Comparative Study of ASEAN Research Productivity

Research productivity has become one of the main indicators used by higher education institutions (HEIs) as well as the country to support their innovation capability. This study purposely describes the research productivity among ASEAN countries, which is considered to be the world’s current economic hotspot. By using SciVal database to examine the literature over the last 10 years, we describe productivity, citation impact, and economic impact metrics. The findings indicate that Singapore is superior in terms of publication quality (citation) and patents while Malaysia is leading in terms of the number of scientific research. Interestingly, Indonesia’s scientific publication growth has the highest percentage. Furthermore, Engineering & Technology and Life Sciences & Medicine are the two major contributors to ASEAN research productivity. These subjects could be the major locomotives for ASEAN countries to use to sustain their competitiveness if the leaders can transform it into successful commercialization.