A critical assessment of INPA’s scientific cooperation based on publications from 2004 to 2014

ABSTRACT In the 1990s, scientific cooperation at the National Institute for Amazonian Research (Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia - INPA), one of the oldest research institutions in Amazonia with the highest regional international cooperation, was dominated by research conducted by INPA’s foreign partners. In this article, the evolution of this situation is evaluated, with the hypothesis that, as the internal and the external environments have changed over the past decade, this should be reflected in more symmetrical research cooperation. The analysis was based on a 2004 to 2014 Web of Science search of scientific production at INPA, from which 786 papers were recovered. The results indicated an increase in scientific production but without a corresponding increase in symmetrical cooperation. The level of symmetry varied according to the type of cooperation; it increased when Brazilian institutions were exclusively involved, although these papers tended to be published in journals with a low impact factor. However, the scientific relationships remained relatively asymmetrical when only foreign institutions were involved, although these papers were published in journals with high impact factors. Network analyses indicated that most international scientific cooperation was concentrated in just two INPA research departments: Biodiversity and Environmental Dynamics. In contrast, INPA’s other two research departments, Technology & Innovation and Society, Environment & Health were peripheral, fragmented and benefited little from international cooperation.