Research output of faculties of plant sciences in central universities of India: A bibliometric study

Abstract

Research output in plant sciences of the faculties in central universities of India has been analysed bibliometrically. The study analyses a total of 348 bibliographic records of plant sciences retrieved from ISI Science Citation Index – Extended (SCIE) for a period of 10 years from 1997 to 2006. The output of plant sciences literature has been analysed by year, document type, authorship pattern, and collaboration pattern at different levels viz., international, national, and local. The laws of Bradford and Lotka have also been tested. Results of the study reveal that: i) the plant sciences literature has grown steadily during the study period except for 1997 and 2002; ii) articles play a predominant source of publications of plant sciences literature; iii) the plant sciences research in central universities of India is fairly collaborative; and iv) the productivity of authors fits Lotka’s distribution while scattering of journal articles does not fit into Bradford’s distribution.