A study of research publications of top NIRF ranked engineering institutions in Karnataka

Abstract

The study evaluates the research performance of top-six NIRF ranked engineering institutions in Karnataka. The study uses scientometrics indicators like publication and citation growth, AGR, RGR, DT, citation productivity of open access publications, and document types. The analysis revealed that publication productivity increased after the introduction of NIRF in 2016. The average citations of all the institutions increased, and MS Ramaiah Institute of Technology (MSRIT) recorded the highest 1.7 citations per paper, followed by Visvesvaraya Technological University (VTU) with 1.69 citations per paper. The decreasing trend of relative growth and increased doubling time reveal that the institutes are reaching their saturation point in their publication productivity. The open-access articles' average citations are higher than non-OA articles. The Rashtreeya Vidyalaya College of Engineering (RVCE) open access articles received the highest citations, 11.8 average citations—nearly four times higher than closed access articles, with 2.58 average citations.