Researchers profile, co-authorship pattern and knowledge organization in information science in Brazil

This paper aimed to present the profile of the researchers, the pattern of scientific collaboration and the knowledge organization in the area of information science in Brazil. The study covered sex differences, skills by region and type of institution, academic formation, indicators of productivity, relations of co-authorship, interactions with other fields of knowledge, and sectors of application of the researches developed in the area. The survey, covering the period 2000–2010, was based on information from the curricula vitae of the researchers with Research Productivity Grant funded by a government agency and from the Directory of Research Group of the National Council for Scientific and Technological Development. The results revealed that the majority of the researchers are women, both in research and postgraduate; there is a significant regional asymmetry; the studies are concentrated in public universities; the papers are published mainly in national journals with open access; the scientific production follows the same pattern of the areas of humanities, social sciences, and linguistics, literature and arts; there is a tendency of increasing the incidence and extent of co-authored papers; there is interaction with other 20 areas of knowledge, which are directly or indirectly connected, forming a single component that comprises all of them; and ‘information and S&T management’ followed by ‘education’ are the main sectors of application of the studies developed by the Brazilian researchers. The study therefore showed an overview of this scientific community seeking to contribute to a better understanding of its characteristics and specificities.