Identification and Bibliometric Characterization of Research Groups in the Cardio-Cerebrovascular Field, Spain 1996-2004

Abstract

Introduction and objectivesThe abundance of macro-level studies on scientific production in the field of biomedicine in Spain only serves to highlight the scarcity of micro-level studies reporting on the activity of research groups–the basic units of the science and technology system. This lack of information may well be explained by the ambiguity inherent in the “research group” concept and by the existence of synonymous and homonymous bibliographic signatures that confuse the correspondence between these and the real authors. The aim of this study is to describe bibliographic production in cardio-cerebrovascular research and identify research groups active in the field. MethodsUsing Thomson-Reuters’ National Citation Report for Spain database and the National Library of Medicine Medical Subject Headings thesaurus, we defined the field of cardio-cerebrovascular research and identified research groups through coauthorship analysis supported by the opinions of an expert. Groups were described in terms of bibliometric indicators of activity and visibility. ResultsNinety-three groups made up of 772 different authors were identified from an initial subset of 6540 publications on cardio-cerebrovascular research. The groups we identified came mainly from the healthcare sector and the universities and were mostly located in the autonomous regions of Catalonia and the Community of Madrid. The scientific production attributable to the groups presented indicators of visibility above the mean for biomedicine. ConclusionsCollaboration between the healthcare sector and the universities dominated cardio-cerebrovascular research, although international collaboration rates were poor, standing at levels below the mean for biomedicine.