Human resources and scientific output in Brazilian science : Mapping astronomy, immunology and oceanography

Purpose – The present study aims to overview Brazilian human resources and scientific output in astronomy, immunology and oceanography during the last decade. Design/methodology/approach – Data on human resources and on scientific output were obtained from the Brazilian database, the Directory of Research Groups. Scientific outputs were also analysed from a set of journals catalogued by the Institute for Scientific Information: the 20 journals with the largest number of articles in 2003. Findings – Compared with the other two fields, the number of Brazilian researchers in astronomy has not grown from 1997‐2002, but they are the most qualified and more than 90 per cent of them have a PhD degree. Most astronomy publications are in international journals and they are well cited. The most cited astronomy papers are on international topics, but this is not true for the oceanography papers. Research limitations/implications – These data are derived from a particular set of publications and should be interpreted as trends rather than as definitive. Originality/value – This study, which covers three fields with different structures and traditions, provides a snapshot of some features of the whole of Brazilian science, and will provide evidence for new science policies.