1. Subbiah Arunachalam M S Swaminathan Research Foundation Chennai 600 113, India E-mail: Communication flow and information access in South and South East Asia

2. Disk years199519961997199819992000 World707683730112745819770591785214778446 TH6006426989058801057 PH249253280289311326 ID285259344289322364 MY522479489574784679 SG141714071701203825202925 VN170193209205209290 BD240228227232263255 MM2118111018 LK115109102122147175 PK444367344424 406 IN110841117711067121281252112127 CN97131015212630146101713822061 Number of papers published from Asian countries [SCI]

3. No. of papersPercent share World778446 US26289233.77 UK725809.32 Japan680568.74 France449905.78 Canada319294.10 Germany633658.14 Italy316734.07 Number of papers published from G7 countries as seen from SCI 2000

4. Main telephone lines per 100 inhabitants 2001 * Internet hosts per 10,000 inhabitants 2001 * Population (thousands) 2001 GNI Per capita a $ 2000 BD0.39-133,405370 CN13.810.691,271,900840 IN3.380.811,033,390450 ID3.702.13213,638570 MY19.9131.1023,7963,380 MM0.58-48,315 …b * ITU, Statistics for the year 2001, released on 20 June 2002; a. Atlas method; see WDI Statistical methods. b. Estimated to be low income ($755 or less). Source: 2002 World Development Indicators database, World Bank, 20 April 2002 Population and technology indicators

5. Main telephone lines per 100 inhabitants 2001 * Internet hosts per 10,000 inhabitants 2001 * Population (thousands) 2001 GNI Per capita a $ 2000 PK2.350.78141,450440 PH4.024.0077,0151,040 SG 47.14 479.184,10324,740 LK4.331.2019,649850 TH9.3911.3261,2382,000 VN3.760.0679,526390 * ITU, Statistics for the year 2001, released on 20-June-2002; a. Atlas method; see WDI Statistical methods. b. Estimated to be low income ($755 or less). Source: 2002 World Development Indicators database, World Bank, 20 April 2002 Population and technology indicators

6. Population (thousands) 2001 No. of papers (SCI- 2000) Papers/ population (1000) BD133,4052550.00191 CN1,271,900220610.01734 IN1,033,390121270.01174 ID213,6383640.00170 MY23,7966790.02853 MM48,315180.00037 Contd… Data on publication per capita for Asian countries

7. Population (thousands) 2001 No. of papers (SCI- 2000) Papers/ population (1000) PK141,4504060.00287 PH77,0153260.00423 SG4,10329250.71289 LK19,6491750.00891 TH61,23810570.01726 VN79,5262900.00365 Data on publication per capita for Asian countries

8. Population (thousands) No. of papers (SCI 2000) Papers/ Population (1000) US283,962262892 0.9258 UK59,904725801.2116 Japan127,100680560.5355 France59,165449900.7604 Canada31,015319291.0295 Germany82,195633650.7709 Italy57,691316730.5490 Data on publication per capita for G7 countries

9. Number of JCR indexed journals published from Asian countries [JCR 2001]

10. Number of JCR indexed journal published from Advanced countries [JCR 2001]

11. No. of papers INKRTWSGTHMYIDPH CN1387871142102105515917 IN1143768381082734 KR82345237438 TW7113 275237 SG189232204 TH77413106 MY53852 ID2675 PH266 Number of papers coauthored by scientists from Asian countries* [SCI 1998] * In some papers there may be authors from more than two countries

12. Total No. of papers Total No. of collaborated papers % of collaborated papers Total No. of links Internatio- nalization Index IN11437201517.62330028.85 CN13878395528.5556940.13 JP607211000716.481349722.23 KR8234202324.57347542.2 TW7113116316.34190826.82 HK3210116436.26144244.92 Extent of international collaboration in selected Asian countries Data from SCI 1998 Contd…

13. Total No. of papers Total No. of collaborated papers % of collaborated papers Total No. of links Internatio- nalization Index SG189257630.4470637.32 TH77446059.4364983.85 MY53822445.3531658.74 ID26623487.97347130.45 PH26617866.92297111.65 Data from SCI 1998 Extent of international collaboration in selected Asian countries

14. Number of papers co-authored by authors from Asian countries with authors from advanced countries Collaborating countries INCNJPKRTWHK CA88195555926783 JP195627-41615538 US809121644941216725344 FR2192445751255816 DE30048510941679850 IT1321844051095412 UK23236898011776123 Data from SCI 1998 Contd…

15. Collaborating countries SGTHMYIDPH CA241381711 JP4389253942 US161166286358 FR101771811 DE122843011 IT46840 UK81796916 Number of papers co-authored by authors from Asian countries with authors from advanced countries Data from SCI 1998

16. No. of signers World (182 countries)30713 TH34 PH33 ID42 MY65 SG45 VN9 BD7 MM- LK18 Signers of Public Library of Science Open Letter (as of June 2002)

17. No. of signers US3265 UK1020 Japan70 France2521 Canada569 Germany996 Italy894 Signers of PLoS from G7 countries

18.  low volume of work as reflected by published journal literature  low level of patenting activity  low level of international collaboration Science in South East Asia is characterized by

19. Income levels and access to technology (telecom, computers, Internet, etc.) is by and large better than India, China and other South Asian countries. However, in some of these countries IT is used much more effectively in business rather than in science and higher education. In both these aspects, there are wide disparities among South East Asian nations.

20. Worldwide, there is great interest in making access to journals barrier free. Asian countries should take advantage of this movement and reap maximum benefit. The first step is to create awareness among scientists, librarians and policy makers. This could be achieved through traveling workshops with champions of open access such as Stevan Harnad, Steve Hitchcock, Paul Ginsparg, Leslie Chan and Peter Suber.

21. We may take advantage of efforts made by the  Third World Academy of Sciences  Inter Academy Panel  INASP  OAI consortium  Philanthropic foundations that support such movements