THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Research performance of universities in the state has increased significantly between 2018 and 2023, a report by leading international scientific publisher Elsevier has revealed. However, it pointed out the need to improve academic-corporate collaboration to ensure better placements.
The findings of the report, released through the Kerala State Higher Education Council, showed that there was an 11% cumulative annual growth rate (CAGR) of publications by state universities in the period. The University of Kerala and Cusat showed the best growth in terms of research output.
State universities published 8,242 research papers and the Field Weighted Citation Impact (FWCI) was 1.38. FWCI indicates how the number of citations received by a researcher’s publications compares to the average or expected number of citations received by other similar publications. The report stated that the average number of citations per publication was 11.3 in this period.
The subject areas that showed the most research output were: material science (26.1%), engineering (19.3%), chemistry (21.7%), physics and astronomy (18.6%). On the aspect of academic-corporate collaboration, the report said it stood only at 0.6%. “Such collaboration has a direct impact on building a strong foundation which leads to better placements,” the report said, recommending improvement in this aspect.
The report also showed that usage of ScienceDirect, the huge database of scientific and medical publications of Elsevier, recorded a tremendous increase in the state’s universities. “ScienceDirect usage crossed two million from all universities and colleges in the state. MG University recorded the maximum downloads of 5.51 lakh,” it said.
On the growth trajectory
Cumulative annual growth rate of publications - 11 %
Max output - material science (26.1%), engineering (19.3%), chemistry (21.7%)
Total research papers published - 8,242
Field weighted citation impact (FWCI) - 1.38
Academic - corporate collaboration - 0.6%.