Assessing Malaysia’s Research Universities’ Contribution to the Global Sustainable Development Agenda: A Bibliometric Evaluation (2021 – 2025)
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.24191/d50vgm33Keywords:
Bibliometric analysis, International collaboration, Malaysia, Research Universities, Sustainable development goalsAbstract
This study assesses the contribution of Malaysia’s research universities to the global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) agenda through a bibliometric evaluation of publications indexed in Scopus between 2020 and 2024. A total of 4,131 documents affiliated with Universiti Malaya (UM), Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM), Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM), Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM), and Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) were analyzed to determine publication trends, citation performance, collaboration networks, and thematic structures. The findings reveal a consistent increase in SDG-related research output over the five-year period, reflecting growing institutional commitment to sustainability scholarship. Journal articles represented the largest share of publications, with Sustainability (Switzerland) emerging as the leading source title. USM and UKM were identified as the top contributors, while highly cited works were dominated by global health-related studies published in The Lancet. Co-authorship and institutional network visualizations showed strong intra-institutional collaboration but limited inter-cluster linkages, suggesting potential for greater interdisciplinary cooperation. International collaboration networks highlighted Malaysia’s active partnerships with countries such as Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, India, and Bangladesh. Thematic mapping revealed four major clusters; health and social well-being, policy and economic development, environmental management, and renewable energy; illustrating the multidisciplinary nature of SDG research in Malaysia. Overall, the study underscores Malaysia’s growing visibility and engagement in global sustainability research, while emphasizing the need for more integrated and cross-sectoral collaboration to strengthen future contributions toward achieving the SDGs.
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