Nutrition sciences in Spain in the second half of the twentieth century: a descriptive bibliometric study of the journal Anales de Bromatologia (1949-1993)

Abstract

To analyse the institutionalisation of nutrition sciences in Spain in the second half of the twentieth century, and evaluate the activities of the journal Anales de Bromatología. Descriptive bibliometric study of the original articles. Full names of the authors and the complete article title were recorded. Using key words, each article was assigned by consensus of the researchers to a single main subject in accordance with the thirteen subject areas addressed by the Spanish Society of Bromatology in its meetings. An analysis was conducted of the distribution and trends of general productivity indicators and their characteristics. A total of 917 original articles were published, with a mean of 20.8 papers/year. The subjects for which the highest percentage of articles was recorded were foreign substances in foods, foods of plant origin and nutrition. A total of 874 authors contributed, with a collaboration rate of 2.43 and a transience rate of 70.1%. Distribution of the number of authors per article was close to that indicated by Lotka's law of scientific productivity. The top twelve producers, predominantly women, participated in 49.9% of the articles published. The journal showed low productivity and was of an endogamous nature, with a predominance of authors related to the School of Bromatology in the Faculty of Pharmacy, at the Complutense University. The subjects addressed reflected the demands of the nutrition transition in Spain.