New report analyzes biodiversity research for World Biodiversity Day

To mark International Day for Biological Diversity 2023, Elsevier, a global leader in research publishing and information analytics, has today launched a free to download report that takes an in-depth look into Dutch biodiversity research in comparison to other nations: ‘Biodiversity Research in the Netherlands and Worldwide.’

The report compares the scope and impact of biodiversity research in the Netherlands and from around the world, covering the academic landscape, collaboration with industry, how international policy is shaped, and an analysis of Dutch biodiversity research funding.

Biodiversity research is the study of life on earth at all levels, from genes to entire ecosystems consisting of plants, animals, humans, and other organisms. It not only includes rare, threatened or endangered species, it encompasses every living thing.

The report highlights a number of key findings:

• Scholarly research on biodiversity is increasing fast, with an 8% year-on-year increase in articles over the last decade and 10% increase in the last five years.

• In Europe, biodiversity research in the Netherlands is in the global top three countries for impact, with a Field Weighted Citation Impact (FWCI) of 2.40, while Switzerland and Sweden have FWCIs of 2.44 and 2.38.

• There is strong international collaboration on this topic, with Dutch researchers collaborating with authors outside the Netherlands on 83% of research articles. This is much higher than the global average of 37% for biodiversity articles.

• During the last decade, European countries published the most biodiversity research, with 41% of authors based in Europe, followed by the US (21%) and China (16%). The European lead has increased over the last two years.

Michiel Kolman, Senior Vice President of Research Networks, Elsevier, said: “The loss of biodiversity is a critical environmental challenge. If biodiversity declines further, so will the quality of life on earth. We hope this report proves useful to all stakeholders – from lawmakers to researchers and the public – as we collectively address this important issue. On a positive note, it’s very encouraging to see both such high volume and quality of research on this topic, both here in the Netherlands and across the globe.”

Analysis for report was carried out using Scopus, the world’s largest database of peer-reviewed literature. Scopus indexes content from more than 25,000 academic journals and 7,000 publishers.

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