انتشارات علمي ايرانيان : مشاركت ، رشد و توسعه

Iranian scientific publications: collaboration, growth, and development from 1985 to 1999

This study looks at the extent of international collaboration in Iranian scientific publications through the Science Citation Index (SCI) for the years 1995-1999, inclusive. The results of this study are compared to and contrasted with the earlier findings for the periods 1985-1994 (Osareh & Wilson, 2000). Further, the results of Iranʹs increasing productivity over a 15-year period are presented. Iran doubled its output in the first two five-year periods and increased 2.8-fold from the second to the third five-year period. The rise in Iranʹs scientific publication output is due mainly to factors such as: the ending of the war; better economic condition; recent changes in the Iranian governmentʹs policy, e.g., increase in research funding; basic changes in the political environment brought about by the Reformers; expansion of the Iranian presses for national publications; and the recent return of a large number of students trained overseas through government scholarships. External changes also account for the increased productivity, e.g., the acceptance of three Iranian source journals by the SC1; increased access to international databases through the Internet; and better electronic communication facilities for international collaboration.