The quantity and quality of knowledge produced in Iranian universities

Quantitative and qualitative comparisons of the scientific publications by different departments at universities can be a very useful approach to the evaluation of these departments' scientific production based on their facilities, and the opportunities that may be available to them. To this end, and with the goal of improving the quality of university research, 64 Iranian universities with minimum 25 scientific products during the ten year period of 1997-2006, in 3 groups of affiliation (Ministry of Science, Ministry of Health, and independents), were selected and their scientific production was compared. The comparison was in terms of the number of publications, the extent of impact, and percentage of citations. Although the results show no significant difference between the three groups of universities in terms of both the quantitative and qualitative indices, those affiliated with the Ministry of Science are superior to those affiliated with the Ministry of Health in both the impact factor and the number of citations. The ranking of the universities indicates that the top four universities, superior in all indices, are Shiraz University, Technology University of Isfahan, and University of Tabreez, all of which are affiliated with the Ministry of Science. The differences observed calls for attention to both quality and quantity of scientific publications in Iranian universities.