A comparative analysis of scientific outputs of countries formed from former Yugoslav republics and other countries for the period 2008-2012

Scientific outputs of six countries (republics of the former Yugoslavia – the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia): Serbia, Croatia, Slovenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and Montenegro were discussed in this paper. For the purpose of comparison, the data for seven neighbouring countries of the former Yugoslavia (Albania, Greece, Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary, Austria and Italy) were given as well. Also, the data for the Group of Eight (G8) countries (the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, France, Italy, Germany, Japan and the Russian Federation) and some European countries similar in population to ex-Yugoslav republics were included. To gain a more complete picture on the outputs in scientific production (e.g., publications and patents), data on several developed European countries, as well as the countries from other continents were given. The analysis, which included 33 countries, was made based on different bibliometric indicators for the period of five years (2008–2012). The data were collected from international databases