Applied physics in Mexico: mining the past to predict the future
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Applied physics in Mexico: mining the past to predict the future J. Antonio del Río1 · J. M. Russell1 · Daniela Juárez1 Received: 21 November 2019 © Akadémiai Kiadó, Budapest, Hungary 2020
Abstract The development of the scientific output of Mexico in Applied Physics is explored from 1973 to 2017 in the Web of Science using traditional bibliometric indicators such as prolific authors and institutions; collaborating countries; journal preferences. A total of 9078 documents in the subject category of Applied Physics were retrieved and analyzed in five periods: 1973–1985, 1986–1995, 1996–2005, 2006–2010 and 2011–2017. Main findings point to an exponential increase in the production of Mexican papers over the 45 years of our study but with some slowing down in the first decade of the present century. A diversity of authors both national and foreign were identified but production found to be highly concentrated in five Mexican institutions. Journals were mainly those in basic sciences of Physics, Material Science, and Optics but with Energy and Fuels, and Radiology, Nuclear Medicine and Medical Imaging appearing around the turn of the century. In a second part of the study a text mining technique is used to determine the most frequently occurring words in the abstracts of the documents from 1985 onwards. In a similar exercise the main words found in the 911 literature reviews published worldwide in the category of Applied Physics during 2014, were examined with the purpose of providing relevant information for deciding on the desired path for future Mexican research in this area. Our results suggest that national efforts in this category are aligned with international interests in nanotechnology, particularly with respect to renewable and sustainable energy resources and mainly solar energy technology. Keywords Scientific output · Research trends · Nanotechnology · Solar energy · Data mining
Introduction Knowledge plays a key role in economic growth, social development, cultural enrichment and democratic empowerment. Study of past performance in terms of research capabilities, knowhow, experience, and infrastructure determine research potential and opportunities. * J. Antonio del Río [email protected] 1
Instituto de Energías Renovables, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Temixco, Morelos, Mexico
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Scientometrics
Foresight analyzes past results, current positions and anticipates new emerging trends, opportunities and risks as a way of preparing for and benefitting from the future. For a country, such as Mexico, its goal is to reduce the development gap with the industrialized world. A common strategy to establish and prioritize future research needs is to dig deep into the relevant literature and systematically examine and summarize the trends and changes in a discipline or specific field. In a rapidly changing global and local landscape, national research priorities are set by mediating between the ambitions of the global agenda and local demands. When defining the national mandate i
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