Abstract
BackgroundIoannidis et al. (2020) reported a standardized estimate of scientific productivity obtained from a worldwide database of 6,880,389 scientists who published at least 5 papers picked up by the Scopus database, and elaborated a ranking of ca. 120,000 scientists by both whole trajectory (career-long) impact and their current impact at year 2019. The goal of our paper is to contextualize Latin American ecologists’ contribution at the world level based on the four most scientifically productive countries in the region.Methods and findingsIoannidis et al. (2020) proposed a composite index that is the sum of six scientometric indicators: (1) The number of allocites, (2) the h index, (3) a per capita corrected version of h, (4) the allocites received as single author, (5) those received as single + first author, and (6) those as single + first + last author. We selected data for ecologists from Argentina, Brazil, Chile, and Mexico and comparatively analyzed their productivity according to the proposed index. We also compared these data with those obtained from a global sample of the top ecologists worldwide.ConclusionsBased on Ioannidis et al.’s proposition to evaluate scientific productivity we extract three lessons: (1) It does not pay to publish many papers; what counts is the number of allocites (i.e., self-citations do not add up). (2) Either be single, first, or last author; it does not pay to be in the middle of an authorship line. (3) Even worse it is to be among many co-authors because the proposed index allocates credits on a per capita basis.
Highlights
Ioannidis et al (2020) reported a standardized estimate of scientific productivity obtained from a worldwide database of 6,880,389 scientists who published at least 5 papers picked up by the Scopus database, and elaborated a ranking of ca. 120,000 scientists by both whole trajectory impact and their current impact at year 2019
Latin American ecologists’ contribution at the global level, possibly aiding public-policy decisionmaking, including categorization, prioritization, and financing of research and researchers. To obtain their metrics, Ioannidis et al [3] used a composite index that is the sum of the decimal logarithms of six scientometric indicators that include: (1) The number of allocites (NC, cites excluding self-citation); (2) the h index (H, Hirsch 2005, 2007); (3) a corrected version of it (Hm, [4]; it is H based on a fractionalized counting of papers according to the number of co-authors); (4) the allocites received by quality of authorship as single author (NCS); (5) those received as single + first author (NCSF); and (6) those as single + first + last author (NCSFL)
Brazil was represented by 16 ecologists, followed by 9 from Chile, 8 from Argentina, and 3 from Mexico
Summary
Ioannidis et al (2020) reported a standardized estimate of scientific productivity obtained from a worldwide database of 6,880,389 scientists who published at least 5 papers picked up by the Scopus database, and elaborated a ranking of ca. 120,000 scientists by both whole trajectory (career-long) impact and their current impact at year 2019. Ioannidis et al (2020) reported a standardized estimate of scientific productivity obtained from a worldwide database of 6,880,389 scientists who published at least 5 papers picked up by the Scopus database, and elaborated a ranking of ca. The goal of our paper is to contextualize Latin American ecologists’ contribution at the world level based on the four most scientifically productive countries in the region. Based on first authors who published in journals indexed by the Web of Science database, the four most scientifically productive Latin American countries in 2017 were: Brazil, Argentina, Mexico, and Chile, in decreasing order, together accounting for 9.3% of the world production [1]. A more current study [2] shows that the descending sequence is : Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, and Chile.
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