A Scientometric Analysis of Research Performance of Ghanaian Polytechnics

Abstract

Scientometric analysis has been used commonly for measurement and evaluation of the research performance of researchers, departments, academic institutions and countries. Results of such analysis can be used for ranking, awarding, budgeting and defining research priorities. This study seeks to assess and compare the research performance of Ghanaian Polytechnics using scientometric analysis. Research publications of each of the ten Polytechnics in Ghana during the last five years (i.e., 2011-2015) were retrieved and analyzed using Harzing’s Publish or Perish software. Five bibliometric indicators (i.e., total number of papers - TP, total number of citations - TC, average citations received per article - ACPP, h-index and g-index) were assessed and used to rank each Polytechnic in terms of research productivity and citation impact. The results showed that the five-year TP (i.e., 564), TC (i.e., 1170), ACPP (i.e., 2.21), h-index (i.e., 9) and g-index (i.e., 16) of the highest ranked Polytechnic as well as the yearly values of these bibliometric indicators of each Polytechnic were relatively low, suggesting a relatively low research productivity and citation impact of Ghanaian Polytechnics. There is a need to support researchers in Ghanaian Polytechnics to increase research output and impact by conducting and publishing high quality research.