Comprehensive analysis of Saudi Arabia's research output: a bibliometric study (2013--2022)

Bibliometric studies that employ quantitative methods are pivotal for evaluating and analysing the dissemination of scientific knowledge across various disciplines. These studies assess the impact and reach of scholarly works by examining citation patterns, authorship trends, and publication metrics.

This study examines Saudi Arabia's research paper output indexed in the Scopus database, utilizing bibliographic data from the SciVal database. SciVal provides comprehensive cross-searching capabilities across various citation indices and databases, offering multidisciplinary information from high-impact journals. The data aggregation from SciVal includes filtering options such as years, subject areas, publication sources, citation counts, and productivity metrics for researchers, institutions, and countries.

This research focuses on Saudi Arabia's research productivity and the performance of its top universities from 2013-2022. Additionally, information on average per capita GDP and total GDP for the past nine years was sourced from World Bank data. The analysis encompasses all nations that published research productivity articles annually within the specified period. The present study revealed that the research output from Saudi Arabia increased 320%, with an average annual growth rate of 16%.

The present study provides insights into the research productivity of Saudi Arabia and its leading universities, contributing to a broader understanding of global scientific output and its economic context. This study provides an idea to other nations to balance their research output vis-a-vis their economic growth.