The document summarizes research evaluation in Iraq from 1996 to 2014. It finds that Iraq ranks 89th out of 239 countries in total documents published, with over 9,555 documents published in top subjects like medicine, engineering, and physics. The h-index for Iraq is 51, meaning 51 documents have over 51 citations each. While documents published grew 12-fold over a decade, citations only increased 4-fold. The author proposes strategies for Iraq to strengthen its research profile, like targeting top journals and conferences for publication.

1. Research Evaluation
in IRAQ
from 1996 to 2014
Professor Dr. Bassim H. Hameed
School of Chemical Engineering
Universiti Sains Malaysia

2. Objective:
 To identify the Iraqi scientific research output (publications)
from 1996-2014.
 To identify the country’s leading scientific disciplines.
 To compare the country’s research output & international
collaborations with countries in the region.
 To propose strategies to strengthen the publication profile of
the country.

3. Country Rankings
in all subjects
from
1996-2014
Credit: Scimago Lab,
Data Source: Scopus®
Number of published
documents
Top10countries

4. Country Rankings
in all subjects
from
1996-2014
Credit: Scimago Lab,
Data Source: Scopus®

5. Country Rankings
in all subjects
from
1996-2014
Credit: Scimago Lab,
Data Source: Scopus®

6. Country Rankings
in all subjects
from
1996-2014
TOP 100
Credit: Scimago Lab,
Data Source: Scopus®
Rank:
Top 37.2%

7. Country Rankings
in all subjects
from
1996-2014
Credit: Scimago Lab,
Data Source: Scopus®

8. Country Rankings
in all subjects
from
1996-2014
Credit: Scimago Lab,
Data Source: Scopus®

9. Country Rankings
in all subjects
from
1996-2014
Credit: Scimago Lab,
Data Source: Scopus®

10. Country Rankings
in all subjects
from
1996-2014
Credit: Scimago Lab,
Data Source: Scopus®

11. Country Rankings
in all subjects
from
1996-2014
Credit: Scimago Lab,
Data Source: Scopus®

12. Profile of IRAQ: Publications & Citations
This means 51
published
documents
received 51 or
more citations
Credit: Scimago Lab,
Data Source: Scopus®

13. Profile of
IRAQ:
Publications
from
1996-2014
Number of
publications
increased by more
than 10 times
in 10 years
Credit: Scimago Lab,
Data Source: Scopus®

14. Profile of
IRAQ:
Published
documents
by subject
from
1996-2014
Credit: Scimago Lab,
Data Source: Scopus®

15. Profile of
IRAQ:
Research
Areas
Credit: Scimago Lab,
Data Source: Scopus®

16. 1. Medicine
2. Engineering
3. Physics & Astronomy
4. Chemistry
5. Dentistry
6. Agricultural & Biological Sciences
7. Materials Science
8. Computer Science
9. Biochemistry, Genetics & Molecular Biology
10.Mathematics
Profile of IRAQ: Top 10 Areas of Strength in
Research from 1996-2014

17. Publications from 1996-2014
Year
Credit: Scimago Lab,
Data Source: Scopus®
Numberofpublisheddocuments
A comparison between Iraq, Kuwait, Jordan & Saudi Arabia

18. International Collaborations
Year
Credit: Scimago Lab,
Data Source: Scopus®
Noofcollaborations
A comparison between Iraq, Kuwait, Jordan & Saudi Arabia

19. Summary
Iraq ranks 89 out of 239 countries (top 37.2%) in terms of the
number of published documents from 1996-2014.
From 1996-2014, 9,555 documents have been published and
are indexed in the Scopus database.
The h-index (intended to measure the quality and quantity of
scientific outputs simultaneously) for Iraq is 51 and this
means that there are 51 published documents that have
received 51 or more citations.

20. Summary
The average citation per document is 2.99 which is
encouraging at this point of time.
The number of published documents increased from 100 in
2010 to 1,367 documents in 2012.
The top 10 areas of strength in research are Medicine,
Engineering, Physics & Astronomy, Chemistry, Dentistry,
Agricultural & Biological Sciences, Materials Science, Computer
Science, Biochemistry, Genetics & Molecular Biology and
Mathematics.

21. Summary
Even though the number of published documents has increased
12 folds during the 10 years, the number of received citations
increased by only 4 folds.

22. Strategies to Strengthen the
Publication Profile of the Country
Plan to publish articles in journals indexed solely in Scopus or
ISI databases.
All postgraduate students presently studying abroad should
add their affiliation in Iraq (address of their universities in Iraq)
in their submitted manuscripts.
A good strategy to increase the h-index is to increase the
number of published articles in top 10 ranks journals indexed
in ISI database.

23. Strategies to Strengthen the
Publication Profile of the Country
Target the conferences that have their proceedings indexed in
Scopus of ISI-databases.
Target the conferences that offer to publish selected articles in
journals indexed in Scopus of ISI-databases.
Avoid publications in open access journals (OAJ) that are not
indexed in Scopus or ISI databases.

24. About the Author
Professor Dr. Bassim H. Hameed
School of Chemical Engineering
Universiti Sains Malaysia
 Thomson Reuters Highly Cited Researcher 2015 & 2014
 Listed in Thomson Reuters "The World's Most Influential
Scientific Minds 2015 & 2014"
Disclaimer
The above is the author’s work alone, and is not representing his employer.
Homepage: http://chemical.eng.usm.my/bassim/
Google Scholar Citations:
http://scholar.google.com.my/citations?user=mS_zD_UAAAAJ&hl=en
Linkedin: https://my.linkedin.com/in/bassimhameed