Brazilian Universities' Profiles and the Sustainable Development Goals (2015-2023). Production and Impact on Web of Science

Abstract

The Sustainable Development Goals as a global policy provide universities with the opportunity to offer information and
innovative solutions in international forums. In recent years, scientific research on the SDGs has not only grown, but has also
diversified. However, the relevant gaps in studies on the subject affect compliance with the Agenda2030. This article aims to
evaluate the Brazilian university system’s research into SDGs. It also proposes a methodological objective which is to verify
whether, through the analysis of scientific production, profiles can be identified, and university entities can be grouped based
on their similarity in the priority they give to different topics. A bibliometric analysis is carried out where the production and
normalized impact of Brazilian universities are studied, as well as a multidimensional scaling. The results reveal that the
Brazilian production of each SDG is concentrated in five universities and that, in general, the entities’ contribution to the SDGs
achieve a lower impact than the world average except for the theme “Life on Land” (SDG15). This suggests that Brazilian
research into the SDGs pursues a contribution of scientific knowledge of the local geographical scope. Furthermore, the data
indicate the presence of few universities with unique profiles when it comes to prioritizing scientific contributions to the SDGs.
Faced with the global challenge of more diverse and plural knowledge production, Brazilian centers can take advantage to
expand their scientific production on the SDGs on a more strategic scale with the purpose of influencing the universal political
agenda. The study enriches the understanding of the scientific contribution to the SDGs by Brazilian universities.