GEOGRAPHIC FOCUS OF POSTGRADUATE OUTPUT IN INFORMATION SCIENCE

Abstract

The evaluation of Brazilian graduate education is marked by tensions between the pressure for internationalization and the regional demands of a continental country with deep asymmetries. In this context, this study analyzes the geographic orientation of the scientific output of academic graduate programs in Information Science evaluated by CAPES in the 2021–2024 quadrennium. Its objective is to characterize the geographic focus (regional, national, or international) of theses and dissertations produced during the period, identifying patterns according to the programs’ geographic region and CAPES rating. The research is descriptive and exploratory, with a documentary design and a quantitative approach. A total of 1,493 works were analyzed and classified according to their geographic focus based on the reading of titles, abstracts, and, when necessary, the full text. The results show that the output of Brazilian programs is predominantly oriented toward issues internal to the national territory. The North and Northeast regions present the lowest levels of internationally focused output, and CAPES 7 programs are the only ones in which international focus exceeds regional focus. The only graduate program in the North, located in the Amazon region, and the only graduate program in the Midwest, located in the federal capital, present particularities related to their regional location. The study concludes that the geographic orientation of the output reflects both institutional vocations and persistent regional asymmetries in the Brazilian graduate education system.