Source: Our own calculations based on Eustat, WoK
The growth in scientific production in Basque Country was greater than that in the number of researchers
[Captions illustration: Total personnel in R + D + innovation activities, Publications indexed in WoK]
Based on the data from the survey on R + D from Eustat which records the amount of people dedicated to research, development and innovation activities in the broadest sense, and also on the data on scientific production taken from the Web of Knowledge (ISI Thomson Reuters, 2002-2008), an important improvement in productivity of the science and technology system in Basque Country can be seen between the years 2002 and 2008 (taking 2002 as the base year).
In spite of the fact that, in 2003, according to the data from Eustat, there was an important decrease in the number of persons dedicated to R + D activities, calculated as 14%, the same year scientific production increased by 17%. This result is the product of cyclical evolution and the delay inherent in the publication system for research results.
Starting in 2005, and during the next three years, the productivity in Basque Country increased much more than that of the research community, motivated among other things by the increase in the importance attributed to the publication of research results, a product of public and private investment efforts in R + D