Dr. Monir Uddin Ahmed & Dr. Mohsina Huq
The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) is the second largest inter-governmental organization in the world after the United Nations. It has 57 members with 1873.71 million populations (2019 data). All the members of OIC together have 4,47,465 publications and only 884 Patents in Scopus Database in 2020 (data taken on 9-10 Februarym2021) .
On the hand, china has 1397.72 M population, has 752,729 publications and 8,562 patents. Though china has 475.99 M less people than the 57 countries of OIC, it has published almost double publications and ten times of patents.
However, Iran has highest number of publications, where as Qatar has highest number (1909) publications/M population. On the other hand, Jordan has highest number of patents (410) among 57 countries in 2020.
Below is the graphic and tabular presentation of publication scenario of OIC countries.
1. Top ten countries in terms of total publications in 2020 in Scopus database
Table 1: Number of Publications of OIC Countries in Scopus Database in 2020
| Serial No | Name of the country | Total publication | |
| 1 | Iran | 72691 | |
| 2 | Turkey | 57918 | |
| 3 | Indonesia | 48856 | |
| 4 | Malaysia | 38192 | |
| 5 | Saudi Arabia | 37805 | |
| 6 | Egypt | 31950 | |
| 7 | Pakistan | 29190 | |
| 8 | Iraq | 18864 | |
| 9 | Nigeria | 13748 | |
| 10 | United Arab Emirates | 10552 | |
| 11 | Morocco | 9700 | |
| 12 | Bangladesh | 8466 | |
| 13 | Tunisia | 8450 | |
| 14 | Algeria | 8121 | |
| 15 | Jordan | 6693 | |
| 16 | Qatar | 5404 | |
| 17 | Kazakhstan | 5296 | |
| 18 | Lebanon | 4625 | |
| 19 | Uzbekistan | 3751 | |
| 20 | Oman | 2745 | |
| 21 | Kuwait | 2473 | |
| 22 | Uganda | 2443 | |
| 23 | Cameroon | 2215 | |
| 24 | Azerbaijan | 1750 | |
| 25 | Syria | 1341 | |
| 26 | Sudan | 1315 | |
| 27 | Palestine | 1196 | |
| 28 | Yemen | 1100 | |
| 29 | Bahrain | 1040 | |
| 30 | Senegal | 1008 | |
| 31 | Brunei | 724 | |
| 32 | Libya | 710 | |
| 33 | Burkina Faso | 680 | |
| 34 | Mozambique | 672 | |
| 35 | Benin | 669 | |
| 36 | Ivory Coast | 663 | |
| 37 | Albania | 644 | |
| 38 | Kyrgyzstan | 559 | |
| 39 | Guinea | 481 | |
| 40 | Mali | 350 | |
| 41 | Tajikistan | 330 | |
| 42 | Afghanistan | 305 | |
| 43 | Gambia | 248 | |
| 44 | Togo | 234 | |
| 45 | Sierra Leone | 227 | |
| 46 | Gabon | 223 | |
| 47 | Niger | 219 | |
| 48 | Somalia | 98 | |
| 49 | Maldives | 96 | |
| 50 | Mauritania | 91 | |
| 51 | Guyana | 74 | |
| 52 | Chad | 71 | |
| 53 | Suriname | 65 | |
| 54 | Guinea-Bissau | 64 | |
| 55 | Djibouti | 37 | |
| 56 | Comoros | 18 | |
| 57 | Turkmenistan | 15 | |
| Total | 4,47,465 |
2. Top Ten countries in terms of publications/million population
Table 2: Number of Publications/million of population of OIC Countries in Scopus Database in 2020
| Serial no | Name of the country | Publications/Millions of population |
| 1 | Qatar | 1909 |
| 2 | Brunei | 1683 |
| 3 | Malaysia | 1195 |
| 4 | Saudi Arabia | 1103 |
| 5 | United Arab Emirates | 1080 |
| 6 | Iran | 876 |
| 7 | Tunisia | 722 |
| 8 | Turkey | 694 |
| 9 | Lebanon | 674 |
| 10 | Jordan | 662 |
| 11 | Bahrain | 634 |
| 12 | Kuwait | 587 |
| 13 | Oman | 552 |
| 14 | Iraq | 479 |
| 15 | Egypt | 318 |
| 16 | Kazakhstan | 286 |
| 17 | Morocco | 265 |
| 18 | Palestine | 255 |
| 19 | Albania | 225 |
| 20 | Algeria | 188 |
| 21 | Maldives | 181 |
| 22 | Indonesia | 180 |
| 23 | Azerbaijan | 174 |
| 24 | Pakistan | 134 |
| 25 | Suriname | 112 |
| 26 | Uzbekistan | 112 |
| 27 | Gambia | 105 |
| 28 | Libya | 104 |
| 29 | Gabon | 102 |
| 30 | Guyana | 94 |
| 31 | Kyrgyzstan | 86 |
| 32 | Cameroon | 85 |
| 33 | Syria | 75 |
| 34 | Nigeria | 68 |
| 35 | Senegal | 61 |
| 36 | Benin | 56 |
| 37 | Uganda | 55 |
| 38 | Bangladesh | 51 |
| 39 | Djibouti | 38 |
| 40 | Yemen | 38 |
| 41 | Guinea | 38 |
| 42 | Tajikistan | 35 |
| 43 | Burkina Faso | 33 |
| 44 | Guinea-Bissau | 33 |
| 45 | Sudan | 30 |
| 46 | Sierra Leone | 29 |
| 47 | Togo | 29 |
| 48 | Ivory Coast | 25 |
| 49 | Mozambique | 22 |
| 50 | Comoros | 21 |
| 51 | Mauritania | 20 |
| 52 | Mali | 17 |
| 53 | Niger | 9 |
| 54 | Afghanistan | 8 |
| 55 | Somalia | 6 |
| 56 | Chad | 4 |
| 57 | Turkmenistan | 2 |
3. Top ten countries in terms of patents indexed in Scopus database
Out of 57 countries, only 22 countries have at least one patent.
Table 3: Number of Patents of OIC Countries In Scopus Database In 2020
| Serial No | Name of the country | Patents |
| 1 | Jordan | 410 |
| 2 | Lebanon | 152 |
| 3 | Qatar | 98 |
| 4 | United Arab Emirates | 60 |
| 5 | Malaysia | 57 |
| 6 | Chad | 23 |
| 7 | Kuwait | 21 |
| 8 | Brunei | 14 |
| 9 | Palestine | 11 |
| 10 | Togo | 11 |
| 11 | Indonesia | 4 |
| 12 | Iran | 4 |
| 13 | Sudan | 4 |
| 14 | Saudi Arabia | 3 |
| 15 | Turkey | 3 |
| 16 | Bahrain | 2 |
| 17 | Mali | 2 |
| 18 | Azerbaijan | 1 |
| 19 | Bangladesh | 1 |
| 20 | Cameroon | 1 |
| 21 | Egypt | 1 |
| 22 | Oman | 1 |
| 23 | Afghanistan | 0 |
| 24 | Albania | 0 |
| 25 | Algeria | 0 |
| 26 | Benin | 0 |
| 27 | Burkina Faso | 0 |
| 28 | Comoros | 0 |
| 29 | Djibouti | 0 |
| 30 | Gabon | 0 |
| 31 | Gambia | 0 |
| 32 | Guinea | 0 |
| 33 | Guinea-Bissau | 0 |
| 34 | Guyana | 0 |
| 35 | Iraq | 0 |
| 36 | Ivory Coast | 0 |
| 37 | Kazakhstan | 0 |
| 38 | Kyrgyzstan | 0 |
| 39 | Libya | 0 |
| 40 | Maldives | 0 |
| 41 | Mauritania | 0 |
| 42 | Morocco | 0 |
| 43 | Mozambique | 0 |
| 44 | Niger | 0 |
| 45 | Nigeria | 0 |
| 46 | Pakistan | 0 |
| 47 | Senegal | 0 |
| 48 | Sierra Leone | 0 |
| 49 | Somalia | 0 |
| 50 | Suriname | 0 |
| 51 | Syria | 0 |
| 52 | Tajikistan | 0 |
| 53 | Tunisia | 0 |
| 54 | Turkmenistan | 0 |
| 55 | Uganda | 0 |
| 56 | Uzbekistan | 0 |
| 57 | Yemen | 0 |
| Total | 884 |
4. Major research area
Medicine, Engineering, Agriculture and Biological Sciences, Environmental Science and Computer Science, Physics and Astronomy and Social Sciences are the major research are of OIC countries.
Table 4: Major five research areas of OIC countries
| Name of the country |
Top Five Research Areas |
||||
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
|
| Afghanistan | Medicine – 113 | Social Science – 48 | Agriculture and Biological Sciences-40 | Mathematics -40 | Environmental Sciences -39 |
| Albania | Medicine 187 | Social Sciences – 92 | Computer Science – 91 | Engineering – 91 | Environmental Science – 89 |
| Algeria | Engineering (2,800) | Computer Science (1,872) | Mathematics (1,545) | Physics and Astronomy (1,485) | Materials Science (1,379) |
| Azerbaijan | Physics and Astronomy (461) | Engineering (360) | Mathematics (329) | Materials Science (261) | Chemistry (258) |
| Bahrain | Medicine (370) | Computer Science (167) | Business, Management and Accounting (148) | Engineering (140) | Social Sciences (126) |
| Bangladesh | Medicine (2,273) | Engineering (1,949) | Computer Science (1,722) | Agricultural and Biological Sciences (1,220) | Environmental Science (1,014) |
| Benin | Agricultural and Biological Sciences (227) | Medicine (199) | Environmental Science (111) | Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology (89) | Social Sciences (72) |
| Brunei | Engineering (148) | Medicine (108) | Materials Science (105) | Environmental Science (97) | Social Sciences (97) |
| Burkina Faso | Medicine (298) | Agricultural and Biological Sciences (162) | Environmental Science (91) | Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology (90) | Immunology and Microbiology (80) |
| Cameroon | Medicine (699) | Agricultural and Biological Sciences (394) | Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology (306) | Physics and Astronomy (259) | Environmental Science (203) |
| Chad | Medicine (29) | Immunology and Microbiology (14) | Agricultural and Biological Sciences (9) | Engineering (9) | Materials Science (9) |
| Comoros | Agricultural and Biological Sciences 6 | Environmental Science (11) | Earth and Planetary Sciences 2 | Environmental Science 2 | Immunology and Microbiology 2 |
| Djibouti | Agricultural and Biological Sciences 13 | Environmental Science 7 | Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology 6 | Medicine 5 | Earth and Planetary Sciences 4 |
| Egypt | Medicine (7,760) | Engineering (6,293) | Chemistry (4,526) | Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology (4,413) | Materials Science (4,247) |
| Gabon | Medicine (106) | Agricultural and Biological Sciences (57) | Immunology and Microbiology (43) | Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology (32) | Multidisciplinary (23) |
| Gambia | Medicine (171) | Immunology and Microbiology (51) | Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology (43) | Agricultural and Biological Sciences (32) | Nursing (19) |
| Guinea | Medicine (247) | Agricultural and Biological Sciences (79) | Immunology and Microbiology (65) | Environmental Science (52) | Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology (51) |
| Guinea-Bissau | Medicine (53) | Immunology and Microbiology (15) | Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology (9) | Multidisciplinary (5) | Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics (5) |
| Guyana | Medicine 27 | Agricultural and Biological Sciences (20) | Social Sciences (16) | Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology (11) | Environmental Science (11) |
| Indonesia | Engineering (10,949) | Environmental Science (9,897) | Physics and Astronomy (9,442) | Earth and Planetary Sciences (7,841) | Social Sciences (6,511) |
| Iran | Medicine (18,116) | Engineering (17,013) | Materials Science (9,954) | Chemistry (9,468) | Physics and Astronomy (8,834) |
| Iraq | Engineering (5,543) | Materials Science (3,386) | Medicine (3,008) | Computer Science (2,673) | Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology (2,565) |
| Ivory Coast | Medicine (213) | Agricultural and Biological Sciences (187) | Environmental Science (106) | Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology (101) | Social Sciences (85) |
| Jordan | Medicine (1,527) | Engineering (1,425) | Computer Science (1,371) | Social Sciences(931) | Mathematics(641) |
| Kazakhstan | Engineering (1,268) | Social Sciences (820) | Physics and Astronomy (809) | Materials Science (748) | Computer Science (745) |
| Kuwait | Medicine(653) | Engineering (511) | Computer Science (274) | Environmental Science (243) | Social Sciences (243) |
| Kyrgyzstan | Medicine (132) | Engineering (95) | Environmental Science (93) | Earth and Planetary Sciences (83) | Computer Science (74) |
| Lebanon | Medicine(2,054) | Engineering (668) | Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology (520) | Computer Science (515) | Social Sciences(413) |
| Libya | Engineering(162) | Computer Science(148) | Medicine(130) | Environmental Science(85) | Agricultural and Biological Sciences (84) |
| Malaysia | Engineering (11,305) | Materials Science (6,275) | Computer Science (5,897) | Medicine (5,345) | Physics and Astronomy (4,721) |
| Maldives | Agricultural and Biological Sciences (30) | Environmental Science (27) | Medicine (21) | Earth and Planetary Sciences (12) | Engineering (11) |
| Mali | Medicine(188) | Agricultural and Biological Sciences(73) | Immunology and Microbiology(59) | Environmental Science(48) | Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology(4) |
| Mauritania | Medicine(35) | Engineering (13) | Mathematics(13) | Environmental Science(12) | Physics and Astronomy(9) |
| Morocco | Engineering(2,732) | Computer Science(2,580) | Mathematics(1,774) | Medicine(1,551) | Physics and Astronomy(1,230) |
| Mozambique | Medicine(319) | Agricultural and Biological Sciences(152) | Environmental Science(96) | Social Sciences(83) | Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology(79) |
| Niger | Medicine(93) | Agricultural and Biological Sciences(43) | Environmental Science(34) | Social Sciences(31) | Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology(25) |
| Nigeria | Medicine(3,517) | Social Sciences(2,085) | Engineering(1,986) | Agricultural and Biological Sciences(1,801) | Environmental Science(1,659) |
| Oman | Medicine(619) | Engineering(560) | Computer Science(417) | Social Sciences(323) | Environmental Science(311) |
| Pakistan | Engineering(5,840) | Medicine(5,541) | Computer Science(4,457) | Physics and Astronomy(3,986) | Materials Science(3,970) |
| Palestine | Medicine(289) | Engineering(236) | Computer Science(177) | Social Sciences(170) | Physics and Astronomy(155) |
| Qatar | Medicine(1,618) | Engineering(1,149) | Computer Science(924) | Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology(698) | Materials Science(573) |
| Saudi Arabia | Engineering(7,868) | Medicine(7,352) | Materials Science(5,905) | Computer Science(5,819) | Chemistry(5,404) |
| Senegal | Medicine(349) | Agricultural and Biological Sciences(168) | Mathematics(137) | Computer Science(133) | Engineering(110) |
| Sierra Leone | Medicine(136) | Social Sciences(32) | Agricultural and Biological Sciences(30) | Environmental Science(29) | Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology(21) |
| Somalia | Medicine(66) | Social Sciences(13) | Immunology and Microbiology(11) | Agricultural and Biological Sciences(10) | Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology(10) |
| Sudan | Medicine(467) | Agricultural and Biological Sciences(250) | Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology(198) | Engineering(150) | Computer Science(103) |
| Suriname | Medicine(34) | Agricultural and Biological Sciences(13) | Environmental Science(10) | Social Sciences(7) | Multidisciplinary(6) |
| Syria | Medicine(454) | Social Sciences(261) | Agricultural and Biological Sciences(166) | Engineering(159) | Environmental Science(140) |
| Tajikistan | Engineering(86) | Earth and Planetary Sciences(67) | Physics and Astronomy(64) | Materials Science(57) | Environmental Science(47) |
| Togo | Medicine(82) | Agricultural and Biological Sciences(71) | Environmental Science(44) | Social Sciences(25) | Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology(24) |
| Tunisia | Engineering(2,105) | Computer Science(1,810) | Medicine(1,647) | Mathematics(1,220) | Materials Science(998) |
| Turkey | Medicine(20,225) | Engineering(9,346) | Computer Science(5,816) | Physics and Astronomy(5,530) | Materials Science(5,457) |
| Turkmenistan | Energy(4) | Mathematics(4) | Earth and Planetary Sciences(3) | Engineering(3) | Agricultural and Biological Sciences(2) |
| Uganda | Medicine(1,299) | Agricultural and Biological Sciences(428) | Social Sciences(388) | Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology(309) | Environmental Science(233) |
| United Arab Emirates | Engineering(2,910) | Computer Science(2,258) | Medicine(1,873) | Social Sciences(1,204) | Environmental Science(1,018) |
| Uzbekistan | Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology(1,117) | Engineering(1,079) | Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics(726) | Immunology and Microbiology(557) | Computer Science(482) |
| Yemen | Engineering(205) | Mathematics(205) | Computer Science(183) | Materials Science(174) | Physics and Astronomy(171) |
Concluding Remarks
This is not a complete picture of publications in OIC member countries. The data for total number of researchers and Gross Domestic Expenditure for R & D (GERD) are not available for majority of the OIC member countries. Hence further analysis could not be done.
However, research productivity of OIC member countries in terms of publications, patents and research commercialization should be analyzed every year.
