Abstract
BackgroundIn 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.MethodsThe 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.ResultsThe 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.ConclusionsCollaboration 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.
Highlights
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
Volume and evolution of the regional scientific output in Public Health Taking as reference the world domain, the results show that 27.23% of scientific output in the Scopus database pertains to the area of Medicine, with a total of 7,015,153 documents
According to the SCImago Country & Journal Rank (SJR), in the category of Public Health there were 13,234 documents published in the year 1996, and 29,924 in 2011, which is a growth rate of over 126% –approximately 55 percentage points more than the rate of growth of Medicine itself (70.9%)
Summary
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. In 1999, the Pan American Health Organization/World Health Organization (PAHO/WHO), together with the Centro Latinoamericano de Investigación para Sistemas de Salud (CLAISS) and the US Center for Disease Control (CDC), launched the initiative “La Salud Pública en las Américas” in order to establish bases for a focus on fortifying Public Health in the region. This initiative aimed to arrive at a general consensus as to the concept of Public Health and its essential functions, to elaborate a method for measuring the execution of these functions and offer support for self-appraisal of the state of health in each country [2]. Some of the results at the regional level [2,3] make manifest two fundamental aspects which are, in part, the motivation behind this study
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