Strategic research prioritisation in veterinary schools: a preliminary investigation

ABSTRACT

In step with the worldwide trend for highereducational institutes to establish areas of research emphasis,the accumulation of resources in key areas has become commonpractice in veterinary faculties. Although there are perceived logicalbenefits to research prioritisation, there have been very little criticalretrospective analyses of research prioritisation in any discipline,let alone in the relatively niche field of veterinary medicine.This study aimed to bring attention to this gap in knowledge.Evidence for the use and breadth of research area prioritisationin veterinary schools in Western nations was obtained throughpublicly available content on the Internet. Preliminary evaluation ofthe effectiveness of prioritisation strategies in veterinary schools toincrease research performance was performed using bibliometriccriteria. Although limited to publicly available information, findingsfrom this preliminary study suggest a positive relationship betweenan identifiable research prioritisation strategy and researchperformance of veterinary schools.