Scientometric analysis of Latin American environmental studies

Abstract

The objective analysis of scientific production is analysed by scientometric methods that measure the development and progress in science through the analysis of productivity and impact of the scientific production in different universities, countries, research groups, etc. In this context, the aim of present study was to analyse scientific literature in the field of environmental studies that apply biomarkers in Latin America. The selected period of analysis was from 1999 to 2008. Brazil was the country that presented the highest number of published articles (872), followed by Mexico (559), Argentina (368) and Chile (232). The analysis of the h index showed that the four Latin American countries with higher scientific productivity presented lower values when compared with countries outside this region, meaning that the establishment of collaborative studies could be one of the strategies to improve Latin American visibility in environmental studies.