Comparación de la calidad científica de los radiólogos españoles que publican en revistas radiológicas españolas e internacionales

Abstract

Objective To determine that the quality, measured by the Hirsch index, of Spanish authors who publish in international radiology journals with an impact factor ( AJR, European Radiology, Investigative Radiology, Radiographics, and Radiology) is higher of those who publish only in Spanish journals or in both types of journals. Material and methods We analyzed a total of 6 radiology journals, including 5 international journals and one national (Radiología). We selected Spanish authors of original articles published in 2008 and 2009 who were working at Spanish centers when their articles were written. We classified the authors into three categories: a) those who published only in international journals; b) those who published only in Radiología, and c) those who published in Radiología and in an international journal. We calculated the Hirsch index score for each author and analyzed the groups using the Kolmogorov-Smirnov goodness-of-fit test, the Kruskal-Wallis nonparametric test, and the median test to evaluate the differences. Results Of the 440 identified Spanish authors as having published in the two-year period, 248 (56%) published only in Radiología, 172 (39%) only in international journals, and 20 (5%) in both. The mean Hirsch index score for the group of authors who published only in Radiología (1.15 ± 2.35) was lower than for those who published only in international journals (2.59 ± 3.39). Authors who published in both international journals and Radiología had the highest score on the Hirsch index (4.1 ± 3.89) ( P < .001). Conclusions The Spanish authors with the highest prestige and quality publish both in international journals and in Radiología.