Portugal

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Portugal appears in this library through a small group of research organisations whose scientists have written papers held on this site. To be listed, an organisation must be connected to at least two of those papers. The group covers universities, research institutes and one nonprofit body, and it sits alongside the library's other organisation listings, which can be browsed under all kinds.

The Portuguese organisations shown here are concentrated in two cities. Most are in Lisbon, and two are in Porto. They are ordered by the cited work their scientists carried out while attached to each one, so the sequence reflects how much attention the research done at each place has received. It is not a ranking by size, age or standing. This overview therefore describes the country's presence on this site only. The library holds a selection of papers, and the picture here reflects that selection, not the whole of Portuguese science.

The institutions in order

The first organisation listed is Instituto Superior Técnico, a university in Lisbon. Its scientists account for a substantial body of the Portuguese work in our library, and that work has been cited widely. It heads the order because of the cited research done there.

Second is the University of Lisbon, also a university based in Lisbon. It is linked to fewer works than Instituto Superior Técnico, but those works have also gathered a large share of citations among the Portuguese entries.

Third is the Instituto de Engenharia de Sistemas e Computadores Investigação e Desenvolvimento, a research institute in Lisbon. The research from this institute has drawn heavy citation. The total for works associated with it is close to that of the top-listed university.

Fourth is the Instituto de Telecomunicações, a research institute in Lisbon. On this site it is linked to more works than any other Portuguese organisation. Those works also carry the largest citation total in the group. Even so, it is listed below the three entries above it. The ordering counts the cited work scientists did at each institution, not the raw totals attached to it, and the two measures can diverge. One likely cause is that papers are often credited to several affiliations at once.

Fifth is Universidade do Porto, the first entry outside Lisbon. It is a university in Porto, linked to a moderate body of work with a solid level of citation.

Sixth is INESC TEC, a research institute in Porto. Its works in our library are fewer than those of the larger Lisbon institutes, and they have drawn more modest citation.

Seventh is Universidade Nova de Lisboa, a university in Lisbon. Only a few works in our library are linked to it, yet those works have been cited heavily. Their citation total is larger than that of several organisations with many more papers here. A small number of strongly cited papers can therefore give an institution real weight in the library, even when its overall presence is slight.

Eighth is the Institute for Systems Engineering and Computers, the only organisation in the group classed as a nonprofit. It is in Lisbon. It is connected to a few works with a modest level of citation.

Ninth is Iscte – Instituto Universitário de Lisboa, a university in Lisbon. It meets the minimum for inclusion, but its works in our library have so far received little citation.

Research strengths

The library does not attach topics or fields to the Portuguese listing itself. The research areas behind these entries are given on the pages of the individual institutions. Some inference can still be drawn from the kinds of organisation that appear. Several of the most visible entries are research institutes whose names refer to telecommunications or to systems engineering and computing. Technical universities also feature prominently. This suggests that, on this site, Portuguese research is weighted towards engineering, computing and communications, at least among the most cited work.

That reading has limits. The names of organisations do not say which papers were written there or what those papers argue. For specific topics and findings, readers should follow the links to each institution's own page. There, the works, their subjects and their citations are set out in detail.

Universities and research institutes

The Portuguese entries divide fairly evenly between universities and dedicated research institutes, with a single nonprofit alongside them. The universities are Instituto Superior Técnico, the University of Lisbon, Universidade do Porto, Universidade Nova de Lisboa and Iscte – Instituto Universitário de Lisboa. The research institutes are the Instituto de Engenharia de Sistemas e Computadores Investigação e Desenvolvimento, the Instituto de Telecomunicações and INESC TEC. The Institute for Systems Engineering and Computers is the nonprofit.

On this site, the research institutes are especially prominent. The Instituto de Telecomunicações and the Instituto de Engenharia de Sistemas e Computadores Investigação e Desenvolvimento are each linked to work that is cited about as much as, or more than, the work of the largest universities in the group. This pattern is common where much research takes place in specialised institutes that work closely with universities. Still, the library shows only the affiliations recorded on papers, not the formal relationships between organisations.

Several of these organisations have similar names, especially those that refer to systems engineering and computers. The library lists them as separate entries, with different types and in some cases different cities. This overview follows the library and treats each as its own organisation. It makes no claim about how they may be connected.

Lisbon and Porto

Lisbon dominates Portugal's presence on this site. Seven of the organisations listed are in the capital. Between them they cover the full range of kinds in the group: large universities, research institutes and the nonprofit. The most cited work from Portugal on this site is largely associated with Lisbon organisations, led by Instituto Superior Técnico, the University of Lisbon and the two large Lisbon research institutes.

Porto is the second centre. It is represented by Universidade do Porto and by INESC TEC. In both cases the work linked to them is smaller in volume and in citation than that of the leading Lisbon entries. It is nonetheless enough to place both in the middle of the order, ahead of several Lisbon organisations. Within Porto, the university's work has been cited more than the institute's.

No Portuguese city other than Lisbon and Porto appears in the listing. That does not mean research is absent elsewhere in the country. It means only that no other organisation reaches the inclusion threshold among the papers this library currently holds.

Leading scientists, landmark works and collaborations

The Portuguese listing does not name individual scientists, single out particular works or show co-authorship between institutions. These details belong to the pages of the individual organisations. Readers interested in who carried out the cited research at, for example, the Instituto de Telecomunicações or Instituto Superior Técnico should consult those pages. There, the people are listed in order and their works are shown with citations.

A narrow point about collaboration follows from how the list is built. The gap between some organisations' citation totals and their place in the order suggests that many papers carry more than one Portuguese affiliation. A paper credited to several organisations adds to each of their totals. The ordering, which weighs the cited work each institution's scientists did there, sorts out that overlap. Shared credit of this kind points to joint work across Portuguese institutions, particularly within Lisbon. The library does not show which institutions share particular papers.

How to read the list

Three features stand out. First, the order does not simply follow citation totals. The Instituto de Telecomunicações has the most works and citations yet is listed fourth, while Universidade Nova de Lisboa ranks ahead of two organisations with more works here. The ranking rewards cited research attributed to each institution, which can differ from the totals displayed beside it.

Second, presence on the site is very uneven. A few organisations account for most of the Portuguese work. Others sit just above the two-paper threshold for inclusion. Small entries are therefore sensitive to change. A single new paper, or new citations to an existing one, could alter their position noticeably.

Third, the listing reflects the library's holdings at present, not a fixed account. As papers are added and cited, both the totals and the order will change. New Portuguese organisations may also appear once they pass the inclusion threshold.

Over time

The Portuguese listing gives no dates for the works behind each organisation. It is therefore not possible to say from this listing how the country's presence on the site has developed over the years, or when its most cited work appeared. Year-by-year detail, where the library provides it, appears on the pages of the individual institutions. Those pages are the place to trace how the research at each one has changed.