Bangladesh improves in scientific publications, still 3rd in S Asia in 2023

While the number of publications by Bangladeshi researchers has been steadily increasing in recent years, the country with 13,227 scientific publications in 2023, still falls behind India and Pakistan in South Asia, despite having similar economic and social indicators.

Last year, Indian researchers published 2.92 lakh papers, Pakistan 39,922, Sri Lanka 3,757, Nepal 3,372, Afghanistan 596, Bhutan 232, and the Maldives 138, as reported by the Scopus research database.

Experts identified insufficient government sponsorship, a shortage of physical resources, and limited funds within the country as the primary factors contributing to the country's backwardness in research.

The online magazine Scientific Bangladesh released its annual report on scientific documents, drawing from publications in Scopus-indexed international journals until 8 January this year.

According to Scopus, in 2023, Dhaka University retained the top research position with 1,410 publications which was 1,293 in the previous year.

Daffodil International University has also retained second position with 1,080 publications while Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (Buet) has obtained third position with 831 publications. And Jahangirnagar University ranked fourth.

The ranking continued with Rajshahi University at 5th, North South University at 6th, Bangladesh Agricultural University at 7th, BRAC University at 8th, Chittagong University at 9th, and Khulna University at 10th.

The primary subject areas for publications by Bangladeshis in 2023 comprised engineering, computer science, medicine, environmental science, and social science.

The report encompasses various document types beyond articles, including conference papers, reviews, book chapters, letters, errata, notes, editorials, data papers, books, short surveys, and others.

The number of publications by Bangladeshis was 12,843 in 2022, 11,447 in 2021, 9,116 in 2020 and 8,301 in 2019.

In 2023, the Ministry of Science and Technology emerged as the primary funding sponsor for Bangladeshi publications, as reported by the Scopus research database. The Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology secured the second position, while the National Natural Science Foundation of China claimed the third spot in terms of funding sources. 

"Though local funding is increasing, still the majority of the top 15 funding bodies were from foreign countries last year. As a result, it is unclear how much our local issues got covered in those researches," Monir Uddin Ahmed, editor of Scientific Bangladesh, told TBS.

To portray the research publication scenario, Scientific Bangladesh collected their data from the citation and abstract based research database Scopus.

Top six journals that published the highest number of articles by Bangladeshi researchers are: Heliyon, Plos One, Sustainability Switzerland, IEEE Access, Scientific Reports, Environmental Science and Pollution Research.                                        

According to Resurchify – a global information portal – the impact factor of Heliyon was 4.45, and 3.75 of Plos One. 

The impact factor, also known as Journal Impact Factor (JIF), is a metric used to evaluate the relative importance of a journal. It is determined by calculating the average number of citations received by selected articles in that journal within the last few years.

According to the Scopus database, Abu Reza Md Towfiqul Islam, a faculty at the Department of Disaster Management, Begum Rokeya University, Rangpur, secured the top position by publishing 106 articles.

Talha Bin Emran, Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Brown University, USA and a faculty of the pharmacy department at BGC Trust University, Chattoram obtained the second position last year with 98 publications.

Highlighting the challenges in research, Talha Bin Emran said, "Teachers in public universities often lack enthusiasm for research, citing insufficient funds and incentives. As they get easy promotions, publications is not a matter here."

He added, "Additionally, when young students excel in research, senior teachers often discourage them through various means, leading to a loss of interest."

Moreover, Emran pointed out the misuse of government research funds, stating, "Qualified researchers are frequently denied funding, as lobbying and nepotism divert funds from organisations such as the Ministry of Education and Banbeis to relatively weaker candidates."

What experts say

Dr Kazi Matin Uddin Ahmed, a highly cited research scholar and professor in the Department of Geology at Dhaka University, emphasised the crucial role of prioritising higher education and research for achieving Sustainable Development Goals, noting the extensive involvement in PhD programmes in countries like India and Pakistan, resulting in numerous publications.

"Pakistan may trail behind us in various indicators, but it surpasses our progress significantly in research and higher education," he said.

He underscored the need for a fundamental shift in the culture where individuals become university teachers after completing BSc or MSc, emphasising the importance of a mandatory PhD requirement for recruitment.

"Because of the inadequate facilities in the country, individuals engaged in research are opting to go abroad with scholarships, which does not benefit us much," he said.

He added, "In institutional leadership, political background often takes precedence over research or experience. This prioritisation of politics over research becomes more pronounced when they assume leadership roles."

Expressing that numerous studies centered on Bangladesh are conducted abroad, he said, "We also derive benefits from this practice. Primarily, due to the scarcity of funds and facilities for advanced analysis within the country, our researchers actively engage in collaborative efforts abroad."

Pointing out the weaknesses in domestic journals, he said, "Many journals lack citations, leading to a lack of impact factor. Irregular publication and a dearth of quality papers contribute to this issue. Consequently, many proficient researchers prefer submitting papers to foreign journals rather than domestic ones."