Scientific production in Brazil experiences 7.4% drop
Brazil experienced a 7.4 percent decline in scientific production between 2021 and 2022, marking the first reduction since data collection began in 1996. The Elsevier-Bori 2022 report—released this week by the Bori Agency—revealed that Brazil and Ukraine were the countries most affected by this drop in scientific output among the 23 countries analyzed.
The report highlighted that Brazil’s scientific production fell from 80,499 articles published in 2021 to 74,570 in 2022. Agricultural sciences suffered the most significant impact, with a 13.7 percent decrease in production, followed by natural sciences (-8.2%), medical sciences (-6.8%), and engineering and technologies (-6.2%).
The most significant drops in output occurred at the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (Embrapa) and the Federal Rural University of Pernambuco, with reductions ranging between 15 and 20 percent. The Federal University of Pelotas, Federal University of Viçosa, and Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul also experienced declines of between 10 and 15 percent.
Out of the 35 Brazilian institutions that produced over a thousand academic articles in 2021, only the Federal University of Santa Maria in Rio Grande do Sul state saw an increase in production in the 2021-2022 comparison.
“There is a correlation between the unprecedented decline in scientific production and significant budget cuts in public resources for research in recent years, indicating a matter that warrants further analysis in future studies,” said Estêvão Gamba—Bori Agency scientometrist and data scientist.
Data collection
The research analyzed data from 51 countries that published over 10,000 scientific articles in 2021, revealing that 2022 marked the year with the highest number of countries experiencing a decrease in scientific production since 1997. The previous record occurred in 2002 when 20 countries saw a drop in the number of scientific articles published compared to 2001.
