War and Publishing

[Rajko]

 Enclosed please find a short version of my article on war and publishing. If you request, I can e-mail to you a PDF version or the article.

Rajko Igic
J. H. Stroger Hospital of Cook County
Chicago, IL 60612




Igic R. War and scientific output moving beyond war. J BUON (Journal of the Balkan Union of Oncology) 2005; 10: 495-497.

The articles published in English from 1987 to 2003 in journals indexed in the Science Citation Index were retrieved for the two cities from the former Yugoslavia: Sarajevo, affected by the civil war in Bosnia and Herzegovina (B & H) from 1992 to1995, and Novi Sad, Serbia, hurt by the economic sanctions (imposed in 1992 and lifted in 2001) and by the 78-day NATO bombing in 1999. Istanbul, Turkey and Ljubljana, Slovenia were used as controls.
        In 1987, Sarajevo, Novi Sad, Ljubljana, and Istanbul produced 25, 80, 321, and 133 articles, respectively. Sixteen years later, these cities produced 31, 140, 1,548, and 2,188 articles, respectively. Thus, in 2003, Sarajevo, Novi Sad, Ljubljana, and Istanbul produced 1.2, 1.7, 4.9, and 16.4 times more articles, respectively, than in 1987. During the prewar period, the annual scientific output from Novi Sad and Sarajevo gradually increased, but the output from Sarajevo declined sharply to 11 articles in 1995. The output from Novi Sad also dropped in 1994 and 1995. A modest increase in output from these two cities followed during the postwar period. The scientific output from Sarajevo has recovered very slowly.
        The scientific production in B&H and in Serbia was affected not only by the devastated economy, damaged communications, and the hardship of everyday life during the war and postwar years, but also by the exodus of many top scientists and by the lack of outside support. In Turkey and Slovenia, as in many countries, scientists are under constant pressure to publish. This pressure forces some scientists to sacrifice quality for quantity. Even so, the pressure to publish is a stimulus that motivates research activity. However, an increase of scientific output generally follows national income, research budgets, academic staffs, and international scientific communication.
        Devastated countries cannot afford to finance many scientists, as research is a rather expensive enterprise. Therefore, in war-torn countries, those who are responsible for financing science should select the most promising researchers, preferably trained in developed countries. Also, because we are one intellectual community, researchers from other countries should continue to survey scientific activity in the areas affected by war and help restore and upgrade research and publication. Scientists in the international community can aid their colleagues in the damaged areas by maintaining communication, establishing collaborative ventures, and offering exchange programs and advice As Eugene Garfield stated, supporting scientist-colleagues in such countries is in our best interest.

_______________________________________________
Join Excite! - http://www.excite.com
The most personalized portal on the Web!
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: Abstract-J BUON-War and Publishing.doc
Type: application/msword
Size: 21504 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://mail.asis.org/pipermail/sigmetrics/attachments/20060214/a9137875/attachment.doc>