Zacca-González Grisel, Chinchilla-Rodríguez Zaida, Vargas-Quesada Benjamín, de Moya-Anegón Félix
CSIC, Institute of Public Goods and Policies, Albasanz 26-28, 28037 Madrid, Spain.
BMC Public Health. 2014 Jun 21;14:632. doi: 10.1186/1471-2458-14-632.
In the greater framework of the essential functions of Public Health, our focus is on a systematic, objective, external evaluation of Latin American scientific output, to compare its publications in the area of Public Health with those of other major geographic zones. We aim to describe the regional distribution of output in Public Health, and the level of visibility and specialization, for Latin America; it can then be characterized and compared in the international context.
The primary source of information was the Scopus database, using the category "Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health", in the period 1996-2011. Data were obtained through the portal of SCImago Journal and Country Rank. Using a set of qualitative (citation-based), quantitative (document recount) and collaborative (authors from more than one country) indicators, we derived complementary data. The methodology serves as an analytical tool for researchers and scientific policy-makers.
The contribution of Latin America to the arsenal of world science lies more or less midway on the international scale in terms of its output and visibility. Revealed as its greatest strengths are the high level of specialization in Public Health and the sustained growth of output. The main limitations identified were a relative decrease in collaboration and low visibility.
Collaboration is a key factor behind the development of scientific activity in Latin America. Although this finding can be useful for formulating research policy in Latin American countries, it also underlines the need for further research into patterns of scientific communication in this region, to arrive at more specific recommendations.
在公共卫生基本职能的大框架下，我们重点关注对拉丁美洲科学产出进行系统、客观的外部评估，以便将其在公共卫生领域的出版物与其他主要地理区域的进行比较。我们旨在描述拉丁美洲公共卫生领域产出的区域分布情况以及知名度和专业化水平；进而在国际背景下对其进行特征描述和比较。
信息的主要来源是Scopus数据库，使用的类别为“公共卫生、环境与职业健康”，时间跨度为1996年至2011年。数据通过SCImago期刊与国家排名门户网站获取。我们运用一系列定性（基于引文）、定量（文献计数）和合作（来自多个国家的作者）指标得出补充数据。该方法可作为研究人员和科学政策制定者的分析工具。
拉丁美洲对世界科学宝库的贡献在产出和知名度方面在国际范围内大致处于中等水平。其最大优势在于公共卫生领域的高度专业化以及产出的持续增长。所确定的主要局限性是合作相对减少以及知名度较低。
合作是拉丁美洲科学活动发展背后的关键因素。尽管这一发现有助于制定拉丁美洲国家的研究政策，但它也凸显了对该地区科学交流模式进行进一步研究的必要性，以便得出更具体的建议。
