In 2007, Turkish universities put out 18,331 international publications, but in 2008 this increased by 23.2 percent to 22,592 such publications. While this increase of 4,261 publications is the highlight of the new data released by YÖK, it's also a significant increase over the 16,807 international publications Turkish universities put out in 2006. Additionally, the number of academic publications per teaching faculty member increased from 0.54 in 2007 to 0.59 in 2008 -- meaning that despite the increase in publications, the 38,000 such faculty members at Turkish universities are still putting out an average of half a publication per year.
YÖK releases academic publication statistics each year, and this year an additional 21 universities, all founded within the past two or three years, were also included. Figures released last year regarding 2007 data were based on 93 universities; this year's release on 2008 treats 114 universities. YÖK also noted an important increase in publication by Anatolian and newly established universities. The leader in academic publication was İstanbul University in 2008, while the first place in publications per faculty member went to Turkish Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges (TOBB) University of Economics and Technology.
A trend was also observed where the universities with the most faculty members ended up producing the most academic publications. İstanbul University led the pack with 1,270 academic publications, followed by Hacettepe University with 1,197, Ankara University with 1,183 and Gazi University with 1,031. Also, newly founded universities such as Aksaray University changed the list of the top 10 universities in terms of publications per faculty member.
