International Journal of
Library and Information Science

  • Abbreviation: Int. J. Lib. Inf. Sci.
  • Language: English
  • ISSN: 2141-2537
  • DOI: 10.5897/IJLIS
  • Start Year: 2009
  • Published Articles: 246

Full Length Research Paper

Research growth and citation impact of Tanzanian scholars: A 24 year’s scientometric study

Raphael Z. Sangeda
  • Raphael Z. Sangeda
  • Department of Pharmaceutical Microbiology, Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences (MUHAS), P. O. Box 65013, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.
  • Google Scholar
Edda Tandi Lwoga
  • Edda Tandi Lwoga
  • Directorate of Library Services, Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences (MUHAS, P. O. Box 65001, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.
  • Google Scholar


  •  Received: 24 May 2017
  •  Accepted: 01 August 2017
  •  Published: 30 September 2017

Abstract

A scientometric analysis was conducted to map the research growth and citation impact of Tanzania scholars over a period of 24 years starting from 1991 to 2015. We analyzed data for research publications of all Tanzania scholars obtained from the SCOPUS database. The study analyzed the year-wise distribution of publications, subject-wise distribution of publications, the authorship pattern, degree of collaboration, and the citation impact. A total of 12,379 articles were published from 34 academic and research institutions. The top three universities with high cumulative number of publications were Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences, University of Dar es salaam and Sokoine University of Agriculture. The top subject was medicine. The maximum number of citations received in a single publication was 1914. Publications metrics scores varied a lot based on indices chosen to rank the Tanzanian scholars. The study findings call for a need for scholars to collaborate with external partners within and outside the country, and publish in journals with a higher impact.

Key words: Scientometrics, research growth, research performance, research publications, citation impact, Tanzania.