Journal of Scientific & Industrial Research

Vol. 78, November 2019, pp. 738-741

Pharmaceutical Research in India:

A Scientometric Analysis of International Collaboration
M Pathak1 and N K Prasanna Kumari2*
1
Directorate of Education, GNCT Delhi-110054
2
CSIR- National Institute of Science Communication & Information Resources, New Delhi-110012

Received 21 December 2018; revised 24 June 2019; accepted 22 September 2019

In peer-reviewed publications in the field of pharmaceutical research indexed by Web of Science core collections, India
has contributed 14474 publications in last five years (2014-18). Scientometric analysis revealed that one fourth of these
publications (3568 papers) published by Indian researchers were in collaboration with international organizations. Year wise
publications in number, suggests an unsteady trend with increase (13-17%) and decrease of 1-2%. In citation, the numbers
apparently show considerable increase. However, to understand better, we need to study 10-years data and also adopt a
comprehensive approach including all relevant areas related to pharmaceutical research.

Keywords: Collaboration, Pharmaceutics, Research evaluation, Scientometric

Introduction decade ago. In pharmaceutics this change is so rapid

Research collaboration has increased multi fold in
21st century in different domain of knowledge.
Research collaboration on the basis of co-authorship
has been increasing many folds and is proving to be
the ‗need of the hour‘, especially in pharmaceutics
and biomedical research where individual efforts are
hardly heard. Collaboration in scientific enquiry can
be of various kinds i.e. teacher-student collaboration,
collaboration between researchers of same
department, collaboration among departments of same
university or research institutes (inter departmental),
collaboration between two organizations within a
country (national), and collaboration between two
organizations of different nations (International
collaborations). Among all other types of scientific
collaboration, international collaboration in scientific
disciplines has been studied extensively. In
Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Science industry,
academia collaboration at national and international
level is most prevalent as the result obtained through
experiments is of clinical importance and production
of new drugs cannot be imagined without the help of
industries. Emerging technologies and trends have
created new domains which were non-existent a
——————
* Web of Science as the source of data. All the data has
Author for Correspondence
E-mail: prasanna.nimh@gmail.com
that the need of collaboration is greater than ever. The
earliest research paper published in collaboration
dates back in 1665 until 1860 there were only 7
publications in collaboration1.
Methodology
Data for this study was retrieved from Web of
Science-core collection database using advance search
feature. Keyword ―Pharmacy and Pharmacology‖
(Su=Pharmacy and Pharmacology) was used in
Research area Category for the year range 2014-2018.
From the countries section India was refined and
document types were restricted to Articles and Review
only. Retracted publications were excluded from the
study. In this way, 14471 results were retrieved. For
further analysis, the publications which have India and
any other countries in the address were selected
exclusively. Collaboration was determined by the
address given in the database. Earlier Garg et al.2, Basu
and Kumar3, Prakasan et al.4, Gupta and Dhawan5, and
Raina et al.6 used Web of science to investigate
collaboration patterns of Indian science. Pathak &
Bharati7,8 analyzed Indian Journal of Traditional
knowledge and Botanical Survey of India output using
been updated up to date of revision of the manuscript.
 PATHAK & PRASANNA KUMARI: INDIA‘S INTERNATIONAL COLLABORATION IN PHARMACEUTICAL RESEARCH
Results and Discussion
Year wise publication & Citation
During 2014-2018 there were 320043 documents
under research category Pharmacology & Pharmacy,
out of which 14471 were contributed by Indian
researchers which is 4.52% of global publication. Out
of which 3568 i.e. 24.65% of publication share of
India are in collaboration with countries other than
India. Only Research and Review article under
document types were considered in this analysis.
Fig. 1 depicts year wise growth of publication which
are in international collaboration with one or more
foreign countries. It clearly indicates that there is
considerable increase in international collaboration. In
year 2014 there were 617 publications in international
collaboration and in year 2018 it increased to 809.
Overall, there were 2847 paper in the pharmacology
and pharmacy in year 2014 which rose to 2947 in year
2018. It is inferred that in year 2014, 21.67%
publications were in international collaboration and in
year 2018 it was 27.45%. The year wise trend shows
an unsteady pattern with increasing trend of 13-17%
and an insignificant 1-2% decrease.
In citation, these 3568 internationally co-authored
papers have overall 32936 citations, and 31360
without self citation, with 9.23 average citations per
item and h-index 52. Year wise citation data of
published paper reveals that in year 2014 the total
Figure 1 — Publication & Citation Pattern in Pharmaceutics
739
citation was 442 for 617 publication which rose to
6800 in 2019 (till date of paper revision) which shows
tremendous growth in citation rate and also indicates
that international collaboration results into citation
boost. Highest citation was received in the year 2018
which in fact is the result of cumulative citation.
Source titles
Analysis of this paper reveals that there are total
281 journals in which 3568 publications were
published. Table 1 depicts the top 10 journals in the
list with European journal of medicinal chemistry
with 183 publication is the leading journal which
published 5.12% of total publication followed by
‗Bio-organic medicinal chemistry letters‘ with 152
publications, ‗Biomedicine pharmacotherapy‘ with
120 publications, and ‗Medicinal chemistry research‘
with 100 publications, ‗antimicrobial agents and
chemotherapy‘ with 83 publications. Top 10 journals
published 27.71% publications. As many as
51 journals published only one research publication
each.
Countries in collaboration
Country wise analysis of data reveals that there
are 128 countries which are in collaboration with
Indian researchers in pharmaceutics research during
2014-2018. Amongst the countries USA is leading
collaborating partner with 1203 publication which is
33.72% of total papers in international collaboration
and 8.13 % of total scientific output by India in this
research category. USA is followed by Saudi Arabia
with 515 publications, Malaysia with 262 publications,
Australia with 245 publications and England with
243 publications. There are 15 countries which have
more than 100 publications in collaboration with India
(Table 2). There are 30 countries which have only one
paper in collaboration with India which includes
Table 1 — Top 10 Journals
Sl. No Journals Records
1 European Journal Of Medicinal Chemistry 183
2 Bioorganic Medicinal Chemistry Letters 152
3 Biomedicine Pharmacotherapy 120
4 Medicinal Chemistry Research 100
5 Antimicrobial Agents And Chemotherapy 83
6 Bioorganic Medicinal Chemistry 78
7 Journal Of Medicinal Chemistry 77
8 Current Pharmaceutical Design 76
9 International Journal Of Pharmaceutics 63
10 Current Topics In Medicinal Chemistry 57
740 J SCI IND RES VOL 78 NOVEMBER 2019

Bhutan, Afghanistan, Botswana, Bolivia, Belarus,
Kazakhstan, Myanmar, etc.
Most prolific institutes
There are approximately 4350 national and
international organizations which have contributed in
publication of these research outputs in pharmaceutical
sciences. Among the national organizations (Table 3)
CSIR laboratories tops the list with 322 publications
which is 9.02 % of total publications with 3622 total
citations, 27 h-index and average citation 11.25 per
item. CSIR is followed by NIPER institutes with
145 publications having 1317 citations, 19 h-index and
average citation 9.08 per item. Jamia Hamdard, New
Delhi occupies third position in the list with 136
publication 1201 citations 17 h-index and 8.83 average
citations, followed by IITs with 134 publications
having 1530 citations 20 h-index and 11.42 average
citations. Delhi University occupies 5th position among
national institutes with 101 publications, 1186
citations, 17 h-index and 11.74 average citation per
item. Amongst the International organizations
(Table 3) King Saud university is leading the list with
214 publications with 2033 citations, 22 h index and
average citation of 9.50, followed by King Abdulaziz
University with 135 publications having 1143 citations,
h-index 15 and average citation 8.47 per item.
University of Mississippi occupies 3rd position in
international organizations with 65 publications, 495
citation counts, h-index 12 and 7.62 average citation
followed by University of Kwazulu natal with
63 publications having 998 citations, h-index 16 and
15.84 citation per item. Centre National de la Research
Scientifique CNRS France is at 5th rank with
62 publications having 542 citations, h-index 13 and
7.84 average citations per item.

Table 2 — Top 15 Countries in collaboration Funding agencies

Sl. No Countries Records Further analysis of these data revealed that
1 USA 1203 research in pharmaceutical science in India have
2 Saudi Arabia 515 been funded by Indian and international agencies
3 Malaysia 262 and universities. University Grants Commission with
4 Australia 245 232 publications is leading the funding agencies list
5 England 243 followed by CSIR with 227 publications, Department
6 Peoples Republic of China 196 of Science and Technology, Govt. of India with
7 South Korea 194 141 Publications Department of Biotechnology, Govt.
8 Germany 168 of India with 88 publications and Indian council of
9 South Africa 164 Medical research with 57 publications. Among
10 Italy 158 the international funding agencies King Saud
11 Canada 134 University is leading the list with 64 publications
12 Japan 127 followed by Novartis with 59 publications, NIH with
13 Switzerland 127 57 publications. National natural science research
14 France 123 foundation with 32 publications, and European Union
15 Brazil 107
with 18 publications.
Table 3 — Most Prolific organizations
Sl. No Organizations Publication Citation h- index
1 CSIR 322 3622 27
2 NIPER 145 1317 19
3 Jamia Hamdard 136 1201 17
4 IITs 134 1530 20
5 University of Delhi 101 1186 17
6 King Saud University, Saudi Arabia 214 2033 22
7 King Abdulaziz University, Saudi 135 1143 15
Arabia
8 Univ Missisipi, USA 65 495 12
9 University of Kwazulu Natal, South 63 998 16
Africa
10 Centre National de la Research 62 542 13
scientifique CNRS, France
 PATHAK & PRASANNA KUMARI: INDIA‘S INTERNATIONAL COLLABORATION IN PHARMACEUTICAL RESEARCH 741

Table 4 — Highly cited articles

Author Title Reference Citation
Ambati, Ranga Rao et al Astaxanthin: Sources, Extraction, Stability, Marine Drugs, 2014, 12(1), 128-152 320
Biological Activities and Its Commercial
Applications-A Review
Singh Parvesh et al Recent developments in biological activities of European Journal Of Medicinal Chemistry, 229
chalcones: A mini review 2014, 85, 758-777
Rani Vibha et al. Oxidative stress and metabolic disorders: Life Sciences, 2016, 148, 183-193 214
Pathogenesis and therapeutic strategies
Kalepu Sandeep & Insoluble drug delivery strategies: review of Acta Pharmaceutica Sinica B, 190
Nekkanti Vijaykumar recent advances and business prospects 2015, 5(5), 442-453
Alsaab, Hashem O et al. PD-1 and PD-L1 Checkpoint Signaling Inhibition Frontiers In Pharmacology, 2017,8 176
for Cancer Immunotherapy: Mechanism,
Combinations, and Clinical Outcome
Grundy Scott M et al An International Atherosclerosis Society Position Journal Of Clinical Lipidology, 170
Paper: Global recommendations for the 2014, 8(1), 29-60
management of dyslipidemia - Full report
Aly Hany Abdel-Aleem The Selection and Use of Essential Medicines Selection And Use Of Essential Medicines: 162
et al Report Of The Who Expert Committee, 2015
(Including The 19th Who Model List Of
Essential Medicines And The 5th Who Model
List Of Essential Medicines For Children)
2015, 994,1-416
Prabhu Rashmi H et al. Polymeric nanoparticles for targeted treatment in International Journal Of Nanomedicine, 154
oncology: current insights 2015, 10, 1001-1018
Schelenz Silke et al First hospital outbreak of the globally emerging Antimicrobial Resistance And Infection 140
Candida auris in a European hospital Control, 2018, 5
Dos Santos et al Silver Nanoparticles: Therapeutical Uses, Journal Of Pharmaceutical Sciences, 138
Toxicity, and Safety Issues 2014, 103, 7, 1931-1944
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