A bibliometric analysis of Technology Centres

Technology Centres (TCs) are non-profit organisations created to contribute to the improvement of the productive sector, providing RTD support, especially for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Given TCs' main function, most authors present an industrial perspective of their performance. However, the bibliometric techniques can offer not only an overview of these centres, but also additional information about their features: the evolution of their publications, the degree of national and international collaboration, the Spanish institutional sectors and the main disciplines involved, the regional differences and their connections. In this article, Spanish TCs' documents downloaded from the Web of Science (2008-2012) are analysed, along with other indicators that can characterise these centres. The results show that national collaboration is important for TCs and even more when those links are local. This is in line with that stated by other authors, considering that geographical proximity is essential for knowledge transfer. Regarding the Spanish institutional sectors, the strongest relations are established with universities. For their part, firms have low participation in publications, although they show an upward trend over the years. Nevertheless, TCs' documents are mainly issued on industrial related topics, in agreement with their primary mission as promoters of firms' innovation. Finally, as expected, differences between regions' performance are seen, explained in part by disparities between regional systems. Notwithstanding, top producers establish connections with regions without TCs, mainly collaborating in documents related to engineering, medicine and environmental topics.Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (Grant CSO2011-25102)Peer reviewe

Methodological influences on impact measurement: the case of Memorias do Instituto Oswaldo Cruz and its ""qualification""

In recent years, the availabity of citation indexes for evaluation of Brazilian scientific production has increased. The comparison between the results of the methodologies used to estimate indicators in the citation reports of SciELO database and in Journal Citation Reports (ISI-Thomson Scientific) made it possible to evaluate implications associated to the Brazilian scientific policy (Qualis), regarding some specific criteria. A period of 10 years was considered, taking into account two bibliometric indicators (the total of citations in a year and the Impact Factor) of the journal Memorias do Instituto Oswaldo Cruz, which is indexed in both indexes. The correction of the indicators associated to this journal showed that the differences in the citation indexed were more expressive in 2001, having decreased in the last years. This reduction gives credibility to both databases, validating their systems for the production of bibliometric indicators

Rankings nacionales elaborados a partir de múltiples indicadores frente a los de índices sintéticos

[EN] This paper analyzes the interest of national rankings of universities in making visible the research activities of these institutions in non-core countries. To do this, the first part of methodology presents the characteristics of the national rankings that are more appropriate for identifying and comparing the activities of institutions of the same environment. It also describes the advantages and limitations of using multiple indicators as opposed to synthetic indicators. The second part presents the IUNE Observatory as a tool that provides comprehensive and diverse information for monitoring the research activity of Spanish universities. The data obtained allow us to identify the characteristics of the Spanish university system as well as to position the institutions according to their activities, into 6 different dimensions based on 42 different indicators.[ES] En este trabajo se analiza el interés de los rankings nacionales de universidades para visibilizar la actividad investigadora de estas instituciones en países no centrales. Para ello, en la primera parte de carácter metodológico, se presentan las características de los rankings nacionales que se muestran más adecuados para identificar y comparar las actividades de las instituciones de un mismo entorno. Se describen, además, las ventajas y limitaciones de la utilización de múltiples indicadores frente a indicadores sintéticos. En la segunda parte se presenta el Observatorio IUNE como una herramienta que ofrece información amplia y variada para el seguimiento de la actividad investigadora de las universi-dades españolas. Los datos obtenidos permiten conocer las características del sistema universitario español, así como posicionar a las instituciones en función de su actividad en 6 dimensiones diversas a partir de 42 indicadores distintos.Peer Reviewe

Informe del Proyecto sobre "Identificación y caracterización de instituciones cooperativas e híbridas (ICH) mediante técnicas informáticas y bibliométricas" (IDENTICH)

La interacción entre agentes del sistema de Ciencia, Tecnología e Innovación es un objetivo clave de las políticas públicas, puesto que contribuye a articularlo y a promover la competitividad. En los últimos años, se ha observado un creciente aumento de la colaboración entre distintas entidades, así como la aparición de instituciones cooperativas, algunas de ellas procedentes tanto del sector público como del privado (híbridas), formando estructuras estables orientadas a la solución de problemas concretos y llevando a cabo una investigación de alta calidad e impacto. En este proyecto se han desarrollado metodologías y técnicas automatizadas para la identificación de estas instituciones cooperativas e híbridas (ICH), en los lugares de trabajo de las bases de datos bibliográficas. Este informe ofrece un estudio bibliométrico de las ICH, analizando las características de cada una de sus tipologías, comparando su actividad e impacto con el del total de España y estudiando, en particular, la colaboración entre los sectores público y privado. Los resultados obtenidos permiten valorar el posible efecto de las políticas de fomento de estos instrumentos de cooperación, facilitando las tareas de evaluación y orientando la futura planificación de la I+D.Proyecto CSO2011-25102 financiado por el Ministerio de Ciencia e InnovaciónN