ITTC02T.jpg (8216 bytes)
ISSN 0971-7102
Vol 21 No 1 March 2002

National Mapping of Science:
Earth Science Research in India*

ABSTRACT

The study was undertaken to quantify and map the research efforts of Indian earth scientists basing the CD-ROM version of the GeoRef database. In all, the database included 1501 Indian publications in 1990, 747 in 1994, and 879 in 1998. India ranked 10th in the world on the publication count during 1990 and 11th both in 1994 and 1998. USA topped the list followed by Canada in 1990 and 1994. However, UK took the 2nd position in 1998. The database showed a decline in the number of publications produced by almost all the countries during 1994 and 1998. Possibly it was due to the reduction in coverage by the database. In language-wise distribution of publications English topped the list followed by Russian, Chinese, French and German. However, during 1994 Chinese occupied the second position and in 1998 Russian regained the second position. Of the Indian publications more than 75% were published in Indian sources only. All the publications by the Indian scientists were in English excepting four Russian articles, two Hindi articles, one Japanese and one French article. All the publications by the Indian scientists are found to be analytic in nature. Igneous and metamorphic petrology is found to be the major area of research chosen by the Indians followed by applied geophysics, economic geology, stratigraphy, structural geology, and engineering geology. More than 50% of the Indian publications appeared in journals and the rest in conference documents, books, etc. Some publications were simply abstracts. In city-wise distribution of publications, Calcutta, Dehra Dun, Lucknow, Hyderabad, New Delhi, and Bangalore occupied the top positions. In state-wise distribution West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, and Maharashtra occupied the top positions. In the institution-wise distribution of publications, Geological Survey of India, Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology, National Geophysical Research Institute, Birbal Sahani Institute of Paleobotany, and National Institute of Oceanography occupied the top positions. It is interesting to note that 70% of the Indian publications is shared by the first 12 institutions in India. Of the top 10 sources where the Indian scientists placed their publications 9 are from India.

KEYWORDS: India; Earth science research; GeoRef database; Scientometric study.

INTRODUCTION

This study was taken up to quantify and map the Indian contributions in the field of earth sciences basing the CD-ROM version of the GeoRef database published by the American Geological Institute, USA for the years 1986-1997 and 1997 - August 2000. The GeoRef database contains over 1.9 million records of North America since 1785 and other areas of the world since 1933. The database has devised its own classification system to organise the literature as per their 50 category codes (CC). The GeoRef records encompass 17 fields.

METHODOLOGY

The records of the years 1990, 1994 and 1998 were downloaded from the CD-ROM version of GeoRef database using the following combination of bibliographic data fields for the analysis:

Set 1 PY = 1990/1994/1998 and INDIA in AF;
Set 1 and Source;
Set 1 and Country of Publication;
Set 1 and Category Codes;
Set 1 and Year of Publication;
Set 1 and Language of the Article;
Set 1 and Document Type;
Set 1 and Treatment of the Work;
Set 1 and Author Affiliation and Category Codes

The database included 1501 records from India in 1990, 747 records in 1994, and 897 records in 1998.

LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY

The coverage of Indian literature in GeoRef is not exhaustive. Hence, some Indian publications belonging to 1990, 1994 and 1998, which were not covered in the GeoRef database could not be included in this study.

ANALYSIS

The analysis of data was carried out according to type of publication, source of the publication, country of publication, name of the institution, address of the institution, language of publication, subject of publication, year of publication, etc. to determine Indian contributions to world's literature in earth sciences, top priority areas for research, places of publication, top journals/sources where Indian publications were published, major institutions and their priority areas of research, geographic distribution of the origin of publications, etc.

Country-Wise Distribution of Publications

As per the data presented in Table 1, India ranks 10th in the world based on the publication count during 1990 and 11th in 1994 and 1998. USA tops the list followed by Canada in 1990 and 1994. However, UK took the 2nd position in 1998. Almost all the countries recorded a decline in the number of publications produced during 1994 and 1998 compared to 1990. There are some slight shifts in percentage share and ranks during 1994 and 1998 from 1990.

Table 1: Country-Wise Distribution of Publications

Country  

1990

%

Rank

1994

%  

Rank

1998

%

Rank

World  

72286 

100  

 

56813

100  

 

49933

100  

 

USA  

22513  

31.14  

1  

19217  

33.83  

1  

14893  

29.83  

1

Canada  

3838  

5.31  

2  

3029  

5.33  

2  

2295  

4.60  

4

China  

3370  

4.66  

3  

2310  

4.07  

8  

2332  

4.67  

5

Russia  

3374  

4.67  

4  

1743  

3.07  

4  

2260  

4.53  

3

UK  

3211  

4.44  

5  

2723  

4.79  

3  

2754  

5.52  

2

France  

2919  

4.04  

6  

2039  

3.59  

5  

1856  

3.72  

7

Japan  

2296  

3.18  

7  

1849  

3.25  

6  

1916  

3.84  

6

Germany  

2214  

3.06  

8  

1760  

3.10  

7  

1594  

3.19  

8

Australia  

1817  

2.51  

9  

1378  

2.43  

9  

1505  

3.01  

9

India  

1501  

2.08  

10  

747  

1.31  

11  

879  

1.76  

11

Italy  

830  

1.15  

11  

1153  

2.03  

10  

1264  

2.53  

10

Netherlands  

574  

0.79  

12  

477  

0.84  

12  

591  

1.18  

12

Switzerland  

444  

0.61  

13  

369  

0.65  

13  

420  

0.84  

13

Israel  

288  

0.40  

14  

331  

0.58  

14  

216  

0.43  

14

Greece  

187  

0.26  

15  

111  

0.20  

17  

170  

0.34  

15

Malaysia  

94  

0.13  

16  

158  

0.28  

15  

10  

0.02  

18

Korea  

56  

0.08  

17  

126  

0.22  

16  

136  

0.27  

16

Pakistan  

38  

0.05  

18  

21  

0.04  

18  

21  

0.04  

17

Total  

 

68.57

 

 

69.60

 

 

70.32

 

Others  

22722  

31.43  

 

17272  

30.40  

 

14821  

29.68  

 

Language-wise Distribution of Publications

Table 2 depicts the language-wise distribution of publications from all over the world as well as from India. Globally, in all the years English has topped the list. In 1990, Russian, Chinese and French took respectively the second, third and fourth place. In 1994, the position changed - Chinese took the second position, followed by Russian and Japanese. In 1998, Russian regained the second position followed by Chinese and Japanese.

Table 2: Language-wise Distribution of Publications

Language 1990 1994 1998

World  

Indian  

World  

Indian  

World  

Indian

English  

56028  

1499  

48243  

742  

43289  

878

Russian  

5063  

0  

1075  

1  

1637  

0

Chinese  

2530  

0  

1261  

0  

1521  

0

French  

2572  

0  

844  

3  

870  

1

German  

1351  

0  

636  

0  

103  

0

Japanese  

1072  

0  

923  

1  

888  

0

Spanish  

960  

0  

870  

0  

500  

0

Polish  

79  

0  

59  

0  

157  

0

Hindi  

02  

2  

00  

0  

00  

0

Arabic  

01  

0  

03  

0  

02  

0

Others  

4771  

0  

2899  

0  

966  

0

Total  

72286  

1501  

56813  

747  

49933  

879

Indians have contributed only in English with very few exceptions. In 1990, only two publications appeared in Hindi. In 1994, three publications were in Russian , and one each in Russian and Japanese, and in 1998 only one publication was in French. Amongst Indian languages Hindi figured but once in 1990.

Distribution of Indian Contributions as per Country of Publication

Indian earth scientists published about 74% of their contributions within the country in 1990 (Table 3). The percentage declined to about 50% in 1994 and rose to over 62% in 1998. It cannot be said to be a real decline as the database has reduced coverage after 1990. The prominent foreign countries where Indian scientists placed their publications are Netherlands followed by USA, UK, Germany and other countries.

Table 3: Indian Contribution as per Country of Publication

Country of Publication 

1990  

%  

1994  

%  

1998  

%

India  

1117  

74.42  

370  

49.53  

549  

62.46

Netherlands  

122  

8.13  

73  

9.77  

63  

7.17

United States  

53  

3.53  

73  

9.77  

86  

9.78

United Kingdom  

44  

2.93  

39  

5.22  

52  

5.92

Germany  

20  

1.33  

10  

1.34  

6  

0.68

Austria  

13  

0.87  

4  

0.54  

2  

0.23

Switzerland  

6  

0.40  

2  

0.27  

8  

0.91

Greece  

6  

0.40  

0  

0.00  

0  

0.00

Japan  

4  

0.27  

8  

1.07  

15  

1.71

China  

4  

0.27  

0  

0.00  

1  

0.11

Poland  

2  

0.13  

0  

0.00  

2  

0.23

France  

2  

0.13  

3  

0.40  

2  

0.23

Canada  

1  

0.07  

9  

1.20  

4  

0.46

Thailand  

1  

0.07  

0  

0.00  

2  

0.23

Finland  

1  

0.07  

2  

0.27  

2  

0.23

Hungary  

1  

0.07  

3  

0.40  

1  

0.11

Czech Republic  

1  

0.07  

0  

0.00  

0  

0.00

Iran  

1  

0.07  

0  

0.00  

0  

0.00

Monaco  

1  

0.07  

0  

0.00  

0  

0.00

Pakistan  

1  

0.07  

0  

0.00  

0  

0.00

Slovak Republic  

1  

0.07  

0  

0.00  

0  

0.00

Sweden  

1  

0.07  

0  

0.00  

0  

0.00

USSR  

1  

0.07  

0  

0.00  

0  

0.00

Hong Kong  

0  

0.00  

0  

0.00  

2  

0.23

New Zealand  

0  

0.00  

1  

0.13  

0  

0.00

Norway  

0  

0.00  

1  

0.13  

0  

0.00

Russian Federation  

0  

0.00  

1  

0.13  

0  

0.00

Malaysia  

0  

0.00  

2  

0.27  

0  

0.00

Spain  

0  

0.00  

2  

0.27  

0  

0.00

Nepal  

0  

0.00  

59  

7.90  

0  

0.00

Other countries  

97  

6.46  

85  

11.38  

82  

9.33

  

 

100.00

 

100.00

  

100.00

Total  

1501  

 

747

 

879

 

Channels of Communication

More than 50% of the Indian earth science literature was published in journals and the rest in other types of documents like books, conference proceedings, and reports (Table 4). Some of the publications were in the form of abstracts and maps.

Table 4: Channels of Communication

Sl. No.  

Channels  

1990  

1994  

1998

1.  

Journals  

630  

559  

611

2.  

Books  

37  

14  

14

3.  

Others (Abstracts, Conference Papers, Maps, Reports)   

834  

174  

254

  

Total  

1501  

747  

879

City-wise Distribution of Indian Publications

The city-wise distribution of Indian publications is presented in Table 5 which shows that in 1990 Calcutta tops the list followed by Dehra Dun and Hyderabad, in 1994 Dehra Dun tops the list followed by Lucknow and New Delhi, and in 1998 Hyderabad tops the list followed by Calcutta and Bangalore. It shows that no city is constantly occupying the first position. However, Calcutta, Hyderabad and Dehra Dun are remaining within the first five cities as far as productivity is concerned. In all, 17 cities figuring in the Table which except in one case have contributed more than five publications each, in all the years. 

Table 5 : City-wise (Top cities) Distribution of Indian Publications

City  

1990  

Rank  

1994  

Rank  

1998  

Rank

Calcutta  

411  

1  

52  

4  

79  

2

Dehra Dun  

131  

2  

93  

1  

44  

4

Hyderabad  

115  

3  

43  

5  

113  

1

Bangalore  

75  

4  

22  

10  

49  

3

Lucknow  

65  

5  

57  

2  

37  

5

New Delhi  

48  

6  

54  

3  

37  

6

Dhanbad  

44  

7  

18  

11  

17  

15

Panaji  

41  

8  

38  

6  

17  

15

Mumbai  

35  

9  

24  

8  

17  

15

Nagpur  

34  

10  

16  

12  

25  

9

Jaipur  

28  

11  

7  

15  

24  

10

Roorkee  

28  

11  

23  

9  

21  

12

Bhubaneswar  

21  

13  

3  

17  

25  

8

Ahmedabad  

18  

14  

24  

7  

26  

7

Mysore  

13  

15  

7  

15  

18  

14

Trivandrum  

12  

16  

10  

13  

20  

13

Chennai  

6  

17  

10  

13  

22  

11

Others  

376  

 

246

 

288

 

Total  

1501  

 

747

 

879

 

State-wise Distribution of Indian Publications

Table 6 depicts the state-wise distribution of publications. In 1990 West Bengal tops the list with 442 publications followed by Uttar Pradesh (285), Andhra Pradesh (155), Karnataka (125), and others. In 1994 Uttar Pradesh tops the list with 210 publications followed by West Bengal (86), Maharashtra (60) and others. In 1998, Uttar Pradesh again tops the list with 155 publications followed by Andhra Pradesh (143) and West Bengal (99). It can be seen from the Table that West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, and Andhra Pradesh have retained their positions within the first four in all the three years In all, 13 states are figuring in the Table.  

Table 6: State-wise (Top States) Distribution of Publications

State  

1990  

Rank

1994  

Rank

1998

Rank

West Bengal  

442  

1  

86  

2  

99  

3

Uttar Pradesh  

285  

2  

210  

1  

155  

1

Andhra Pradesh 

155  

3  

59  

4  

143  

2

Karnataka  

125  

4  

44  

6  

80  

4

Maharashtra  

93  

5  

60  

3  

59  

5

Bihar  

61  

6  

25  

9  

29  

11

Delhi  

49  

7  

54  

5  

37  

9

Rajasthan  

42  

8  

17  

11  

40  

7

Goa  

41  

9  

39  

7  

17  

13

Gujarat  

35  

10  

31  

8  

49  

6

Orissa  

27  

11  

5  

13  

27  

11

Kerala  

20  

12  

17  

11  

29  

9

Tamil Nadu  

9  

13  

20  

10  

40  

7

Others  

117  

 

81

 

75

 

Total  

1501  

 

747

 

879

 

Subject-Wise Distribution of Publications

All the publications of Indian scientists during the year 1990, 1994 and 1998 are found to be analytic in nature. It is observed from Table 7 that in all the three years igneous and metamorphic petrology has been the most productive area of research in India respectively with 177, 85, and 161 articles. In 1990, the second and third positions are held by the economic geology, geology of ore deposits; and engineering geology with 172 and 171 articles respectively. The scenario changes in 1994, when stratigraphy takes the second position with 73 articles and engineering geology and applied geophysics the third position with 71 articles each. In 1998 stratigraphy retains the second position with 98 articles to its credit, and geochemistry of rocks, soils, and sediments occupies the third position with 84 articles. From Table 7 it is clear that igneous and metamorphic petrology is receiving the highest attention from geologists followed by subjects like stratigraphy, engineering geology, and applied geophysics.

Table 7: Subject-wise Distribution of Indian Publications

Sl. No.

Subjects  

1990

Rank

1994

Rank

1998

Rank

1  

Igneous and Metamorphic Petrology  

177  

1  

85  

1  

161  

1

2  

Economic Geology, Geology of Ore Deposits 

172  

2  

34  

13  

75  

4

3  

Engineering Geology  

171  

3  

71  

3  

58  

9

4  

Applied Geophysics  

155  

4  

71  

3  

75  

4

5  

Stratigraphy  

120  

5  

73  

2  

98  

2

6  

Structural Geology  

103  

6  

51  

7  

54  

10

7  

Sedimentary Petrology  

91  

7  

48  

8  

49  

11

8  

Hydrogeology  

82  

8  

61  

5  

60  

8

9  

Economic Geology, Geology of Energy Sources 

73  

9  

30  

14  

45  

12

10  

Geochemistry of Rocks, Soils, and Sediments  

72  

10  

61  

5  

84  

3

11  

Oceanography  

50  

11  

36  

12  

18  

17

12  

Soils  

46  

12  

42  

10  

69  

7

13  

Economic Geology  

45  

13  

7  

19  

14  

18

14  

Solid Earth Geophysics  

41  

14  

25  

16  

42  

13

15  

Environmental Geology  

36  

15  

47  

9  

75  

4

16  

Quaternary Geology  

35  

16  

28  

15  

27  

15

17  

Paleobotany  

32  

17  

40  

11  

14  

18

18  

Seismology  

30  

18  

20  

18  

26  

16

19  

Isotope Geochemistry  

24  

19  

22  

17  

34  

14

20  

Others  

235  

 

130

 

123

 

Total  

 

1790

 

982

 

1201

 

Coverage of the Subjects by Institutions

It is also observed from the study that Geological Survey of India (GSI), has covered almost all areas of geology. Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology, National Geophysical Research Institute; National Institute of Oceanography; Indian School of Mines; Jadavpur University; and Banaras Hindu University have also covered a wide spectrum of geology in their research work.

Organization-wise Distribution of Publications

Table 8 shows the organizations that have contributed 20 or more articles during 1990, 1994 and 1998 taken together. As can be expected, Geological Survey of India (GSI) and its branches taken together stay way ahead others with a tally of 685 articles, followed by Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology (177). Both these organizations together account for about 28% of the total publications. It is interesting to note that more than 50% of the total publications is shared by the first 12 Institutions. Of the organizations figuring in Table 8 National Geophysical  Research Institute (rank: 3rd), National Institute of Oceanography (rank: 5th), and Central Mining Research Institute (rank: 27th ) are the constituents of Council of Scientific and Industrial Research. Among the universities, Banaras Hindu University and University of Roorkee come first both ranking 6th , followed by Andhra University (rank: 10th), University of Delhi (rank: 12th), Osmania University (rank: 15th), University of Mysore (rank: 17th), Bangalore University (rank: 19th), M.S. University of Baroda (rank: 20th), Aligarh Muslim University (rank: 21st), University of Calcutta (rank: 21st ), and Karnatak University (rank: 25th ). It may be noted that of the 27 organizations figuring in the Table, as many as 11 are universities. Of the Indian Institutes of Technology, only two appear in this Table, Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur (rank: 11th) and Indian Institute of Technology, Powai (rank: 18th).

The number of contributions from colleges is pretty small which does not average even one per college. About 60 colleges have contributed articles during 1990, 1994 and 1998 - the number being 39, 24 and 45 respectively. The three colleges that contributed more than 5 articles in the aforesaid three years are: Presidency College, Calcutta (12 articles), Deccan College, Poona (7 articles), and D S College, Aligarh (6 articles).

Table 8: Top Ranking Top Institutions as per Publication Count

Organization  

1990  

1994  

1998  

Total  

Rank

Geological Survey of India (Head Office and Branches taken together)  

507  

63  

115  

685  

1

Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology, Dehra Dun   

92  

59  

26  

177  

2

National Geophysical Research Institute, Hyderabad   

58  

26  

72  

156  

3

Birbal Sahni Institute of Paleobotany, Lucknow   

35  

47  

20  

102  

4

National Institute of Oceanography, Goa

39  

35  

17  

91  

5

Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi  

27  

18  

15  

60  

6

University of Roorkee, Roorkee  

25  

19  

16  

60  

6

Physical Research Laboratory, Ahmedabad  

13  

19  

23  

55  

8

Indian School of Mines, Dhanbad  

39  

6  

8  

53  

9

Andhra University, Visakhapatnam  

26  

15  

10  

51  

10

Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur  

20  

14  

13  

47  

11

University of Delhi, Delhi  

15  

22  

7  

44  

12

Oil and National Gas Commission, Dehra Dun  

12  

18  

10  

40  

13

Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore  

14  

10  

13  

37  

14

Atomic Minerals Division, Begumpet, Hydearbad 

17  

7  

9  

33  

15

Osmania University, Hyderabad  

22  

3  

8  

33  

15

University of Mysore,Mysore  

11  

6  

15  

32  

17

Indian Institute of Technology, Powai  

12  

14  

4  

30  

18

Bangalore University, Bangalore  

20  

0  

8  

28  

19

M.S. University of Baroda, Vadodara  

13  

1  

11  

25  

20

Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh  

13  

5  

6  

24  

21

Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi

6  

8  

10  

24  

21

University of Calcutta, Calcutta  

6  

8  

10  

24  

21

K. D. Malaviya Institute of Petroleum Exploration, ONGC, Dehra Dun   

10  

9  

3  

22  

24

Indian Statistical Institute, Calcutta  

3  

7  

11  

21  

25

Karnatak University, Dharwad  

15  

3  

3  

21  

25

Central Mining Research Institute, Dhanbad  

3  

12  

5  

20  

27

Others  

428  

293  

411  

1132  

 

Total  

1501  

747  

879  

3127  

 

Journal-wise Distribution of Publications

Indian earth scientists have placed their publications in about 400 journals, conference proceedings, books etc. Table 9 shows the top 28 journals which have published 10 or more Indian articles in the three years. It may be noted that Indian scientists placed more than 50% of their articles in these journals.

Table 9: Journal-wise Distribution of Articles

  

1990

1994  

1998  

Total

Records of the Geological Survey of India  

367  

14  

0  

381

Journal of the Geological Society of India  

106  

118  

147  

371

Journal of the Indian Society of Soil Science  

30  

35  

66  

131

Indian Mineralogist  

0  

0  

113  

113

Indian Minerals  

36  

20  

32  

88

Special Publication Series, Geological Survey of India   

36  

0  

25  

61

Journal of Nepal Geological Society Special issue   

0  

55  

0  

55

Indian Journal of Geology  

14  

20  

16  

50

Palaeobotanist  

12  

25  

11  

48

Journal of the Palaeontological Society of India   

20  

10  

11  

41

Indian Geotechnical Journal  

11  

19  

11  

41

Geoscience Journal  

13  

16  

11  

40

Proceedings of the Indian Academy of Sciences: Earth and Planetary Sciences  

22  

9  

8  

39

Memoirs, Geological Society of India  

25  

0  

8  

33

Indian Journal of Marine Sciences  

15  

3  

13  

31

Journal of African Earth Sciences A  

0  

0  

29  

29

Photonirvachak (Dehra Dun)  

10  

5  

10  

25

Marine Geology  

10  

9  

2  

21

Indian Journal of Petroleum Geology  

0  

13  

7  

20

Geophytology  

15  

5  

0  

20

Bulletin of the Indian Society of Earthquake Technology   

17  

1  

0  

18

Developments in Precambrian Geology  

16  

0  

0  

16

Exploration and Research for Atomic Minerals  

16  

0  

0  

16

Journal of Himalayan Geology  

0  

14  

0  

14

Abstracts, Geological Society of Australia  

11  

0  

1  

12

Bulletin of the Oil and Natural Gas Commission   

11  

0  

0  

11

Meteoritics and Planetary Science  

0  

0  

10  

10

Gerlands Beitraege nilur Geophysik  

10  

0  

0  

10

Others  

678  

356  

348  

 

Total  

1501  

747  

879  

 

It is clear from Table 9 that the coverage of the journals by the Georef database has not at all been uniform. Of these 28 journals, in 1998 three journals i.e. Indian Mineralogist, Journal of African Earth Sciences, Meteoritics and Planetary Science have been added to the database and as many as nine journals, i.e. Records of the Geological Survey of India, Bulletin of the Indian Society of Earthquake Technology, Developments in Precambrian Geology, Exploration and Research for Atomic Minerals, Bulletin of the Oil and Natural Gas Commission, Gerlands Beitraege nilur Geophysik, Journal of Nepal Geological Society Special issue, Journal of Himalayan Geology, and Geophytology have been excluded from the database. From this data the amount of reduction in the database coverage can be easily gauged. The decline in productivity in 1994 and 1998 as seen in the tables is because of this very factor. The decline is not real.

FINDINGS

  1. There were 1501 records from India in GeoRef database in 1990, 747 records in 1994, and 897 records in 1998.

  2. India ranks 10th in the world based on the publication count during 1990 and 11th in 1994 and 1998 respectively. USA tops the list followed by Canada in 1990 and 1994. However, UK takes the 2nd position in 1998. Almost all the countries recorded a decline in the number of publications produced during 1994 and 1998 in comparison with 1990. The decline is due to the substantial reduction in coverage by the database.

  3. Majority of the articles were published in English followed by Russian, Chinese, French and German. However, during 1994 Chinese occupied the second position and in 1998 Russian regained the second position.

  4. More than 75% of the Indian publications were published in India and the rest in countries like Netherlands, USA, UK and Germany.

  5. All the publications of Indian scientists are in English except a few articles, of which four are in Russian, two in Hindi, and one each in Japanese and French.

  6. All the publications are found to be analytic in nature. Igneous and metamorphic petrology is found to be the major area of research followed by applied geophysics, economic geology, stratigraphy, structural geology, engineering geology in 1990. In 1992 engineering geology occupies the first position and in 1994 applied geophysics.

  7. More than 50% of the Indian earth science literature was published in journals and the rest in conference documents, books, etc. Some of the publications were in the form of abstracts, reports, and maps.

  8. In city-wise distribution of publications, Calcutta tops the list in 1990 followed by Dehra Dun and Hyderabad . Dehra Dun tops the list in 1994 followed by Lucknow and New Delhi. Hyderabad tops the list in 1998 followed by Calcutta and Bangalore

  9. In state-wise distribution, West Bengal tops the list in 1990, followed by Uttar Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh. In 1994 Uttar Pradesh tops the list followed by West Bengal and Maharashtra. Uttar Pradesh tops the list again in 1998 followed by Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal.

  10. Geological Survey of India has contributed almost in all areas of geology. The other institutions which have also contributed in large number of areas are Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology, National Geophysical Research Institute, Oil and Natural Gas Commission, National Institute of Oceanography, etc. Amongst universities, Banaras Hindu University, Andhra University, Jadavpur University, University of Roorkee, M S University of Baroda, etc, also made significant contributions. Colleges also made small contributions.

  11. Indian earth scientists have mostly chosen Indian sources for placing their publications. For example, of the top ten sources, where Indian scientists placed their publications, nine are from India.

 

* Summarized by B K Sen basinf the original report titled "Earth Sciences Research in India: a study based on Georef" by J R Sahu, D B Ramesh, D P Sandha, B K Dalai, M K Seth and B B Sahoo, Regional Research Laboratory, Bhubaneswar. The study has been financed by NISSAT under its National Mapping of Science Project.

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Information Today & Tomorrow, Vol. 21, No. 1, March 2002, p.3-p.12
http://itt.nissat.tripod.com/itt0201/nms-esr.htm