The State of Kuwait ranked 117th out of 179 countries in the ‘Nature Index 2022’ of research in 82 high quality scientific journals in the field of natural sciences, during the period from March 1, 2021 to February 28, 2022, reports Al-Jarida daily. It is noteworthy to make a mention that Saudi Arabia ranked 30, the UAE 46, Egypt 56, Qatar 58, Oman 66 and only Bahrain ranked lower than Kuwait at 167. Informed sources told the daily that Kuwait’s ranking in this indicator is considered low, pointing out that the number of participating research articles was limited to 54, with a contribution of 0.88 in various sciences of physics, life, nature, earth, chemistry and others.
The sources added that the most prominent parties participating in research published in prestigious scientific journals are the Gulf University of Science and Technology, the Kuwait University, the American University of the Middle East, the Public Authority for Agriculture Affairs and Fisheries Resources, the Kuwait Oil Company and the Dasman Center for Diabetes Treatment and Research. The sources stated, “This indicator is one of the most important indicators in scientific research and is related to the publication of the fields of natural sciences. It ranks the volume of publication in various countries,” noting that the list related to the publication of research was topped by the United States of America, China, Germany and others.
Scientific journals
The sources pointed out that the “Nature Index 2022” is based on two criteria, ensuring that scientific articles are published in 82 high-quality scientific journals in the field of natural sciences under the name of contribution, and the number of participating research in the country. The sources stated that there is a difficulty in the publishing process in prestigious scientific journals because research is subject to very careful arbitration, and this does not give an indication that publications are few, but rather the quality standard of publishing in scientific journals that fall into the classification, they may be published in other scientific journals.
The sources added that this indicator is completely different from the classification of the “QS” website, because it falls within the classification of natural sciences and not in general, pointing out that the “QS” website evaluates the quality of research based on the demand and extensive publication of researchers, while the “Nature Index 2022” index assesses the quality of research if it has been published in one of the 82 high-quality natural science journals.
On the scope of the university’s participation in the natural sciences index, the former head of the Association of Faculty Members at Kuwait University, Dr. Ibrahim Al-Hamoud, said that the research budget allocated to the university is small, pointing out that natural science research needs a large budget, because it depends on various materials, conferences and experiments with high cost./KT
