Sooryamoorthy, R. 2010. THE VISIBILITY OF ENGINEERING RESEARCH IN SOUTH AFRICA, 1975-2005. SOUTH AFRICAN JOURNAL OF INDUSTRIAL ENGINEERING 21 (2): 1-12

[Eugene Garfield]

Sooryamoorthy, R. 2010. THE VISIBILITY OF ENGINEERING RESEARCH IN SOUTH 
AFRICA, 1975-2005. SOUTH AFRICAN JOURNAL OF INDUSTRIAL ENGINEERING 21 
(2): 1-12.

Author Full Name(s): Sooryamoorthy, R.
Language: English
Document Type: Article

KeyWords Plus: RESEARCH COLLABORATION; INTERNATIONAL COLLABORATION; 
SELF-ORGANIZATION; SCIENCE; CITATION; JOURNALS; NATIONS; TRENDS; 
IMPACT

Abstract: Engineering as a branch of science has a crucial role in the growth of 
the economy. The growth and development of engineering is therefore highly 
relevant. One way to understand this is to examine the characteristics of the 
scientific knowledge produced in the field of engineering. Drawing on the 
publications in engineering from the ISI Web of Science over the last three 
decades, this paper looks at the visibility and importance of engineering 
research in South Africa. The visibility of research publications is studied in 
terms of the number of citations a publication receives. The analysis shows 
that the visibility of South African engineering research is determined by the 
number of authors involved in the production of a paper, the presence of 
international collaboration, the degree of collaboration, and the journals in 
which the papers are published. Engineering research in South Africa, compared 
with that of all subjects, is clearly growing. But the visibility of South African 
engineering publications, in comparison with all other subjects, has been 
diminishing in recent years.

Addresses: Univ KwaZulu Natal, Sociol Programme, Durban, South Africa
Reprint Address: Sooryamoorthy, R, Univ KwaZulu Natal, Sociol Programme, 
Durban, South Africa.

E-mail Address: sooryamoorthyr at ukzn.ac.za
ISSN: 1012-277X