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Neo-colonial science by the most industrialised upon the least developed countries in peer-reviewed publishing

Author

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  • Farid Dahdouh-Guebas

    (VUB-APNA-WE, Faculty of Sciences Vrije Universiteit Brussel)

  • J. Ahimbisibwe

    (VUB-APNA-WE, Faculty of Sciences Vrije Universiteit Brussel)

  • Rita Van Moll

    (Vrije Universiteit)

  • Nico Koedam

    (VUB-APNA-WE, Faculty of Sciences Vrije Universiteit Brussel)

Abstract

We are currently experiencing an era that is facing increasing global environmental and societal problems (e.g., climate change, habitat destruction and economic recession). Scientific research projects are often required to emphasize and counter the effects of inequity and globalisation, and prioritise cooperation supported by cooperative research. This paper investigates whether publication of research that is carried out in least developed countries is done in cooperation with research institutes from these countries. The study uses the Current Contents database of peer-reviewed publications from more than 7,000 journals in all sciences (Biology and environmental sciences; Physical, chemical and earth sciences; Engineering, computing and technology; Life sciences; Clinical medicine; Arts and humanities; Social and behavioral sciences) published between 1 January 1999 and 3 November 2000. From a total of 1,601,196 papers published, 2,798 articles of research activities carried out in the 48 least developed countries were selected using title information as an indicator. Collaborative relationships between research institutions involved was then analysed within and between countries and sciences. Our results show that publications of research, carried out in the least developed countries, do not have co-authorship of local research institutes in 70% of the cases, and that a majority of the papers is published by research institutes from the most industrialised countries in the world. We employed the use of questionnaires sent to authors from papers in the above-mentioned database to detect possible causes of this high percentage of lack of authorship in the essential academic currency that 'publications' are. 'Neo-colonial science' is identified as one of them. In addition, there exists a large discrepancy between what the surveyed scientists say they find important in international collaboration and joint publishing, and the way they act to it. However, the interpretation given to the fact that institutional co-authorship is underrepresented for local research institutions in the least developed countries is less important than the fact itself, and future research should concentrate on a scientific way to equilibrate this adverse trend.

Suggested Citation

  • Farid Dahdouh-Guebas & J. Ahimbisibwe & Rita Van Moll & Nico Koedam, 2003. "Neo-colonial science by the most industrialised upon the least developed countries in peer-reviewed publishing," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 56(3), pages 329-343, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:scient:v:56:y:2003:i:3:d:10.1023_a:1022374703178
    DOI: 10.1023/A:1022374703178
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    1. W. Glänzel & A. Schubert & H. -J. Czerwon, 1999. "A bibliometric analysis of international scientific cooperation of the European Union (1985–1995)," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 45(2), pages 185-202, June.
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    2. Lucinda Cash-Gibson & Diego F Rojas-Gualdrón & Juan M Pericàs & Joan Benach, 2018. "Inequalities in global health inequalities research: A 50-year bibliometric analysis (1966-2015)," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 13(1), pages 1-22, January.
    3. Nelius Boshoff, 2009. "Neo-colonialism and research collaboration in Central Africa," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 81(2), pages 413-434, November.
    4. Kilian Buehling & Matthias Geissler & Dorothea Strecker, 2022. "Free access to scientific literature and its influence on the publishing activity in developing countries: The effect of Sci‐Hub in the field of mathematics," Journal of the Association for Information Science & Technology, Association for Information Science & Technology, vol. 73(9), pages 1336-1355, September.
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    6. Amarante, Veronica & Zurbrigg, Julieta, 2022. "The marginalization of southern researchers in Development," World Development Perspectives, Elsevier, vol. 26(C).
    7. Stephan Rist & Farid Dahdouh-Guebas, 2006. "Ethnosciences––A step towards the integration of scientific and indigenous forms of knowledge in the management of natural resources for the future," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 8(4), pages 467-493, November.
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    11. Sarah Cummings & Paul Hoebink, 2017. "Representation of Academics from Developing Countries as Authors and Editorial Board Members in Scientific Journals: Does this Matter to the Field of Development Studies?," The European Journal of Development Research, Palgrave Macmillan;European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI), vol. 29(2), pages 369-383, April.
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