Weisinger J R, Bellorín-Font E
Division of Nephrology, Hopsital Universitario de Caracas, Universidad Central de Venezuela.
Kidney Int. 1999 Oct;56(4):1584-90. doi: 10.1046/j.1523-1755.1999.00681.x.
During the last two decades, there has been a significant change in the origin and impact of the world's biomedical scientific production, particularly in countries in which the investment in research accounts for an important portion of the gross national product (GNP). However, in less developed countries, budget restrictions and the lack of policies toward research may determine a limited growth of the scientific production.
We examined the number and impact of peer-reviewed publications from Latin America included in the Institute of Scientific Information (ISI) and MEDLINE databases. In addition, we analyzed the number of abstracts submitted to the congresses of the International Society of Nephrology (ISN), American Society of Nephrology (ASN), and Latin American Society of Nephrology and Hypertension (SLANH).
The number of peer-reviewed publications in nephrology from authors in Latin America during the last 20 years represented less than 1% of the world's total. Only 13 out of the 22 Latin American countries accounted for these publications. The citation impact (3.52) was below the world average (7.82). However, this index showed a tendency towards growth in the five most productive countries. Likewise, the number of abstracts submitted to international meetings of nephrology by authors in Latin American countries has shown a steady growth in the recent years, but remains proportionately low compared with the rest of the world.
This study indicates that although efforts toward improving the quantity and quality of research in Latin America have been made, the final results are less than other regions in the world. Possible factors responsible for the low performance include a failure in academic motivation and lack of pressure for publication, as well as limited research funding. Therefore, important efforts from local and international nephrological communities are needed to boost research in Latin America.
在过去二十年中，全球生物医学科研成果的来源和影响发生了显著变化，尤其是在那些科研投入占国民生产总值（GNP）重要比例的国家。然而，在欠发达国家，预算限制和缺乏科研政策可能导致科研产出增长有限。
我们调查了科学信息研究所（ISI）和医学文献数据库（MEDLINE）中收录的来自拉丁美洲的同行评审出版物的数量和影响力。此外，我们分析了提交给国际肾脏病学会（ISN）、美国肾脏病学会（ASN）和拉丁美洲肾脏病与高血压学会（SLANH）大会的摘要数量。
在过去20年中，拉丁美洲作者发表的肾脏病领域同行评审出版物数量占世界总数的比例不到1%。22个拉丁美洲国家中只有13个国家有这些出版物。其被引影响力（3.52）低于世界平均水平（7.82）。然而，该指数在五个科研产出最多的国家呈增长趋势。同样，近年来拉丁美洲国家作者提交给国际肾脏病会议的摘要数量呈稳步增长，但与世界其他地区相比仍相对较低。
本研究表明，尽管拉丁美洲在提高科研数量和质量方面做出了努力，但其最终成果仍低于世界其他地区。导致表现不佳的可能因素包括学术动力不足、缺乏发表压力以及研究资金有限。因此，需要当地和国际肾脏病学界做出重要努力来推动拉丁美洲的研究。
