Browsing by Author "Boshoff, Nelius"

Now showing 1 - 9 of 9
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    Internationally linked authors in Uganda, East Africa : an example of author-level bibliometrics for a developing country
    (Centre for Science and Technology Studies, Leiden University, 2018) Boshoff, Nelius; Basaza-Ejiri, H. A. D.; Tise, Ellen R.
    In developing countries, researchers with strong international links potentially act as a double-edge sword. On the one hand, local researchers with international links could strengthen the research base of an institution or country while, on the other hand, they could leave the research base vulnerable should they migrate. The study identified internationally linked authors in Uganda, East Africa, by applying individual-level bibliometrics to a dataset of 3,948 Ugandan authors from the Web of Science, for the period 2011–2015. The focus was on four overlapping groups of internationally linked authors: (1) Ugandan authors with an international co-author, (2) Uganda authors with a joint international affiliation, (3) Ugandan authors affiliated with an international organisation that has a local address, and (4) Ugandan authors affiliated with an international research partnership. The study showed that without the identified forms of international linkages, the Ugandan scholarly workforce would reduce to 14% of its current size. Moreover, 74% of Ugandan authors without any international links had co-authored articles with Ugandan authors who are linked internationally. Although the extent of both international and national mobility associated with internationally linked authors seem low, benchmarking against comparative figures for other countries in sub-Saharan Africa is required.
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    Public science communication in Africa : views and practices of academics at the National University of Science and Technology in Zimbabwe
    (SISSA Medialab, 2016) Ndlovu, Heather; Joubert, Marina; Boshoff, Nelius
    This study of the science communication views and practices of African researchers — academics at the National University of Science and Technology (NUST) in Zimbabwe — reveals a bleak picture of the low status of public science engagement in the developing world. Researchers prioritise peer communication and pay little attention to the public, policy makers and popular media. Most scientists believe the public is largely not scientifically literate or interested in research. An unstable funding environment, a lack of communication incentives and censoring of politically sensitive findings further constrain researchers’ interest in public engagement. Most NUST academics, however, are interested in science communication training. We suggest interventions that could revive and support public science engagement at African universities.
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    Research by academic librarians at public universities in Ghana : a realistic expectation?
    (Library and Information Association of South Africa, 2020) Boshoff, Nelius; Lamptey, Richard Bruce
    Academic librarians at public universities in Ghana are expected to perform and publish research. This study asked whether the expectation is realistic, given that the main duties of academic librarians are library related. A web survey of academic librarians was conducted to explore the opportunities and resources for research. Based on a bibliometric analysis of journal articles, the study also investigated the nature of research production of academic librarians in Ghana, specifically their co-authorship patterns, publication outlets and research visibility. The results suggested both a pessimistic and an optimistic answer to the question posed. On the one hand, academic librarians mainly produced single-authored articles and articles that are co-authored within their home institution, with a preference for publishing in local journals. Their research visibility, operationalised as time-based citation scores derived from data in Google Scholar, was also limited in light of a lack of international co-authorship. Opportunities and resources for project participation, funding, conference participation and publishing were all mostly linked to having completed a research qualification. On the other hand, despite challenges, some academic librarians do publish articles, which implies that the research expectation is not entirely unrealistic.
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    Scopus or Web of Science for a bibliometric profile of pharmacy research at a Nigerian University?
    (Library and Information Association of South Africa, 2017-12) Boshoff, Nelius; Akanmu, Moses A.
    Previous comparisons between Scopus and Web of Science (WoS) paid little attention to universities in African countries. This study investigated the effect of using different data sources on the bibliometric profile of Obafemi Awolowo University in Nigeria, focusing on the Faculty of Pharmacy for the period 1990-2013. In addition to data from Scopus and WoS, the analysis included articles from the curriculum vitae (CVs) of the faculty staff. The combined dataset (Scopus, WoS and CV data) provided answers to the central question: What differences can be observed in the bibliometric profile of research when comparing the Scopus and WoS output to the total article output? Although Scopus and WoS differed in size, the results of each showed a similar pattern. Notable differences were found with regard to indicators of research collaboration. WoS in particular appeared to be biased towards international collaboration. Additional sources of articles (beyond WoS and Scopus) are required to assess adequately research performance at faculty level for a university in a developing country. The quality aspect of those additional sources cannot be ignored.
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    A survey of doctoral supervisors in South Africa
    (UNISA Press, 2015) Mouton, Johann; Boshoff, Nelius; James, Megan
    South African universities receive a direct monetary reward for the number of doctoral graduates produced. As a result there has been a steady increase in numbers in recent years (from 977 in 2004 to 1 878 in 2012), with obvious implications for doctoral supervision. Against this background a web-based survey of 331 doctoral supervisors at South African universities was conducted in 2011. The findings are discussed with reference to four themes: the burden of numbers, the nature of the doctorate (PhD), screening and selection of doctoral candidates, and supervisory styles. The main conclusion is that many doctoral supervisors in South Africa conduct their supervision under less-than-optimal conditions. Increasing student numbers, demands for constant monitoring and accountability, the pressure of throughput rates and efficient completion together with moderate-to-poor quality students, have resulted in a situation where doctoral supervision has become a challenging and highly stressful undertaking.
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    A survey of research utilisation
    (SUN PReSS, 2005) Boshoff, Nelius; Mouton, Johann
    This series of publications is the result of research conducted at the Centre for Research on Science and Technology (CREST) at Stellenbosch University. Volume 2.
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    Types of knowledge in science-based practices
    (SISSA, 2014) Boshoff, Nelius
    Science communication as an interdisciplinary field of study has always been concerned with issues of knowledge utilisation. This theoretical paper focusses on the “knowledge” part of knowledge utilisation and provides a conceptual frame to distinguish between different types of knowledge in science-based practice. A practitioner’s knowledge store is portrayed as a dense set of personal knowledge, consisting of procedural knowledge, factual knowledge, potential factual knowledge and opinions/beliefs; the totality of which is continuously refined through more experiences and additional information received from people, documents or events. Implications for future studies of knowledge utilisation in science-based practices are highlighted and a number of questions posed to science communication as a profession.
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    Use of scientific research by South African winemakers
    (SISSA, 2014-02) Boshoff, Nelius
    The study investigated the extent to which transmission and cognition, the first two stages in the research use process, are accomplished for winemakers. “Transmission-cognition” was operationalized as the frequency of engagement with information sources considered to be carriers of scientific research. The study also investigated the prominence of four types of research use among winemakers (conceptual, symbolic, instrumental and persuasive) together with their inter-relationship. Conceptual use of scientific information was reported by 90% of winemakers and is a precursor to the other types of research use. Findings are discussed with reference to knowledge creep and the dissemination of scientific research through central winemakers acting as nodes in social networks.
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    Women’s representation in national science academies : an unsettling narrative
    (Academy of Science of South Africa, 2017-12) Ngila, Dorothy; Boshoff, Nelius; Henry, Frances; Diab, Roseanne; Malcom, Shirley; Thomson, Jennifer
    Science academies are well placed to contribute towards strengthening of national systems of innovation through advocating for an increased participation of girls and women in science. To successfully do so, academies would need to overcome challenges faced with regard to women’s representation in their own ranks and women’s resultant full participation in the activities of national science academies. We collected baseline data on the representation of women scientists in the membership and governance structures of national science academies that are affiliated with IAP: the Global Network of Science Academies. Women academy members remained far below parity with men, given that women’s membership was typically about 12%. Women members were better represented in the social sciences, humanities and arts but the corresponding shares rarely exceeded 20%. In the natural sciences and engineering, women’s membership remained well below 10%. On average, the largest share of women members (17%) was associated with academies in Latin America and the Caribbean. The average share of women serving on governing bodies was 20%. To change this unsettling narrative, the importance of academies of science annually collecting, analysing and reporting gender-disaggregated data on membership and activities is highlighted as a key recommendation. Several aspects of women’s representation and participation in national science academies are highlighted for further investigation.