Presence of ISC in 8th Islamic Conference of Ministers of Higher Education and Scientific Research in Africa

8th Islamic Conference of Ministers of Higher Education and Scientific Research (ICMHESR) was held on 14-15 November, 2016, in Bamako, Mali with the presence of Ministers and vice-ministers of Higher Education and Scientific Research of Islamic countries and also authorities and director general of the Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ISESCO).

In this conference, Dr. Mohammad Javad Dehghani, President of Islamic World Science Citation Center (ISC), presented the report of 15-year (2000-2015) growth of scientific outputs of the world. This report revealed that over the last 15 years, Islamic countries’ share of world’s total number of scientific publications (quantitative indicator of research) has increased remarkably. The data are presented subject-wise in agricultural sciences, engineering and technology, humanities, medical and health sciences, natural sciences, social sciences.

While, world’s growth in scientific publication over the last 15 years was 87%, Islamic countries progress was 638%, which 7 times more than the world’s average. It is noteworthy that in 2000 Islamic countries’ share of world’s total number of scientific publications was 1.8%, while in 2015 it has reached 7.2%. The report was appreciated by Dr. Abdulaziz Othman Al-Twaijri, Director General of the Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ISESCO) and its great analytical value was acknowledged. Accordingly, ISC was invited to hold scientmetric workshops for Islamic countries to strengthen the capacity of OIC Member States in the field of science, technology and innovation by providing opportunities to researchers from Member States to interact with eminent scientists of OIC region to exchange expertise.

During 8th ICMHESR, Dr. Dehghani met Ministers of higher education of Tunis, Morocco, Mali and vice-minsters of Pakistan, Egypt, etc. and the potentials of ISC as Islamic World’s leading source of scholarly research data was in detail introduced to these countries. President of ISC emphasized that ISC by adopting advanced scientometric strategies to improve Islamic world’s scientific impact, citations, scientific diplomacy, economic impact, innovation and technological impact, is proceeding towards preparing the necessary grounds for enhancing the quality of research and establishing an efficient scientific network in the Islamic World.

Presence of ISC in 8th Islamic Conference of Ministers of Higher Education and Scientific Research paved the way for further enhancement of cooperation and collaboration among member states, sharing benefit and learning from each other’s experiences and supporting excellence in higher education and research; which accordingly ensures quality and suitability in higher education and scientific research in the Islamic world.