Soori H¹ * (P hD), Bigdeli MA² (MSc S tudent), Shahbaz M² (MSc Student)

  ¹ Safety Promotion and Injury Prevention Research Center, Department of Epidemiology,

  School of Public Health, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

  ² Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health,

  Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran-Iran

  Received:15 Sep 2013, Accepted:23 Jan 2014

  Abstract

  Introduction: Research is a major element for development of countries. Nowadays, budgets and financial allocations are directed by research and development (R&D) issues. Investment in research and development units is considered as a competitive advantage. Scientific gap between developed and developing countries is measured based on the contribution of research and development activities in various economic, social and political issues. As there is no limitation for development, many developing countries try to follow developed countries and employ some indicators and instruments to measure the goals. The purpose of this study was to assess some important indicators of research and their trends through websites of the World Bank, UNESCO Institute for Statistics and other sources websites.

  Methods: In this study, using the latest available data in time series charts of the websites of the World Bank, UNESCO Institute for Statistics and a number of internal resources, the main indicators of research and development, including the research and development gross domestic product share of credits index, human resources index, and the number of published articles were considered. Moreover, contribution of various sectors in research and development funding was assessed.

  Results: Iran is in the first place among the Middle Eastern countries, regarding the share of research and development funds from GDP. The index has been increased from 0.34 in 1970 to 0.8 in 2008. The number of researchers per million individuals has been increased more than twice from 2001 (335 researchers per million) to 2008 (747 researchers per million). The growth of scientific articles published in Iran has been increased six times from 2001 to 2009. In 2009, the country produced 6313 articles and has been ranked in the 21^st place in the world. Overall, 61.6% of the research and development costs are funded by public sector.

  Conclusion: The majority of the research and development indices have remarkable progress after the Islamic Revolution however, the bulk of research budgets are funded by public sector. Moreover, policies and decisions are not made based on research results.

  Keywords: re search, development, research and development indicators, researcher, research funds

  Please cite this article as follows:

  Soori H, Bigdeli MA, Shahbaz M. Major Research Indicators and their Trend in Iran compared to the world. Hakim Health Sys Res 2014 17(1): 48- 56.

  * Corresponding Author: Safety Promotion and Injury Prevention Research Center, Dept. of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. Tel/Fax: +98- 21- 22439787.
E-mail: hsoori@yahoo.com