Dynamics of the Impact of the Coronavirus Disease on Scientific Production, Fund Attraction, and Project Delay for Engineering and Other Disciplinary Areas

Abstract

This study aims to identify the dynamics among scientific production, fund attraction, and delayed projects during quarantine periods during coronavirus disease (COVID-19) based on the perceptions of researcher professors surveyed. The survey response rate was 47%, corresponding to 118 research professors from a private university. Additionally, we explored articles by area on the period 1996–2023 at the institution and international levels indexed in the Scival database to elucidate trends in research production and, with this, verify if the perception of the research professors surveyed is correct. The research is expo-facto correlational, using statistical methods analysis like chi-squared tests to show statistically significant associations and polynomial models to project the expected research trends. The results indicated that for engineering research areas, developing projects with external funding and whose activities were delayed due to the pandemic was dependent on and highly correlated with the lack of access to laboratories, the inability to travel, and face-to-face meetings. The study found significant associations between the pandemic effect on the professors and the amount of external funding they attract. Although the majority considered themselves affected by the pandemic, all schools expected to produce more articles compared with those in previous years. At the international level, the booming number of publications has surpassed projections from 2020 to 2023, indicating the positive effect of the pandemic on the number of medical publications during the quarantine periods of 2020–2023. Finally, a verification conducted in Scival enabled the study to conclude that the expected increase in the scientific production of professors is agreed upon in 2020–2023 for many academic areas at the institution.