SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, AND SKILLS FOR AFRIC A’S DE VELOPMENT MARCH 2014 The State of STEM Research 86061 in Sub-Saharan Africa Research output and impact are important indicators of the KEY MESSAGES strength of a region’s research n Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM)-related enterprise, which is related to its long-term economic research output and impact are related to a region’s long-run development. The World Bank and economic development. Elsevier are partnering to examine n The overall publication output by Sub-Saharan Africa has increased Africa’s past and current research over the past ten years, but not all subregions have grown at the enterprise in order to find ways to help the continent assimilate, same pace. develop, and apply knowledge to n While relative output in the Health Sciences has increased, relative improve living standards. This first output in the Physical Sciences/STEM has been stagnant. brief summarizes key preliminary n The impact of research in the Health Sciences is much greater than findings from a forthcoming report on published research by countries that in Physical Sciences/STEM, even after controlling for differences in Sub-Saharan Africa over the in citation norms. last decade, with a specific focus n Science is an international enterprise, and research collaboration is on the research within Science, Technology, Engineering, and an important driver of success. Mathematics fields. n Research consumption Sciences/STEM has grown over Research Outputs and the past ten years. Impacts vary across The overall publication output by Af- Africa rican researchers has increased over However, the relative share the past ten years, but not all regions of the region’s output in the Past studies examine the have grown at the same pace. Physical Sciences/STEM has relationship between the n East African researchers declined over time. investments in, the outputs of, and even the knowledge exchange published 5,249 total articles in The impact of research in Health fostered by a country’s research. 2012, or about 0.2 percent of Sciences is much higher than that This brief examines the research the world’s total output. Since of Physical Sciences/STEM. activity of different regions in 2003, total research output from East Africa has grown 12 percent A normalized measure called field- Africa: Western and Central Africa, weighted citation impact (FWCI) is East Africa, Southern Africa, and annually. For more information on past research on the growth used to control for inter-disciplinary South Africa. differences in citation norms and of Africa’s overall research For each of these regions, the output and article share, please hence allow for comparisons across report will analyze: see Research Trends under More subject areas. n Research output/impact on the Topic. The world average is pegged to 1.0, n Different types of research While relative output in Health so values above 1.0 indicate that collaboration (e.g., the share of Sciences has increased, relative the impact of a region’s output is Southern African research that output in the Physical Sciences/ above the world average and vice has an international co-author) STEM has stagnated or even versa (Figure 4). n Researcher mobility (e.g., the declined. The FWCI of Western and Central number of published scholars n The absolute numbers of Africa’s output in Health Sciences who move from one region to Southern African publications in 2012 is 0.77 compared to 0.56 for another) in Health Sciences and Physical Physical Sciences/STEM. International Researchers in Africa are linked Past studies suggest that nations Collaboration together through international, inter- benefit from collaborative Science is an international enter- and intra-regional collaborations, research, particularly international prise, and research collaboration though the relative proportions of collaborations, as they typically is an important driver of success. such collaborations vary. result in higher citation impacts. Figure 1. Growth in the overall number of publications Figure 2. Growth in East and Southern Africa’s world for4East Figure and - Growth Southern in the Africa, overall number 2003-2012 of publications publication share, 2003-2012 for East and Southern Africa, 2003-2012 6000 0.25% East Africa, 12.0% East Africa 5000 0.20% World Publication Share Number of Publications 4000 0.15% 3000 0.10% Southern Africa 2000 1000 Southern Africa, 8.5% 0.05% Compound Annual Growth Rate 0 0.00% 2003 2006 2009 2012 2003 2006 2009 2012 Source: Scopus Source: Scopus Figure 3. Trends in percentage of Southern Figure 4. Field-weighted citation impact for East Africa’s output in Health Sciences versus Africa and Western and Central Africa in Health Physical Sciences/STEM, 2003-2012 Sciences citation impactSciences/STEM, versus Physical Figure 5 - Field-weighted 2012 for East Africa and Western and Central Africa in Health Sciences versus Phy 1000 50% 1.6 Health Sciences 900 1.4 45% Percentage of Total Output 800 1.2 Output in Subject Area 700 World Average = 1.0 40% 1 600 Physical Sciences / STEM FWCI 0.8 500 35% 0.6 400 300 30% 0.4 200 25% 0.2 100 0 Physical Sciences / STEM Health Sciences 0 20% 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 East Africa Western and Central Africa Source: Scopus Source: Scopus MORE ON THE TOPIC • International Comparative Performance of the UK Research Base - 2013 http://info.scival.com/research-initiatives/BIS2013 • Comparative Benchmarking of European and US Research Collaboration and Researcher Mobility (2013) http://info.scival.com/research-initiatives/science-europe • Research Trends – Issue 35, December 2013 http://www.researchtrends.com/category/issue-35-december-2013/ In “The bibliometrics of the developing world,” Sarah Huggett touches upon the difficulty of defining ‘developing countries’ and then discusses their development in bibliometric terms. For example, has research output from developing countries changed in different subject fields in recent years? In “Africa doubles research output over past decade, moves towards a knowledge-based economy,” Ylann Schemm discusses some of the factors contributing to the increase in research output from sub-Saharan Africa, including increased funding, the rise of open access and Research4Life. • Attracting talent in a global academic world: How emerging research universities can benefit from brain circulation (The Academic Executive Brief – Volume 2, Issue 1, 2012) http://academicexecutives.elsevier.com/sites/default/files/AEB_2.1_Salmi.pdf Jamil Salmi, a global tertiary education expert and former World Bank Tertiary Education Coordinator, discusses the benefits to and need for increased academic mobility. • Knowledge, Networks, and Nations (2011) http://royalsociety.org/policy/projects/knowledge-networks-nations/report/ This report reviews the changing patterns of science and scientific collaboration, aiming to identify the opportunities and benefits of international collaboration, to consider how they can best be realized, and to initiate a debate on how international scientific collaboration can be harnessed to tackle global problems more effectively.