Scientometric Analysis of Nuclear Science and Technology Research Output in Iran

Abstract

The main purpose of this study is to evaluate internationally published research<br><br>productivity and make quantitative and qualitative assessments of the status of<br><br>nuclear science and technology in Iran. The data have been collected from the<br><br>Science Citation Index Expanded (SCIE) for the years 1990–2010. The results<br><br>of this work reveal that the Iranian literature on nuclear science and technology<br><br>has grown exponentially during the study period. The average number of citations<br><br>per paper is 5.64. Academic institutions are the main source of research<br><br>productivity. About 93 per cent of the papers are co-authored. Internationally<br><br>co-authored papers enjoy higher citation rates in comparison with domestic<br><br>papers. Disciplinary characterization of the Iranian nuclear science and technology<br><br>research identifies that emphasis is placed on physics and chemistry and that<br><br>the publications in which the research appears are distributed evenly among a<br><br>number of scientific fields.