Available via license: CC BY-NC-ND 4.0
Content may be subject to copyright.
Bahir Dar Journal of Education, Vol. 23 No. 2 May 2023 (Special Issue). Addisalem T. Yallew & Asrat Dereb
6
Publication Output of Bahir Dar University: A Scopus-based
Bibliometric Overview
Addisalem Tebikew Yallew (Ph. D.)
1
Ph.D. candidate in Higher Education Studies, Faculty of Education, University of the Western
Cape, South Africa
Asrat Dereb
Ph.D. candidate in Higher Education Leadership and Management, Faculty of Administrative
Science, Tampere University, Finland, and Department of Educational Planning and Management,
Bahir Dar University, Ethiopia
Abstract
Bahir Dar University (BDU) is one of Ethiopia's oldest and leading universities and
has recently been granted the status of a research university within the country's
system of differentiation of higher education. Despite this, there has been a lack of
systematic mapping of the research output of the university. To address this issue, this
study takes a 22-year dataset of publications from Scopus to analyze publication
output affiliated with the university as represented in the international domain. The
analysis encompasses several dimensions, including overall productivity,
collaboration patterns, dominant research areas, primary publication outlets, and
languages of publication. The findings reveal a notable increase in research
productivity at the university since 2010. The top five research areas impacting this
productivity include medicine, agriculture, environmental science, social sciences,
and engineering. In addition, the majority of publications are found to be published in
biomedical science journals, English being the dominant language of publication.
Though at the institutional level, the university’s collaborators are predominantly
other Ethiopian public universities, at the country level, BDU’s top collaborators come
from the USA, Germany, South Africa, the UK, Japan, and Belgium. Based on the
results, we argue that the university still needs a robust research funding and
incentivization system, though research productivity has considerably improved over
the past two decades. Furthermore, we recommend that the university's journals,
which the Ministry of Education has accredited, be indexed in reputable international
journal databases to enhance their visibility.
ARTICLE HISTORY
Received 10 December 2022
Accepted 11 April 2023
KEYWORDS
Research, publications,
higher education, Scopus,
bibliometrics, Bahir Dar
University
Introduction
The Ethiopian higher education system has traditionally focused on training graduates and
the country’s elite. However, in recent years, a concerted effort has been made to revitalize the
research mission of the country's institutions of higher learning. This effort is evidenced by various
1CONTACT
Asrat Dereb
asd.dereb5@gmail.com
© 2023 The Author (s). Open Access. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives
4.0 International License.
DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.4314/bdje.v23i2.2
Bahir Dar Journal of Education, Vol. 23 No. 2 May 2023 (Special Issue). Addisalem T. Yallew & Asrat Dereb
7
initiatives, such as the development of a differentiated higher education system, the adoption of
national open access and journal accreditation policies, and the ratification of national science and
higher education internationalization policies (MoSHE, 2020a, 2020b, 2020c, 2020d). Against this
backdrop, the present study endeavors to assess the research output of Bahir Dar University (BDU)
as the institution celebrates its 60th anniversary and needs to see its current status in terms of
research productivity. It is noteworthy that the university is among the top five most research-
productive universities in the country, according to Web of Science and Scopus-indexed
bibliometric measurements (Yallew & Dereb, 2021). For this study, publication productivity
refers to the research output of Bahir Dar University published in Scopus-indexed databases over
the past 22 years, including articles, books, book chapters, conference papers, proceedings, and
other publications.
The study aims to address several research questions pertaining to BDU, including: (1)
How has Bahir Dar University's research productivity changed in the past 22 years? (2) Which
scholarly sources or publication outlets have been most frequently used by Bahir Dar University's
researchers? (3) What does the publication landscape look like considering the main research
areas? (4) Through analyzing collaboration and funding patterns, what can we learn about the
nature and extent of Bahir Dar University's research partnerships and financial support for
research?
Additionally, the study aims to infer insights from an assessment of the languages of
publication. Though English is the public universities' instructional language, the issue of
publishing in other languages is included in this study since an assessment of the language(s) of
research publishing has implications for the quality, accessibility, and relevance of research in
such multilingual contexts as Ethiopia.
In the following sections, we provide a brief overview of the use of bibliometrics as a tool
for research assessment and Bahir Dar University’s evolution as a research-aspirational higher
education institution. The methodology adopted for the study and the presentation and discussion
of the findings are presented in subsequent sections.
Bibliometrics and Research Assessment
A review of the measurement of university productivity reveals that various quality
assurance organizations employ various metrics to evaluate the performance of universities.
Commonly, these metrics are aligned with the university's teaching-learning, research, and
community engagement missions. However, research has consistently demonstrated that
measuring university productivity is a complex task (Massy et al., 2013; Sullivan, 2012),
particularly in terms of measuring teaching-Learning and community engagement. In contrast,
evaluating university productivity through research output is the most prevalent approach and is
favored by the majority of researchers (Adams & Griliches, 2000). This is because evaluating a
university's performance using research output relies on data-driven techniques rather than
subjective judgments (Hicks et al., 2015).
Bahir Dar Journal of Education, Vol. 23 No. 2 May 2023 (Special Issue). Addisalem T. Yallew & Asrat Dereb
8
Bibliometric measurement, adopted in this study, is a popular methodology scholars
employ to evaluate university productivity (Gingras, 2016). This method provides comprehensive
insight into a university's productivity capacity through quantitative and qualitative indicators. For
example, Valérie and Pierre (2010) define bibliometrics as "a set of mathematical and statistical
methods used to analyze and measure the quantity and quality of books, articles, and other forms
of publications" (p. 342). Researchers utilize these metrics to evaluate the productivity levels of
institutions in terms of producing research articles, books, conference proceedings, and the like
(Ellegaard & Wallin, 2015).
Regarding data sources, various databases are employed to assess an institution's
productivity. These include Scopus, Web of Science (WoS), PubMed, and Google Scholar (GS)
(Falagas et al., 2008; Harzing & Alakangas, 2016). Although each database has its own unique
features, they share common characteristics. Some argue that most scholars use Elsevier's Scopus
and Clarivate's Web of Science (WoS) as the primary sources to identify research outputs (Vera-
Baceta et al., 2019). However, the Scopus database is considered to offer relatively representative
coverage of scientific output (Mongeon & Paul-Hus, 2016). Therefore, this study focuses on the
research productivity of Bahir Dar University as indexed in the Scopus database. It is worth noting
that publishing in Scopus-indexed journals, books, proceedings, and the like is highly encouraged
by the Federal Ministry of Education's policy documents (MoSHE, 2020b).
Bahir Dar University: A Brief Overview
Bahir Dar University (BDU) was established on May 6, 1999, because of the merger of
Bahir Dar Teachers' College and Bahir Dar Polytechnic Institute, following Council of Ministers
Regulation No. 60/1999 (BDU, 2010, 2015). The origins of Bahir Dar Polytechnic Institute, which
later became Bahir Dar Technology and Textile Institute, can be traced back to 1963, when it was
established through the technical cooperation between the Government of the USSR and the
Imperial Government of Ethiopia. The institute was a leading institution in producing engineers
and technicians for the country. Ten years later, Bahir Dar Teachers' College, then known as the
Academy of Pedagogy, was established in 1972 through a tripartite agreement between the
Imperial Government of Ethiopia, UNESCO, and UNDP and began operations the following year
under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Education and Fine Arts. Its primary objective was to train
primary school teacher trainers, supervisors, educational leaders, adult education organizers, and
community development agents capable of adapting primary education to rural life and
development.
BDU currently offers 434 programs, comprising 115 first degrees, 198 second degrees, 99
doctoral degrees, 5 specialty and 11 sub-specialty, and 6 certificates. The university boasts a
substantial academic and administrative staff, with 2507 academics and 5,490 administrative staff
working across eight campuses located throughout Bahir Dar (BDU, 2023). The university
comprises five colleges, four institutes, two faculties, two schools and two academies. These
academic units include the College of Science, the College of Agriculture and Environmental
Bahir Dar Journal of Education, Vol. 23 No. 2 May 2023 (Special Issue). Addisalem T. Yallew & Asrat Dereb
9
Sciences, the College of Medical and Health Sciences, the College of Business and Economics,
the College of Education and Behavioral Sciences, the Bahir Dar Institute of Technology, the
Ethiopian Institute of Textile and Fashion Technology, the Institute of Land Administration, the
Institute of Disaster Risk Management and Food Security Studies, the Faculty of Humanities, the
Faculty of Social Sciences, the School of Law, School of Earth Sciences, the Sports Academy, and
the Maritime Academy. Additionally, the university houses 13 research centers. These are: the
Blue Nile Water Institute, the Biotechnology Research Institute, Institute of Pedagogical and
Education Research, the Energy Research Center, the Textile and Garment Research Center, the
Abay Cultural and Language Development Center, the Geospatial Data and Technology Center, ,
Washera Radar and Geo-Space Research Center, Science, Technology, Engineering and
Mathematics (STEM) Center, Entrepreneurship Development and Incubation Center, Mecha
Health Research Center, Information, Communication Technology for Development (ICT4D) and
Food and Nutrition Research Center.
Despite envisioning to become a research university since a decade ago (BDU, 2010), it
was not until recent higher education reforms undertaken by the former Ministry of Science and
Higher Education in 2020 that BDU officially became one of the eight research universities in
Ethiopia (MoSHE, 2020a).
Methods
To conduct this study, a quantitative approach was employed. The primary data source
utilized was the Scopus database, which is widely acknowledged as the most comprehensive
database of scholarly literature (Mongeon & Paul-Hus, 2016). This database was chosen due to
the lack of alternative institutional and national archives that would have enabled a thorough and
comprehensive analysis of the research output of Bahir Dar University.
To gather the data, we first searched for documents affiliated with Bahir Dar University
over the past 22 years (2000-2022). Institution-based data, including the years of publication,
document types, main research areas, names of prominent publishing outlets, collaborating
institutions and countries, and funding agencies, were then downloaded into Microsoft Excel for
further analysis. In total, 4,025 documents published by 1,877 authors affiliated with the university
were analyzed. The last search was conducted on November 23, 2022.
However, it is worth noting that while the Scopus database is widely used and considered
comprehensive, it is not exhaustive and has certain limitations. For example, it does not cover all
open-access journals, gray literature, or non-English publications, and it may underrepresent
certain fields, such as the humanities and the social sciences (Harzing, 2019). While bibliometrics
and databases such as Scopus provide valuable insights into university productivity, it is also worth
stating that bibliometrics has been criticized for its emphasis on assessing quantity over quality
(Bornmann & Leydesdorff, 2015). Additionally, databases such as Scopus and Web of Science
have been criticized for their coverage bias, primarily focusing on publications in English and from
Bahir Dar Journal of Education, Vol. 23 No. 2 May 2023 (Special Issue). Addisalem T. Yallew & Asrat Dereb
10
Western countries (Vera-Baceta et al., 2019). Therefore, the results of this study should be
interpreted with caution and in the context of these limitations.
Results and Discussion
In this section, we present and interpret our findings related to the main research variables,
i.e., level of productivity, productivity per capita, publication outlet, collaboration, and funding
patterns, as well as languages of publication.
Overall Productivity
Figure 1
BDU's Research Productivity over the Past 22 Years
Note. Source Scopus (2022)
As can be observed from Figure 1, the research productivity trends at Bahir Dar University
(BDU) demonstrate a marked increase. A closer examination of the data reveals that this growth
has been consistent over the past 15 years. Notably, 22 years ago, the university had only published
a single paper in the database under analysis. However, by 2022, the staff's publication output had
risen to 838 research papers. On average, academic staff productivity at BDU has been increasing
by approximately 38% per year. Furthermore, since 2012, the overall productivity capacity of the
university has significantly improved.
The study results suggest that research production at BDU is trending upward and aligning
with the university's vision and mission (BDU, 2014). However, it is crucial to consider the
potential influence of the university's expansion on these findings. Since acquiring the status of a
university, BDU has undergone both horizontal and vertical massification, which has led to an
increase in the number of academic programs and staff.
Bahir Dar Journal of Education, Vol. 23 No. 2 May 2023 (Special Issue). Addisalem T. Yallew & Asrat Dereb
11
Productivity per Capita
Though the publication productivity of BDU has exponentially increased, one may wonder
what causes an increase in research productivity. Table 1 shows the per capita research
productivity, which gives insights into the productivity per eligible staff member. This can help
answer the question of whether the increase in research productivity is due to the expansion of the
university in staff number and program diversity or a change in institutional culture concerning
publications.
Table 1
Productivity per Capita
Year
No. of
publication
No. of Eligible
Staff
Per Capita
output
Remark
2010
42
681
0.06
2011
38
No data available
2012
41
831
0.02
2013
66
-
-
No data available
2014
117
836
0.14
2015
133
-
-
No data available
2016
201
1337
0.15
2017
242
1126
0.21
2018
330
-
-
No data available
2019
426
1483
0.29
2020
677
2065
0.33
2021
815
2183
0.37
2022
838
2190
0.38
As a way to answer the questions, it would be appropriate to calculate the productivity
level of staff per publication output. In this case, data from those staff members who are eligible
to publish could be taken and calculated according to the university's regulations. The university
legislation allows staff whose rank is lecturer or above to publish their research products so as to
claim academic promotion (MOSHE, 2020b). Accordingly, in this analysis, we included staff
whose academic rank is lecturer or above. Technical assistant and graduate assistant I and II are
Bahir Dar Journal of Education, Vol. 23 No. 2 May 2023 (Special Issue). Addisalem T. Yallew & Asrat Dereb
12
not included in this calculation since the legislation does not demand publications as a requirement
for any career promotion for staff in these categories.
For instance, in 2010, there were 42 publications and 681 eligible staff, giving a per capita
output of 0.06. Similarly, in 2022, there were 838 publications and 2190 eligible staff, giving a per
capita output of 0.38. This data revealed that in 2010, the research output was limited to only six
staff members per 100, whereas in 2022, this number significantly increased to 38.
Looking at the trend over the years, it is clear that Bahir Dar University's research
productivity per capita has been increasing steadily from 2010 to 2022, with the highest values
recorded in the last few years. This information suggests that Bahir Dar University is making
strides in research and increasing its research productivity, which can have positive implications
for the university and the broader research community in Ethiopia. It is, however, worth noting
that there are several years with missing data for eligible staff, which can affect the accuracy of
the per capita output.
While the increase in research productivity at BDU may be attributed in part to the
university's expansion in staff number and program diversity, the increase in per capita output
indicates that there has been a change in institutional culture concerning publications. This could
be due to factors such as increased support for research activities, more emphasis on research in
faculty evaluations, or increased collaboration and networking opportunities. It could also be due
to the implementation of incentive packages for researchers who publish in peer-reviewed,
reputable journals (BDU, 2019).
Table 2
Document Types (# 4025)
No
Document types
No.
%
1
Article
3378
83.93
2
Review
275
6.83
3
Conference Paper
222
5.52
4
Book Chapter
74
1.84
5
Data Paper
9
0.22
6
Editorial
8
0.2
7
Book
3
0.07
8
Short Survey
1
0.03
9
Other types
55
1.36
Bahir Dar Journal of Education, Vol. 23 No. 2 May 2023 (Special Issue). Addisalem T. Yallew & Asrat Dereb
13
The findings presented in Table 2 reveal a significant dominance of journal articles in Bahir
Dar University's research productivity, accounting for 83.93% of the total documents published in
the Scopus-indexed database. This is a noteworthy observation as it indicates that researchers in
the university placed a high emphasis on disseminating research findings through this publication
type, which is considered to be a high-impact medium in the academic community. It is also worth
noting that the proportion of reviews and conference papers is relatively low, accounting for only
6.83% and 5.52%, respectively. This observation may suggest that the university is less focused
on disseminating research findings through these publication types.
Only 0.07% of the total 4025 documents were also found to be books. This may indicate a
lack of emphasis on the publication of monographs and edited volumes within the university's
research culture. This is particularly concerning given the fact that books can serve as an important
means of disseminating knowledge and establishing scholarly expertise. One possible explanation
for this phenomenon could be the lack of financial and logistical support for book publications.
Book publications tend to be more time-consuming and expensive than journal articles or
conference papers, and the university may not have adequate resources to support such endeavors.
In addition, the pressure to publish in high-impact journals and present at prestigious
conferences may discourage researchers from investing time and effort into book projects. It is
also worth noting that the Scopus-indexed database is highly involved in publishing articles
(Pranckutė, 2021). This could be one factor contributing to the high proportion of journal articles
in the university's research productivity.
Publication Outlets
Figure 2
Publication Outlets
Bahir Dar Journal of Education, Vol. 23 No. 2 May 2023 (Special Issue). Addisalem T. Yallew & Asrat Dereb
14
The analysis of the publication outlet data revealed that Bahir Dar University staff
publications are predominantly featured in journals within the field of biomedical sciences. Figure
2 above illustrates the diversity of publication outlets used by the staff, with 156 different outlets
being utilized. However, a notable finding is the limited representation of journals with roots in
the country, with only two journals indexed in the database being of Ethiopian origin: the Ethiopian
Journal of Health Development and the Ethiopian Medical Journal. This highlights the potential
for greater visibility and international recognition by indexing more national-level journals in such
databases.
It is important to acknowledge that the choice of publication outlet is crucial for academic
success and the field's potential impact. Academics often strive to publish in prestigious journals,
as it is closely correlated with tenure, promotions, and other benefits (Savage & Vickers, 2009;
Spector, 2014). In light of this, it is noteworthy that recent higher education publication guidelines
stipulate that staff should publish their articles in Scopus, Web of Science (WoS), or PubMed-
indexed journals (MoSHE, 2020b).
Research Areas
Figure 3
Dominant Research Areas
Another notable finding is the dominance of the medical field as the most research-
productive area at BDU, accounting for 18.4% of total publications. This is followed by agriculture
(11.1%), Environmental Science (9.0%), Social Science (7.4%), and Engineering (5.9%). While
this suggests that BDU is achieving success in these fields, it also highlights the potential disparity
in research productivity among different academic units. For example, the Institute of Technology
and the College of Education and Behavioral Sciences, which have a long history within the
Bahir Dar Journal of Education, Vol. 23 No. 2 May 2023 (Special Issue). Addisalem T. Yallew & Asrat Dereb
15
university, may not be contributing to research productivity at the same level as more recently
established units such as the Health, Medical, and Agriculture fields of study.
This finding is not unexpected, since fields such as medicine and agriculture tend to have
a more direct impact on society, which can also lead to increased funding and support for research
in these areas. However, it is important to note that the relative lack of research productivity in
certain fields should not be interpreted as a lack of potential for research in those fields, for research
productivity is often influenced by a variety of factors, including funding, resources, and societal
priorities. Therefore, it is important for the university to continue to invest in and support research
in all fields to fully realize the potential for research productivity across the institution.
Collaboration Patterns
The BDU has collaborated with different higher education institutions worldwide for the
last 22 years. Figure 3 shows the top ten universities where researchers collaborated to enhance
university research capacity and publish. Accordingly, seven of the top 10 collaborators are from
other Ethiopian public universities, suggesting stronger links among Ethiopian researchers. This
indicates a strong national research network within Ethiopia, which is essential for developing the
country's research capacity.
Figure 3.
Collaborating with Higher Education Institutions
Bahir Dar Journal of Education, Vol. 23 No. 2 May 2023 (Special Issue). Addisalem T. Yallew & Asrat Dereb
16
Collaborating Countries
Figure 4 presents the top 10 countries with which Bahir Dar University has collaborated
for the past 22 years. The collaboration pattern reveals that university researchers have been
working with different countries —accordingly, the USA, Germany, South Africa, the UK, Japan,
and Belgium were the top six collaborative countries for the university's researchers. Collaboration
with different countries brought academic staff up to a higher standard while simultaneously
increasing the university's visibility.
Figure 4.
Top 10 Collaborating Countries
This finding could be an indication of the university's dedication to fostering international
collaborations in order to enhance its research capacity and reputation. However, it is also
important to note that the majority of these collaborations are with countries located in the global
North, which may indicate a lack of engagement with countries in the global South. This could be
an area for improvement in the university's international collaboration strategy, as engagement
with developing countries could lead to more inclusive and equitable partnerships.
Bahir Dar Journal of Education, Vol. 23 No. 2 May 2023 (Special Issue). Addisalem T. Yallew & Asrat Dereb
17
Funding
As depicted in Figure 5, our analysis of funding sources for Bahir Dar University (BDU)
over the past 22 years revealed a total of 159 different funding organizations. These funding
organizations have played a significant role in the production of research output at the university.
Specifically, out of 4025 publications indexed in Scopus, 2955 (73.4%) were sponsored by various
organizations, while the remaining 26.6% were either self-funded or had unidentified sponsors.
This suggests that the university has been successful in securing external funding to support its
research endeavors.
Figure 5
Top Ten Research Funders
A closer examination of the funding organizations reveals that the university itself has
played a significant role in funding research, providing 11.9% of the funding for the 2955
sponsored publications. This is a positive indication of the university's commitment to investing
in its research capacity. Additionally, the wide range of funding organizations, including
international and national organizations highlight the diversity of research opportunities available
to BDU researchers.
Languages of Publication
The findings of our research on the language of publication for research output at Bahir
Dar University (BDU) reveal a striking dominance of the English language. Specifically, 99.9%
(4,021) of the total 4025 documents in the database are published in English, with a mere 0.1%
Bahir Dar Journal of Education, Vol. 23 No. 2 May 2023 (Special Issue). Addisalem T. Yallew & Asrat Dereb
18
being published in other languages such as Chinese, French, and Russian. No document is
published in Amharic or other official languages of the country in this database. This is a
significant finding, as it highlights the dominance of the English language in academic research
publishing and its implications for the visibility of research conducted in other languages,
particularly in Ethiopia.
Table 4.
Languages of Publication
Language
Number of Documents
Percentage
English
4,021
99.9%
Chinese
2
0.04%
French
2
0.04%
Russian
1
0.02
Unidentified
1
0.02
As Mendisu and Yigezu (2014) argue, the invisibility of Ethiopian languages in research
publishing raises critical questions about the accessibility and dissemination of knowledge
produced in these languages. They assert that the underrepresentation of Ethiopian languages in
research publishing may limit the reach and impact of this knowledge within the Ethiopian
academic community and society at large. Furthermore, Yallew and Dereb (2021) have
emphasized the need to investigate the reasons behind the underrepresentation of Ethiopian
languages in research publishing and devise strategies to overcome this challenge.
It is worth noting that the use of English as the primary language of publication in academic
research is a global phenomenon (Vera-Baceta et al., 2019), and it is not unique to Ethiopia.
However, it is crucial to investigate the specific factors that contribute to this trend within the
Ethiopian context and to consider the implications of this dominance for the dissemination and
accessibility of knowledge in the country. One possible reason for the dominance of English in
research publishing at BDU may be the pressure to publish in internationally recognized journals.
Many prestigious journals are published in English, and thus, researchers may feel compelled to
publish in this language to increase the visibility and impact of their work.
Conclusions and Recommendations
This study, which sought to assess the research productivity of Bahir Dar University over
the past 22 years, demonstrated that productivity had been increasing. The Scopus-based study
Bahir Dar Journal of Education, Vol. 23 No. 2 May 2023 (Special Issue). Addisalem T. Yallew & Asrat Dereb
19
also showed that at the institutional level, the university's most robust collaboration is with other
Ethiopian public higher education institutions. In contrast, at the country level, researchers
affiliated with BDU predominantly collaborate with researchers from all around the world. As also
suggested by the dominant publishing outlets, a bulk of the university's publication output comes
from fields related to biomedical sciences and agricultural sciences. It is interesting that a
university based on engineering and teacher education does not strongly feature output from these
areas compared to other recently introduced academic programs. Regarding research funding, the
findings demonstrated that much of the funded research comes from international funders, with
the university funding close to 12% of it.
Based on our analysis of the findings, we argue that to enhance research productivity at the
university level, further measures need to be taken to undertake in-depth qualitative studies to
understand the factors behind the findings presented in this paper. The university also needs to
strengthen its capacity to strengthen its own publication outlets. Publishing in Ethiopian languages
also needs to be encouraged and incentivized to increase the meaningfulness and relevance of
research in local contexts and to expand the freedom of researchers to conceptualize and publish
their work in languages which they are comfortable with. In addition to improving the culture of
research, concrete measures need to be undertaken to improve research funding and incentivization
mechanisms.
Limitations of the Study
It is important to note the limitations of this study. Firstly, the research outputs analyzed in
this study are limited to those that are exclusively available in the Scopus-indexed database. It is
possible that the university has additional research outputs that have been published in other
recognized national and international journals, that are not included in this analysis. Therefore, the
results of this study may not provide a comprehensive picture of the university's overall publication
status. Instead, it provides an understanding of the university's presence in international academic
domains. Secondly, this study only focuses on the productivity of the university in terms of the
number of research outputs; it does not evaluate the quality of the research itself. It is
recommended that future studies take into account both the productivity and the quality of the
research by analyzing the impact of the research on its respective field and also taking into
consideration the research output from other databases.
Declaration
The authors declare no conflict of interest.
References
Adams, J. D., & Griliches, Z. (2000). Research productivity in a system of universities. In The
Economics and Econometrics of Innovation (pp. 105–140). Springer.
Bahir Dar Journal of Education, Vol. 23 No. 2 May 2023 (Special Issue). Addisalem T. Yallew & Asrat Dereb
20
https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4757-3194-1_5
Bahir Dar University (BDU) (2010). The first five-year strategic plan (2010/11-2014/15). Bahir
Dar University.
Bahir Dar University (BDU) (2014). The Blue Book: Vision for 2025. Bahir Dar University
Bahir Dar University (BDU) (2015). The second five-year strategic plan (2015/16-2019/20).
Bahir Dar University.
Bahir Dar University (BDU) (2019). Incentive Guidelines for Publication and Project/Research
Grant Securing. Bahir Dar University
Bahir Dar University (BDU) (2023). Fact Book. Bahir Dar University
Bornmann, L., & Leydesdorff, L. (2015). Does quality and content matter for citedness? A
comparison with para-textual factors and over time. Journal of Informetrics, 9(3), 419–429.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.joi.2015.03.001
Ellegaard, O., & Wallin, J. A. (2015). The bibliometric analysis of scholarly production: How
great is the impact? Scientometrics, 105(3), 1809–1831. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11192-
015-1645-z
Falagas, M. E., Pitsouni, E. I., Malietzis, G. A., & Pappas, G. (2008). Comparison of PubMed,
Scopus, Web of Science, and Google Scholar: strengths and weaknesses. The FASEB
Journal, 22 (2), 338–342. https://doi.org/10.1096/fj.07-9492lsf
Gingras, Y. (2016). Bibliometrics and Research Evaluation: Uses and Abuses. The MIT Press.
Harzing, A. W. (2019). Two new kids on the block: How do Crossref and Dimensions compare
with Google Scholar, Microsoft Academic, Scopus and the Web of Science?
Scientometrics, 120(1), 341–349. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11192-019-03114-y
Harzing, A. W., & Alakangas, S. (2016). Google Scholar, Scopus and the Web of Science: A
longitudinal and cross-disciplinary comparison. Scientometrics, 106(2), 787–804.
https://doi.org/10.1007/s11192-015-1798-9
Hicks, D., Wouters, P., Waltman, L., de Rijcke, S., & Rafols, I. (2015). Bibliometrics: The
Leiden manifesto for research metrics Nature, 520(7548), 429–431.
https://doi.org/10.1038/520429a
Igiri, B. E., Okoduwa, S. I. R., Akabuogu, E. P., Okoduwa, U. J., Enang, I. A., Idowu, O. O., …
Onyemachi, D. I. (2021). Focused research on the challenges and productivity of
researchers in Nigerian academic institutions without funding. Frontiers in Research
Metrics and Analytics, 6 (727228), 1–13. https://doi.org/10.3389/frma.2021.727228
Larivière, V., Ni, C., Gingras, Y., Cronin, B., & Sugimoto, C. R. (2013). Bibliometrics: Global
gender disparities in science. Nature, 504(7479), 211–213. https://doi.org/10.1038/504211a
Massy, W. F., Sullivan, T. A., & Mackie, C. (2013). Improving measurement of productivity in
higher education. Change: The Magazine of Higher Learning, 45(1), 15–23.
https://doi.org/10.1080/00091383.2013.749140
Mendisu, B. S., & Yigezu, M. (2014). Restoring African studies to its linguistic identity:
Reflections on Ethiopian studies Social Dynamics, 40(2), 289–307.
https://doi.org/10.1080/02533952.2014.946267
Bahir Dar Journal of Education, Vol. 23 No. 2 May 2023 (Special Issue). Addisalem T. Yallew & Asrat Dereb
21
Ministry of Science and Higher Education (MoSHE) (2020a). Differentiating the higher
education system of Ethiopia: A study report. MoSHE.
Ministry of Science and Higher Education (MoSHE) (2020b). Harmonized standard for
academic staff promotion in public universities. MoSHE.
Ministry of Science and Higher Education (MoSHE). (2020c). Higher education policy and
strategy. MoSHE.
Ministry of Science and Higher Education (MoSHE) (2020d). National science policy and
strategy. https://www.moshe.gov.et/files/1611127015019.pdf.
Mongeon, P., & Paul-Hus, A. (2016). The journal coverage of Web of Science and Scopus: A
comparative analysis. Scientometrics, 106(1), 213–228. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11192-
015-1765-5
Pranckutė, R. (2021). Web of Science (WoS) and Scopus: The Titans of bibliographic
information in today’s academic world. Publications (Basel), 9(1), 12.
https://doi.org/10.3390/publications9010012
Savage, C. J., & Vickers, A. J. (2009). Empirical study of data sharing by authors publishing in
PLoS journals. PLoS ONE, 4(9), 9–11. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0007078
Spector, P. E. (2014). Choosing a publication outlet. https://paulspector.com/choosing-a-
publication-outlet/ .
Sullivan, T. A. (2012). Improving measurement of productivity in higher education: Panel on
Measuring Higher Education Productivity, Conceptual Framework and Data Needs. (T. A.
Sullivan, Ed.). The National Academies Press.
Valérie, D., & Pierre, A. G. (2010). Bibliometric indicators: Quality measurements of scientific
publication. Radiology, 255(2), 342–351. https://doi.org/10.1148/radiol.09090626
Vera-Baceta, M.-A., Thelwall, M., & Kousha, K. (2019). Web of Science and Scopus language
coverage. Scientometrics, 121(3), 1803–1813. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11192-019-03264-z
Yallew, A., & Dereb, A. (2021). Ethiopian-affiliated Research in Scopus and Web of Science: A
bibliometric mapping. Bahir Dar Journal of Education, 21(2), 22–46.
https://journals.bdu.edu.et/index.php/bje/article/view/924 .
