year period. The list of top 10 Scopus-indexed Nigerian universities comprises of nine federal universities (UI, UNN, OAU, UNILAG, ABU, UNILORIN, UNIBEN, FUTA and UNIPORT) and one private university (CU). On the list of top 10 federal universities are UI, UNN, OAU, UNILAG, ABU, UNILORIN, UNIBEN, FUTA, UNIPORT and UNICAL with total publications of 8341, 4395, 4543, 2949, 3761, 2618, 2768, 1823, 1958 and 1608 respectively. In another category, LAUTECH, DESU, LASU, OOU, EBSU, RSUST, AMAU, AAU, OSU and ISU made the list of the top 10 state universities with total publications of 1537, 1343, 1024, 1229, 540, 627, 470, 415, 311 and 307 respectively. There are only nine Scopus-indexed universities in the private university category namely: CU, ABUAD, RU, LU, BUT, NUN, BIU, BU and LCU. The total numbers of research publications produced by these universities are 2149, 356, 363, 225, 211, 89, 70, 67 and 63 respectively. In general, a larger percentage (88.1%) of the Scopus-indexed Nigerian universities has increased their contributions to the body of knowledge within the 10-year period. These universities include all the 32 Scopus-indexed federal universities, 20 out of the 26 Scopusindexed state universities, and 7 out of the 9 Scopus-indexed private universities, making a total of 59. Eight out of the 67 Scopus-indexed Nigerian universities (11.9%) experienced different degree of decline in research publications from 2008 to 2017. The research outputs of OOU, BIU, RSUST, SSU, AAU, DSU, NUN and ASU declined by 30.7%, 33.3%, 48.9%, 50%, 50.8%, 51.2%, 52% and 70% respectively in 10 years. The findings of this paper will help university administrators in Nigeria to gain better understanding of the trends of scholarly research publications in their respective universities. In practice, the insights gained will propel a more informed policy formulation and implementation towards improving institutional academic research productivity. http://www.iaeme.com/IJCIET/index.asp 1105 editor@iaeme.com Inioluwa C. Afolabi, Segun I. Popoola, Anthony U. Adoghe, Aderemi A. Atayero, Oluyemi O. Fayomi ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This work was carried out under the IoT-Enabled Smart and Connected Communities (SmartCU) research cluster of the Department of Electrical and Information Engineering, Covenant University, Ota, Nigeria. The research was fully sponsored by Covenant University Centre for Research, Innovation and Development (CUCRID), Covenant University, Ota, Nigeria. REFERENCES [1] E. R. T. Chiware and D. A. Becker, "Research trends and collaborations by applied science researchers in South African universities of technology: 2007–2017," The Journal of Academic Librarianship, vol. 44, pp. 468-476, 2018/07/01/ 2018. [2] A. Conradie, R. Duys, P. Forget, and B. M. 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