Agricultural Research in Zimbabwe: An Author-level Bibliometric Analysis of Publication Outlets and Research Collaboration. (September 2022)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Boshoff, Nelius; Ngwenya, Similo
• Other Names: Gaillard Jacques guest-editor.; Mouton Johann guest-editor.
• Is Part Of: Science, technology & society. Volume 27:Number 3(2022)
• Page Start: 404
• Page End: 428
• Publication Date: 2022-09
• Subjects: Africa -- agriculture -- collaboration -- publishing -- repository; Technology -- Social aspects -- Periodicals; Science -- Social aspects -- Periodicals; 509
• DOI: 10.1177/09717218221078186
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0971-7218

Abstract

What can be learnt from an application of author-level bibliometrics to the field of agricultural research in Zimbabwe for the period 2012–2016? The study addressed the question by integrating data from three sources: Scopus, the Web of Science and the National Research Database of Zimbabwe. A set of fifteen bibliometric indicators was constructed for 2, 873 Zimbabwean authors, of which 248 (9%) were in agricultural sciences and 295 (10%) in multidisciplinary agricultural sciences. The indicators represented three dimensions: volume of article output, scholarly publication outlet and research collaboration. Results are discussed in terms of the Zimbabwean government's policy for agriculture. Part of the lessons learnt calls for author-level bibliometric studies to connect more closely with the local, regional and global politics of knowledge production.