Science on the periphery — a scientometric analysis of science in the ASEAN countries

Abstract

A scientometric analysis of papers published over a two-year period from the five ASEAN Countries, viz. Indonesia (182), Malaysia (452), the Philippines (241), Singapore (258) and Thailand (447), and covered in Science Citation Index 1979 and 1980; and citations to them in the international literature of science as seen from SCI 1979-1983 reveals that despite the relative economic affluence, science in these countries is still on the periphery. Except in the Philippines, the thrust in these countries seems to be in medical research as is evident from the large number of papers published in medical journals. In the Philippines, medicine comes a close second to agriculture, which leads, largely thanks to the contributions of the Interna tional Rice Research Institute (IRRI). Prolific authors, and institutions and journals often used by ASEAN scientists, and the better-cited papers are identified, Most papers are pub lished in low-impact journals and are rarely cited.