Institutional sectors of ‘mainstream’ science production in Subsaharan Africa, 1970–1979: A quantitative analysis

The place of production of ‘mainstream’ scientific authors in Subsaharan Africa is examined in terms of institutional sectors for the period 1970 through 1979. Patterns of production of ‘mainstream’ scientific literature and the citation visibility of this literature are also examined, for a shorter period of time, in terms of institutional sectors. It is shown that the university and public sectors predominate in the production of ‘mainstream’ authors. These same sectors also assure more consistent intra-African visibility of research results than do other sectors. However, the growth of the university and public sectors appears to have slowed considerably since the mid-1970s. Research conducted within regional and subregional cooperative organizations declined dramatically during the decade. A growing emphasis on external interventions under multilateral (rather than bilateral) auspices is noted.