Articles with authors affiliated to Brazilian institutions published from 1994 to 2003 with 100 or more citations: II - identification of thematic nuclei of excellence in Brazilian science

ABSTRACT

Articles with 100 citations or more in the scientific literature and with at least one author with Brazilian affiliation, were identified in the Thomson-ISI (Institute for Scientific Information) Web of Science bibliometric database covering a 10-year period, from 1994 to 2003 (see Packer and Meneghini 2006); 248 (0.23 percent) out of a total of 109,916 articles with Brazilian affiliation were identified. This study was primarily carried out to identify thematic nuclei of excellence in research that had major impact in the international literature. Twelve of these nuclei in the fields of Biomedicine, Medicine, Biology, Physic, Chemistry and Astronomy were considered outstanding and their genesis and development were described. The weight of factors such as international collaboration and network organization are distinct in these areas and the reasons for that are discussed.

RESUMO

Foram identificados os artigos com um mínimo de 100 citações na literatura científica e com ao menos uma filiação brasileira, segundo Thomson-ISI (Institute for Scientific Information) Web of Science bibliometric database, no período de 10 anos entre 1994 e 2003 (veja Packer and Meneghini 2006). Este levantamento foi feito primordialmente para identificar núcleos temáticos de excelência em pesquisa que tiveram maior impacto na literatura internacional. Doze núcleos, nas áreas biomédica, médica, biológica, física, química e astronomia foram considerados proeminentes e suas gêneses e desenvolvimento foram descritos. Os pesos de fatores como colaboração internacional e organização de trabalho em rede são distintos em cada uma dessas áreas. São discutidas as razões para isso.