Evaluation of the scientific output of the faculty members of the paramedical school, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences based on Scopus database up to the end of 2012

Evaluation and recognition of a university's research status are essential for the university's research planners and policymakers. The present study aimed to assess the scientific output of the paramedical school, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences based on Scopus database until the end of 2012. In this descriptive study, scientometric method was used. The study data, including the research articles by the faculty member of the paramedical school, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, were extracted from Scopus database in May 2013. After providing descriptive information of the faculty members and retrieved documents, citation analysis was used to evaluate the scientific output of the department and the college. H-index of the paramedical school was 13. In addition, department of Optometry gained the maximum H-index and citation per paper (11 and 6.67, respectively). Besides, most of the publications of paramedical school of Mashhad University of Medical Sciences were related to 2011 (27 records in Scopus). The most active authors had 42 and 39 articles in Scopus, and 65.85% of the articles were written by these two authors. Moreover, first or corresponding authors of 46.34% of the articles (57 records) were the faculty members of the paramedical school of Mashhad University of Medical Sciences. Overall, the scientific output of the paramedical school, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences has had an ascending trend. Additionally, the collaboration coefficient of the faculty members of the paramedical school was higher compared to the average collaboration coefficient in Iran. Increasing research budget, strengthening research structures (related research centers), employing new faculty members, and increasing postgraduate students’ admission are among the strategies which can be utilized to increase scientific output.