This week it’s been published a very interesting research report entitled Informe de la recerca en Informació, Documentació i Arxivística a Catalunya (2000-2013). Throughout its 49 pages, the report describes and analyses the evolution of this research (developed mainly in academic circles) from three points of view:
- The Catalan institutions investigating this field.
- Human and financial resources available for research.
- The scientific results deriving from the activities executed.
In relation this last point, the report highlights, on an overall basis, that the production is scarce, although justified in part by the late incorporation of these disciplines at Catalan universities (since the eighties of the last century). It also highlights the concentration of production in a small group of active researchers.
Disaggregated by document types, the report shows the following results:
- Thesis: 52.
- Articles in scientific journals indexed in Web of Science (WoS): 186.
- Papers: 237.
About journal articles (the most representative in research), the report exposes some very interesting considerations:
- Two-thirds of all articles (67.2%) has been published in El profesional de la información (EPI).
- 78% of the articles are written in Spanish, while only 22% is in English.
- Chronological distribution of articles is closely related to the entry in 2006 of the magazine EPI, because it is from this date that the presence of article in WoS increases. It isn’t until 2103 that the percentage of articles published in other international titles grows.
In view of these results, the report recommends, among other things, the Catalan research must increase its internationalization. Currently, Catalan researchers participates in only five European projects and only 22% of journal articles indexed in WoS are written in English.
The report is currently in a period of public debate. That is, if you want to make any comment or contribution you can send a message to or@iec.cat.
Enjoy it!
Andreu Sulé
University of Barcelona