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THE IMPACT OF AUSTRALIAN SCIENCE
Discussion paper on the possible reasons for the decline in the Australian share of scientific citations in the international literature
30 October 1996

1. Introduction
   1.1 Background
   1.2 The range of possible reasons for declining citation share
   1.3 The hypotheses examined

2. Hypothesis 1: The visibility of Australian science has declined because of a reduction by Australian scientists in the tapping of international networks
   2.1 The origin of Australian academics' qualifications
   2.2 The relationship between international research experience and research 'visibility'
   2.3 Australian PhD graduates overseas
   2.4 Attendance at international conferences
   2.5 International co-authorship
   2.6 Discussion: Hypothesis 1

3. Hypothesis 2: There has been a 'greying' of Australian science
   3.1 The age profile of Australian academics in selected fields of research
   3.2 Discussion: Hypothesis 2

4. Hypothesis 3: There has been a shift from 'basic' to 'applied research' activity
   4.1 Trends in type of research activity
   4.2 Discussion: Hypothesis 3

5. Hypothesis 4: There has been an inadequate funding of research
   5.1 Trends in research expenditure
   5.2 Discussion: Hypothesis 4

6. Hypothesis 5: Foreign libraries have policies and practices that may impact on the visibility of Australian science
   6.1 Citation analysis as a tool for collection Management
   6.2 Cost as a factor in periodical subscription
   6.3 Discussion: Hypothesis 5

7. Various bibliometric hypotheses
   7.1 A decline in highly cited articles?
   7.2 A decline in publishing in 'top' journals?
   7.3 A decline in review articles?

8. Concluding comments