Unveiling the Web of Discovery: Trend analysis and network mapping of University Grants Commission-funded chemistry research

Research is the backbone of development of any society and nation. The present article discusses a study carried out on University Grants Commission (UGC)-funded research activities and its trends in India. Data for the study were collected from Web of Science database. The time span selected for the study was 2019–23. The study evaluated impact of funded research on the basis of some scientometric indicators. Additionally, the study projected some network visualizations created on the basis of visualization of similarities (VoS) Viewer as part of its analysis. The findings of the study showed a gloomy picture of the research trend and network visualization of research outputs in the field of chemistry, funded by UGC during 2019–23 with –4.99 compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of publications. Further the total citation (TC) per article decreased from 2019 to 2023 is due to reduction in numbers of citable years. Also, the findings showed that S. Kumar from the University of Delhi is the most productive author with h index of 12, R. Kumar of University of Delhi received highest numbers of citations, that is, 1491, India is one of the most productive countries with 1452 numbers of article publications and there exists collaboration among authors. Among various journals, Chemistry Select is the most preferred journal. Despite India being the most productive country in the field of Chemistry research, the numbers of publications and citations seem to be discouraging, hence is suggested to take necessary steps by all stakeholders for its improvement.