Gregorio González-Alcaide

The Impact Factor in non-English-speaking countries

The representativeness of the ISI-Thomson Impact Factor rankings and the existing relationship between countries’ national languages and the diffusion of scientific publications is analyzed. We discuss literature on the Impact Factor related to language use, publication strategies for authors and editors from non-English-speaking countries, the effects of the inclusion of a new journal in the ISI-Thomson databases and the scientific policies articulated in some non-English-speaking countries. The adoption of the Impact Factor as the valuation criterion for scientific activities has favoured the consolidation of English language journals in the diffusion of scientific knowledge. The vernacular languages only conserve part of their importance in certain disciplines, such as Clinical Medicine or Social Sciences and Humanities. The Impact Factor, invented over 50xa0years ago now, could be a limitation for non-English authors and scientific journals, and does not consider some widely used practices among the scientific community concerning the development of Internet as a means for the diffusion of knowledge.

Redes de coautorías y colaboración institucional en REVISTA ESPAÑOLA DE CARDIOLOGÍA

Introduccion y objetivos El presente estudio analiza los patrones de colaboracion de los investigadores y las instituciones en los trabajos publicados en Revista Espanola de Cardiologia. Metodos Se identificaron las coautorias y relaciones de colaboracion institucional de Revista Espanola de Cardiologia en el periodo 2000-2005 y se obtuvo el indice de firmas/trabajo. Para construir las redes de colaboracion se utilizaron los programas «TextToPajek» y «PAJEK ». Resultados Se analizaron 980 trabajos, el 95,1% firmado en coautoria por 2 o mas autores y el 51,43% en colaboracion institucional. El indice de firmas/trabajo ha sido de 6,23 ± 3,1. Se encontro una relacion estadistica (p Conclusiones El analisis de las redes de colaboracion ha permitido identificar numerosas agrupaciones de autores del area cardiovascular en Espana, asi como las relaciones existentes entre ellas desde el punto de vista de la investigacion y las publicaciones cientificas. El aspecto mas significativo de la colaboracion institucional fue el predominio de la colaboracion intrainstitucional e intraautonomica (el 80,57% de las colaboraciones). Posibles estudios futuros podrian incluir el analisis de la produccion cientifica de los investigadores de las agrupaciones identificadas y la evolucion en el tiempo de los patrones de colaboracion.

Coauthorship networks and institutional collaboration patterns in reproductive biology

OBJECTIVEnReproductive biology is a highly productive area. By analyzing papers published in the major journals in the period 2003-2005, the collaborative patterns were characterized.nnnDESIGNnOriginal research papers published in 2004 in the journals included in the first quartile of the category Reproductive Biology of the Journal Citation Reports (2005) were selected. A bibliometric analysis was carried out with the information obtained, thus building up the networks of coauthorship and institutional collaboration.nnnRESULT(S)nA total of 4,702 papers were analyzed, 96.75% signed in collaboration by two or more authors, the authors per paper index being 5.24; 73.73% of the papers were collaborations between institutions. The U.S.A. and the U.K. headed the absolute productivity ranking in number of papers, and adapting the data with respect to the population, Israel, Australia, and other European countries, such as Finland, Belgium, Sweden, and The Netherlands, had notable contributions.nnnCONCLUSION(S)nWe identified the networks of authors who publish in the journals with the greatest impact factor. Only some of the most productive institutions have consolidated collaborative relationships with other institutions. We identified the scientific isolation of some countries which, although their productivity is high, have a small number of international collaborations.

Bibliometric analysis of leishmaniasis research in Medline (1945-2010)

BackgroundPublications are often used as a measure of success of research work. Leishmaniasis is considered endemic in 98 countries, most of which are developing. This article describes a bibliometric review of the literature on leishmaniasis research indexed in PubMed during a 66-year period.MethodsMedline was used via the PubMed online service of the US National Library of Medicine. The search strategy was Leishmania [MeSH] or leishmaniasis [MeSH] from 1 January 1945 until 31 December 2010. Neither language nor document type restrictions were employed.ResultsA total of 20,780 references were retrieved. The number of publications increased steadily over time, with 3,380 publications from 1945-1980 to 8,267 from 2001-2010. Leishmaniasis documents were published in 1,846 scientific journals, and Transactions of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (4.9%) was the top one. The USA was the predominant country by considering the first author’s institutional address (16.8%), followed by Brazil (14.9%), and then India (9.0%), however Brazil leads the scientific output in 2001-2010 period (18.5%), followed by the USA (13.5%) and India (10%). The production ranking changed when the number of publications was normalised by population (Israel and Switzerland), by gross domestic product (Nepal and Tunisia), and by gross national income per capita (India and Ethiopia). For geographical area, Europe led (31.7%), followed by Latin America (24.5%).ConclusionsWe have found an increase in the number of publications in the field of leishmaniasis. The USA and Brazil led scientific production on leishmaniasis research.

Scientific authorships and collaboration network analysis on Chagas disease: papers indexed in PubMed (1940-2009)

Chagas disease is a chronic, tropical, parasitic disease, endemic throughout Latin America. The large-scale migration of populations has increased the geographic distribution of the disease and cases have been observed in many other countries around the world. To strengthen the critical mass of knowledge generated in different countries, it is essential to promote cooperative and translational research initiatives. We analyzed authorship of scientific documents on Chagas disease indexed in the Medline database from 1940 to 2009. Bibliometrics was used to analyze the evolution of collaboration patterns. A Social Network Analysis was carried out to identify the main research groups in the area by applying clustering methods. We then analyzed 13,989 papers produced by 21,350 authors. Collaboration among authors dramatically increased over the study period, reaching an average of 6.2 authors per paper in the last five-year period. Applying a threshold of collaboration of five or more papers signed in co-authorship, we identified 148 consolidated research groups made up of 1,750 authors. The Chagas disease network identified constitutes a small world, characterized by a high degree of clustering and a notably high number of Brazilian researchers.

Coauthorship networks and institutional collaboration in Revista Española de Cardiología publications

INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVESnThe aim of this study was to analyze the patterns of investigator and institutional collaboration in papers published in the Revista Española de Cardiología.nnnMETHODSnDetails of coauthorship and institutional collaboration involved in articles published in the Revista Española de Cardiología in the period 2000-2005 were recorded and a collaboration index was derived. Collaboration networks were identified using the TextToPajek and PAJEK software tools.nnnRESULTSnOf the 980 papers analyzed, 95.1% had been authored by two or more individuals and 51.43% involved institutional collaboration. The overall collaboration index was 6.23 (standard deviation [SD] 3.1). There was a significant statistical relationship (P< .02) between the collaboration index and the journal section in which the article was published: the Original Articles and Special Reports sections had the highest collaboration indices (mean 7.87 [2.88]; and mean 6.59 [5.02], respectively). The 44 authors who had the highest publication rates were identified. In addition, 25 coauthorship networks involving 112 investigators were observed.nnnCONCLUSIONSnAn analysis of collaboration networks led to the identification of a number of author networks in cardiovascular medicine in Spain, and highlighted the interrelationships between them in terms of both scientific research and scientific publications. The most significant aspect of institutional collaboration was the predominance of collaboration within institutions and within Spanish autonomous regions (i.e., 80.57% of collaborations). Possible topics for future study include an analysis of the scientific productivity of the networks identified and of changes in the pattern of collaboration over time.

La producción científica cardiovascular en España y en el contexto europeo y mundial (2003-2007)

Introduccion y objetivos La publicacion de articulos de investigacion ha aumentado de manera considerable en los ultimos anos en todas las areas biomedicas. El objetivo de este trabajo es determinar el lugar que ocupa la investigacion cardiologica espanola de calidad en el contexto europeo y mundial y su evolucion durante el quinquenio 2003-2007. Metodos Utilizando como fuente de datos la base de datos Science Citation Index Expanded de Thomson Reuters, se comparo la produccion cientifica cardiovascular espanola con la de los paises de la Union Europea y los mas destacados del mundo, asi como la productividad relativa respecto al numero de habitantes y producto interior bruto y el numero de citas recibidas en las revistas del area «Cardiac & Cardiovascular Systems» del Journal Citation Reports (CCS-JCR). Resultados Espana ocupa el sexto puesto en el ranking europeo y el noveno en el mundial de la produccion cientifica, pasando al decimo mundial si se consideran unicamente las revistas del primer cuartil del area CCS-JCR. En numero de citas recibidas, Espana ocupa el septimo lugar europeo y undecimo mundial. En la productividad relativa respecto al numero de habitantes y el producto interior bruto, la posicion espanola es menos favorable, ocupando la decimoquinta y la decimoctava posicion, respectivamente. Conclusiones En investigacion cardiovascular, Espana ocupa posiciones similares a otras areas biomedicas, si bien su situacion es menos ventajosa respecto a algunos indicadores demograficos y economicos. Para que se mantengan los niveles adecuados de investigacion, es necesario que los gobiernos y las sociedades cientificas europeas consideren el fomento de la investigacion cardiologica de alta calidad como un objetivo primordial.

Library and information science research areas: Analysis of journal articles in lisa

The main fields of research in Library Science and Documentation are identified by quantifying the frequency of appearance and the analysis of co-occurrence of the descriptors assigned to 11,273 indexed works in the Library and Information Science Abstracts (LISA) database for the 2004–2005 period. The analysis made has enabled three major core research areas to be identified: World Wide Web, Libraries and Education. There are a further 12 areas of research with specific development, one connected with the library sphere and another 11 connected with the World Wide Web and Internet: Networks, Computer Security, Information technologies, Electronic Resources, Electronic Publications, Bibliometrics, Electronic Commerce, Computer applications, Medicine, Searches and Online Information retrieval.

Evolution of coauthorship networks: worldwide scientific production on leishmaniasis

INTRODUCTIONnCollaboration is one of the defining features of contemporary scientific research, and it is particularly important with regard to neglected diseases that primarily affect developing countries.nnnMETHODSnThe present study has identified publications on leishmaniasis in the Medline database from 1945 to 2010, analyzing them according to bibliometric indicators and statistics from social network analysis. Examining aspects such as scientific production, diachronic evolution, and collaboration and configuration of the research groups in the field, we have considered the different types of Leishmania studied and the institutional affiliation and nationality of the authors.nnnRESULTSnSeven-hundred and thirty-five authors participate in 154 prominent research clusters or groups. Although the most predominant and consolidated collaborations are characterized by members from the same country studying the same type of Leishmania, there are also notable links between authors from different countries or who study different clinical strains of the disease. Brazil took the lead in this research, with numerous Brazilian researchers heading different clusters in the center of the collaboration network. Investigators from the USA, India, and European countries, such as France, Spain, the United Kingdom, and Italy, also stand out within the network.nnnCONCLUSIONSnResearch should be fostered in countries such as Bangladesh, Nepal, Sudan, and Ethiopia, where there is a high prevalence of different forms of the disease but limited research development with reference authors integrated into the collaboration networks.

Scientific research in obstructive sleep apnea syndrome: bibliometric analysis in SCOPUS, 1991–2012

PurposeThe research in obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) may be beneficial from the collaboration between countries and researchers. In this study, we aimed to analyze the scientific research on OSA from 1991 to 2012 and to evaluate the collaboration networks between countries.MethodsWe conducted a bibliometric study in the SCOPUS database. The systematic search was limited to “articles” published from 1991 to 2012. Articles are results of original research; we evaluated the following criteria: number of countries represented, number of authors, number of citations, and journal names. We determined which countries were the most productive (more articles published) and the number of collaborations between these countries. The probability of citation was evaluated using adjusted odds ratios in a logistic regression analysis.ResultsWe found a total of 6,896 OSA-related articles that had been published in 1,422 journals, 50xa0% of these articles were concentrated in 41 journals. Of the 74 different countries associated with these articles, the USA had the highest involvement with 23.8xa0% of all articles published. The probability of citation increased by 1.23 times for each additional author, and by 2.23 times for each additional country represented; these findings were independent of time since publication, journal, or the country of the author.ConclusionsScientific production on OSA is increasing with limited international collaboration. The country with the greatest production in this period (1991–2012) was the USA, which concentrated the international collaboration network on OSA. We recommended that articles should be produced with international collaboration to improve the quantity of scientific publications and their chances of publication in high impact journals.