Social Sciences and Humanities Open (Jan 2024)
Utilizing scientometric analysis to evaluate indicators of quality research at the institutional level: A case study of UEA, a young Central African university
Abstract
The recognition and reputation of scientists and academic institutions are well-established in the field of scientometrics. However, these aspects face criticism in regions with limited information access and considered underdeveloped. In this study, we aimed to discuss the research performance of young universities (YU) in these challenging contexts. Despite financial, socio-economic, and political struggle, research in these YU has not stagnated and has even produced renowned scientists with global reputation. Our focus is on a case study of a Congolese YU, the Université Evangélique en Afrique (UEA), operating in a conflict-affected zone. The results showed that factors such as capacity building, infrastructure development, funding opportunities, collaborative partnerships, monitoring and evaluation are the main factors boosting the institution viability. Other important factors included scientific publication dynamics, community engagement, and policies for long-term sustainability, and should be reinforced in young central Africa universities to secure prominent positions in the global arena. The case study of UEA demonstrated that there is still room for revitalizing education and research in YU in the Global South. By accumulating citations and calculating the H-index using tools such as “Publish or Perish” and Scopus, this study suggests that platforms such as Google Scholar or ResearchGate alone are inadequate for evaluating research in academic institutions and researchers. Efforts are needed in these YU to promote quality research and minimize waste of data by publishing in predatory journals. This study also suggests that though scientometric indicators are effective in securing a prominent position in the global arena for YU, they are not solely adequate. Grey reports should also be integrated to assess YU's community engagement and real impact of conducted research at the local and national levels. Despite challenges, these academic institutions provide valuable services to the community, and its researchers actively collaborate on research projects at regional, continental, and global scales. This study contribute to the limited existing literature on quality of education and research in developing central Africa regions by providing a comprehensive understanding through a detailed case study.
