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Objective: To characterize the scientific production of the Revista Alergia Mexico., Methods: A descriptive study was carried out that took into consideration the bibliometric information of the Revista Alergia México hosted in PubMed (MEDLINE) and Scopus., Results: The total number of articles published during 1991 to 2021 according to Pubmed was 1,115 (annual mean: 37.2 ± 12.3). Scopus registered 1,541 articles during 1972 to 2021 (annual mean: 30.8 ± 14.9); in both sources, original articles (49 and 78%, respectively) and review articles (21 and 12%, respectively) were the most published document modalities; the most relevant topics included asthma (32%), allergic rhinitis (16%) and drug allergy (9%). Public institutions in Mexico were the institutions with the highest number of published articles. The country with the highest number of published papers was Mexico (54%), followed by Colombia (5%) and Spain (4%). The 2020 citation index according to Scopus was 0.9; an H-index of 15; and an impact factor of 0.150. During the period 2016 - 2020, the annual rejection rate ranged from 7% to 30%., Conclusions: Promoting the internationalization of the journal, publishing articles in the English language and achieving the impact factor are among some of the main needs of the Revista Alergia Mexico.

INTRODUCTION. Scientific collaboration is vital for to the advance of knowledge and is especially important in health sciences. The aim of this study is to identify scientific collaboration indicators and co-authorship networks of researchers and Spanish institutions that publish on multiple sclerosis (MS) during the period 1996-2010. MATERIALS AND METHODS. The analyzed papers were obtained from Web of Science and Scopus international databases, and IBECS and IME national databases, applying specific search profiles in each one of them. In order to identify collaboration networks all signed papers were quantified and co-authored measures were obtained, as the different indexes, degree, intermediation and closeness. RESULTS. 1,613 articles were published in the period 1996-2010, 92% of them in collaboration. With 10 or more works signed in collaboration, 20 Spanish research groups in MS were identified. 64.23% of the papers were published in collaboration between Spanish institutions, and 33.85% were in collaboration with foreign institutions. The institutional participation analysis has identified a large network of institutional partnerships that integrates 27 institutions, with the Hospital Vall d'Hebron in a central position. International collaboration is headed by the U.S. and European countries, most notably the UK and Italy. CONCLUSION. The most collaborative authors, institutions, and work groups in Spanish research in MS have been identified. Despite these indicators that characterize the collaboration in this area, it is necessary to enhance cooperation between them, since this collaboration is positively related to the quality and impact of research and publications.

Aims: To quantify by means of bibliometric indicators the scientific productivity of Spanish researchers and institutions that publish on multiple sclerosis in national and international journals during the period 1996-2010, and to determine their impact., Materials and Methods: Papers under study were obtained from Web of Science and Scopus international databases, as well as IBECS and IME national databases, applying specific search profiles in each., Results: 1613 articles were published in 460 journals, of which 71 were Spanish and 389 non Spanish, being the most productive Revista de Neurologia (n = 204), Multiple Sclerosis (n = 102) and Neurology (n = 97). The articles have been published mostly in English (71.92%) and Spanish (27.40%), participating 4728 authors from 1224 different institutions. The 67.08% of the papers have been cited at least once, but 32.92% have not received citations. The mean number of citations per paper was 12.47 ± 28.42. The most cited journals have been Neurology (n = 1821), followed by Multiple Sclerosis (n = 1124) and Journal of Neuroimmunology (n = 890)., Conclusions: The number of papers has increased steadily from 1996 to 2010, confirming the consolidation and growth of Spanish research in multiple sclerosis, whose results are published in a Revista de Neurologia and Multiple Sclerosis. We emphasize the growing internationalization of the Spanish research on the disease, but it is worrying that a third of the papers has not been cited.

Objective: This paper sets out to analyze the dissemination and impact of Spanish research published in international scientific journals on Prison Health over the last decade., Material and Methods: Descriptive, longitudinal and retrospective analysis of scientific output. We used the Medline-Pubmed database as an information resource. We focus on the bibliometric aspects of journals, papers and authors using the indicators offered by the Web of Science, the Journal Citation Reports and the Essential Science Indicators. We identify the output of Spanish researchers, journals in which they are published, authors and main research fields., Results: From 2002 to 2011, Spanish researchers published 159 papers, that is, nearly 2% of the world's share in Prison Health. The publication profile is mainly in international journals with an average impact on JCR. The Revista Española de Sanidad Penitenciaria is the most productive journal (9.09%), although its role is not prominent. Only two authors can be considered as medium-high productive authors with 10 papers in the study time period. The co-authors network shows a dense network with 14 authors along with minor fragmented networks. As regards citations, 6 papers have been cited 15 or more times and only two can be considered as highly cited. Three main research fronts have been identified: infectious diseases, drugs and psychiatric-psychological problems., Conclusions: The Spanish research production on Prison Health represents a similar share of the world output similar to that of other disciplines (1.9%), although slightly lower (General Medicine represents 3.05%; Public Health, 2.38%; Psychiatry, 2.29%; Toxicology, 2.46%). It seems likely that this share will increase as a result of the inclusion of its main journal in Medline along with an increasing number of researchers working on this discipline at an international level. However, inclusion has not yet led to integration into high-impact journals or a larger number of citations. The average Journal Impact Factor is relatively low (2.062) and few papers are published in first-class journals (Q1). There are few articles with a good citation average according to the discipline's standard. Likewise, the collaboration pattern still shows a poor state for Spanish research on Prison Health.

Psychiatric research in Spain went through a notorious increase in quality and quantity of peer-reviewed papers during the last decade of the previous century, in parallel with other medical disciplines. Although there have been systematic studies of scientific production, they are inadequate from the perspective of the research groups and particularly from university departments. We considered this bibliometric study, in order to analyze the scientific production of the Department of Psychiatry and Forensic Medicine, at the Autonomous University of Barcelona, UAB [DPsML]. METHODOLOGY. In a cross-sectional survey of independent groups (n = 57, 54% men), indicators were applied to production, quality, visibility/distribution and sustained popularity. RESULTS. DPsML research groups, published 314 articles and/or reviews (216 international) between 2004 – 2009, reaching a total of 974 quotations in the period (16 quots./ basic researcher and 11.3 quots./clinical researcher). Contributions at the Thomson Scientific Index [TSI], come from clinical groups (56.48%), and basic groups: 43.52%. The basic groups showed on average impact factor of 5.12 and clinical groups of 2. CONCLUSIONS. DPsML published 11.84% of most cited papers in Spanish psychiatry, 20% in the field of drug addiction and 20.84% in the field of behavioral science,1 the inconsistent results with other bibliometric studies2 on the same researchers, shows the need for more tight and demanding indicators and mapping of production encompassing, both research groups as molar units (university departments). Key words: Bibliometrics, Scientific output, Impact index, Citation analysis, Psychiatry.

The main objective of the present study was to classify doctoral programs with Quality Mention in Psychology based on their scientific productivity. For this purpose, articles in the Web of Science published by professors teaching in these doctoral programs were analyzed. In addition, we analyzed scientific journals in which these professors tend to publish more papers and the evolution in the number of papers published until 2009. Results showed that the most productive doctoral program was the Neurosciences program at the University of Oviedo. This program showed a ratio of 40 articles--published in journals included in Journal Citation Reports--by each professor. In contrast, other programs did not reach a ratio of 10 articles per professor. Regarding journals, results showed that 9 out of the 20 most popular journals are Hispanic and a gradual increase in the number of published papers was also observed. Lastly, results and implications for quality assessment are discussed.

Introduction: Authorships of scientific papers are a significant milestone for researchers. Quantification of authors' contribution in research papers makes it possible to investigate patterns of research collaboration and interactions in scientific community. The objective of this paper is to analyse scientific collaboration and to identify research groups and research areas of ANALES DE PEDIATRÍA., Material and Methods: Papers published in ANALES DE PEDIATRÍA between 2003 and 2009 period were selected from Medline. An author name normalization process was carried out. Productivity and scientific collaboration indexes have been determined. Research groups have been identified through co-authorships networks analysis. Thematic areas of research and major domains of research groups have been characterised by means of quantification of Medical Subject Headings terms assigned to documents., Results: An analysis was made of 1,828 documents published by 4,695 authors. The collaboration index (articles) was 5.3 ± 2.3. A total of 97 research groups consisting of between 2 and 80 researchers, which add up 415 researchers have been identified. The main diseases and medical signs studied were asthma (n = 35), multiple abnormalities (n = 28), premature diseases (n = 25), sepsis (n = 24), congenital heart defects (n = 23), respiratory insufficiency (n = 22), HIV infections (n = 21), streptococcal infections (n = 20) and gastroenteritis (n = 20)., Conclusions: ANALES DE PEDIATRÍA is one of the most productive Spanish medical journals. Author's collaboration was similar to those observed in other Spanish clinical journals included in Journal Citation Reports. A remarkable number of paediatric research groups publishing on many topics have been identified., (Copyright © 2010 Asociación Española de Pediatría. Published by Elsevier Espana. All rights reserved.)

Introduction: Scientific cooperation is essential for the advance of biomedical research. Scientists set up informal groups to work together on common issues, who are the main units in the research funding system. Bibliometric and Social Network Analysis methods allow informal groups in scientific papers to be identified and characterised. The objective of the study is to identify research groups in Archivos de Bronconeumología between 2003 and 2007 period with the aim of characterizing their scientific collaboration patterns and research areas., Methods: Co-authorships, institutional collaboration relationships and the main research areas of papers published in Archivos de Bronconeumología have been identified. Co-authorship networks and institutional collaboration networks have been constructed by using Pajek software tool., Results: A total of 41 research groups involving 171 investigators have been identified. The Collaboration Index for articles was 5.59 and the Transcience Index was 73.11%. There was institutional collaboration in 60.33% of papers. The collaboration between institutions of the same region prevails (41.03%), followed by collaborations between departments, services or units of the same institution (39.74%), inter-regional collaboration (14,97%) and international collaboration (6.83%). A total of 83.03% of articles were cited. The main research areas covered by groups were chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, asthma, lung neoplasm, bronchogenic carcinoma, smoking and pulmonary embolism., Conclusions: The scientific production of a large number of Respiratory System Spanish research groups is published in Archivos de Bronconeumología. A notable collaboration and citation rate has been observed. Nevertheless, it is still essential to encourage inter-regional and international collaboration., (Copyright 2009 SEPAR. Published by Elsevier Espana. All rights reserved.)

Twenty years of Spanish psychological research in Psicothema (1989-2008). Scientific collaboration and gender equality are two spheres of great interest for the organizations responsible for instigating scientific policies. We have identified the research groups and women's contribution to one of the most outstanding Spanish psychology journals. We have selected papers published during the 1989-2008 period in Psicothema. A bibliometric and network analysis was carried out using the Pajek Software tool. We have analysed 1,718 papers, written by 2,423 authors, 53.45% men and 47.54% women. We have identified 86 research groups made up of 293 researchers. We have observed a high increase of productivity and collaboration in the 1999-2008 period, as well as the consolidation, growth, and evolution of many incipient groups identified in the 1989-1998 period, benefiting from the increased interest and prestige of the journal. Despite the increase in the number of women, rising from 35.71% in 1989 to 48.48 in 2008, we have observed an imbalance with regard to productivity and the order of signatures, where women are relegated to intermediate positions.

Background: The need to evaluate curricula for sponsorship for research projects or professional promotion, has led to the search for tools that allow an objective valuation. However, the total number papers published, or citations of articles of a particular author, or the impact factor of the Journal where they are published are inadequate indicators for the evaluation of the quality and productivity of researchers. The h index, proposed by Hirsch, categorises the papers according to the number of citations per article. This tool appears to lack the limitations of other bibliometric tools but is less useful for non English-speaking authors., Aims: To propose and debate the usefulness of the existing bibliometric indicators and tools for the evaluation and categorization of researchers and scientific journals., Methods: Search for papers on bibliometric tools., Results: There are some hot spots in the debate on the national and international evaluation of researchers' productivity and quality of scientific journals. Opinions on impact factors and h index have been discussed. The positive discrimination, using the Q value, is proposed as an alternative for the evaluation of Spanish and Iberoamerican researchers., Conclusions: It is very important de-mystify the importance of bibliometric indicators. The impact factor is useful for evaluating journals from the same scientific area but not for the evaluation of researchers' curricula. For the comparison of curricula from two or more researchers, we must use the h index or the proposed Q value. the latter allows positive discrimination of the task for Spanish and Iberoamerican researchers.

Objective: To analyze Spanish scientific research output related to tuberculosis during the 10-year period from 1997 through 2006 and to consider it within the context of European Union (EU) productivity., Material and Methods: The bibliometric study was based on a search of the MEDLINE database, using the PubMed search interface. Search terms were tuberculosis or tuberculous appearing in any database field., Results: Of 35 735 titles retrieved, 1191 were by Spanish authors. This represented 4.1% of world output. Spain, accounting for 13.5% of EU scientific output in this area, was the third most productive EU country; 610 (51.2%) of the papers were published in English and 581 (48.8%) in Spanish. The number of papers published remained steady over the 10-year period. The first author's specialty was usually microbiology (225 documents, or 20.6%), followed by internal medicine (154, or 14.1%), and respiratory medicine (117, 10.7%). Journals publishing the largest numbers of papers on tuberculosis were Medicina Clínica and Enfermedades Infecciosas y Microbiología Clínica with 78 (6.5%) each, Anales de Medicina Interna with 72, Revista Clínica Española with 64, and Archivos de Bronconeumología with 63. The most productive provinces were Madrid and Barcelona, with 272 (22.8%) and 256 (21.5%) papers, respectively. The most productive institutions were hospitals, with 900 titles (75.6%), followed by universities, with 132 (11.1%)., Conclusions: Tuberculosis research in Spain has taken place at a steady rate over the last 10 years and has accounted for a substantial proportion of EU research in this field. Half the papers by Spanish authors were found in international journals published outside Spain. The majority of papers were from authors working in hospitals.

Background: There is growing concern for promoting equality between sexes and full integration of women in research activities. The purpose of this study is to identify the bibliometric characteristics of articles published during the 2001-2005 period in Enfermedades Infecciosas y Microbiología Clínica (EIMC) from the perspective of gender., Method: EIMC records for 2001-2005 were obtained from the Science Citation Index database and differences according to sex were calculated for the following indicators: year of publication, type of document, number and order of author signatures, number of collaborators, and the signature/article index at the institutional and geographical level., Results: A total of 2,163 authors were identified, 1,220 (56.4%) men and 943 (43.6%) women. The greatest of contribution from women was in original articles (42.32% of signatures). Excluding the Centro Nacional de Microbiología (Spanish National Center for Microbiology), the participation of women was lower than men in the most productive institutions. There were significant differences regarding the number of papers published and the number of collaborators; with greater productivity for men and a higher rate of collaboration for women., Discussion: Studies on scientific activity according to gender provide essential information to establish the basis for a policy of equality in this regard. A yearly increase of almost 1% was seen in the number of female authors contributing articles to the EIMC, which, if the trend continues, will result in parity in coming years. Nevertheless, the presence of women in positions of high productivity remains low. The causes of this difference should be identified and corrected.

Introduction: San Antonio, Somacarrera (1977) and Rousaud-Inmark (1984) studies established the first data of incidence and prevalence about urolithiasis in Spain. Other regional or national epidemiologic details were given for several authors from 1977 to 2002., Material and Method: Sixteen papers with original data about incidence or prevalence have been selected, 5 of them are about incidence, 8 about prevalence and 3 include both. Ten papers are based on poblational research (San Antonio, Martin, Pedrajas, Rousaud-Inmark, Torres, Ripa, Romero, Grases, Alapont, Aíbar), 5 on subjective estimations (Solé-Balcells, Cifuentes, Puigvert, Serrallach, Conte) and one include both (Somacarrera). Seven papers are nationwide and 9 are about local areas. A map with different location studies is presented and a data register show incidence and prevalence medians., Results: The Spanish median urolithiasis incidence is 0.73%, corresponding to 325,079 new cases per year; and the prevalence is 5.06%, corresponding to 2,233,214 cases., Discussion: Methodologically the best epidemiologic studies about lithiasis are based on general population survey. The commonest slant is extract data from retrospective clinical registers. Most studies have significant methodological difficulties, but they reflected interest about epidemiology of stone disease in Spain. There is a concordance between Spanish results and international published data.

Introduction: Bibliometric studies belong to the so-called 'social studies of science', and science policy constitutes one of its main applied fields, providing objective and useful tools for evaluating the results of scientific activity. Neurological sciences are very important in the bibliometric map of Spain about biomedicine and health sciences, from a quantitative (second thematic area in productivity, only after biology-biochemical) and a qualitative (high health costs and morbimortality) point of view., Development: In Spain we can found about 360 biomedical journals, 18 of them related to the area of neurological sciences. In 2005, only 17 biomedical Spanish journals were in the Science Citation Index database, three of them in the field of neurosciences: Neurologia (impact factor = 0.57), Revista de Neurologia (0.39) and Neurocirugia (0.23), and these journals have also very good Latindex criteria about formal aspects. But it is important to mention that the impact factor specifically measures visibility and diffusion of the works published by these journals rather than their scientific quality. We search the answer to some questions about the present and future of biomedical journals in general and neurological journals in particular: paper or electronic publication?, free access or open access?, scientific journal or scientific article?, English or Spanish publication?, Conclusions: The Acuerdo de Buenos Aires is an initiative to promote scientific neurological papers of high quality in Spanish. The current status of neurological journals in the bibliometric context of our country is good and open to the advantages of electronic and free access.

Due to the strict selection process applied to its indexed journals, Medline is the most prestigious database in the Health and medicine field. The aim of this paper is both to analyze its selection criteria and translate into indicators that can be applied to Spanish medical journals willing to enter the Index Medicus. Analysis samples and methodology to apply obtained from the five groups of criteria considered by Medline (namely, Scope and coverage, Quality of contents, Quality of editorial work, Production quality and Audience) are proposed. A list of qualitative and quantitative indicators related to the five groups of criteria used by Medline is presented; namely, journal scientific output in the national and international context of the discipline, citation, analysis of the editorial committees, the editorial process and the peer-review system, indicators on compliance with the Vancouver guidelines, journal layout and informational quality, attractiveness, audience, journal visibility and interest as regards Medline goals.

Five obstacles are described that currently prevent Spanish researchers in the psychological sciences from publishing more frequently in journals of high impact factor. These are: a) a general lack of confidence in your ability; b) a tendency for your papers to be driven more by speculation rather than data; c) excessive length of submitted manuscripts; d) higher than expected rates of drop-out and non-participation in studies, and e) lack of independence from pharmaceutical companies. Although many of these problems will require long-term structural changes, others can be addressed immediately and yield improvement rapidly.

Objectives: to analyze scientific output from Spanish hospitals in relation to Helicobacter pylori infection., Methods: papers collected from the Medline database between January 1988 and December 2003 were selected. Our search strategy was: "Helicobacter pylori" [MeSH] AND ((Spain [AD] OR Espana [AD] OR Spanien [AD] OR Espagne [AD] OR Espanha [AD]) OR (Spanish [LA]) OR Spain). The following was analyzed: geographic area, Spanish or foreign publication, topic, and year of publication. Output and impact bibliometric markers were evaluated., Results: in all, 691 papers were identified, of which 241 were excluded. Number of papers went from 2 in 1988 to 47 in 2002 and 13 in 2003. There were more reports in Spanish versus foreign journals (58 vs. 42%). In the first 5 years the areas with greater output were associated with diagnosis and microbiology (33 and 20%), whereas therapy was the predominating subject during the last 5 years (27%). Original papers were most common among publications (69%). Hospitals with highest output included La Princesa (24%) and Ramón y Cajal (17.6%) in Madrid, and Parc Taulí in Barcelona (6.4%). Mean impact factor progressively increased from 1.826 in 1988 to 2.142 in 2002 and 2.493 in 2003., Conclusions: the production and impact of documents published by Spanish scientists regarding H. pylori infection considerably increased during the past two decades.

Aim: This paper is based on a study of Revista Trimestral Micrografica (Trabajos del Laboratorio de Investigaciones Biologicas) between its creation by Santiago Ramon y Cajal in 1896 and his death in 1934., Development: The journal Revista Trimestral Micrografica was the main way in which Santiago Ramon y Cajal and his school published their work since its creation. Ramon y Cajal created the journal for two main reasons: first, he needed a rapid system to publish his own work; second, the journal could serve to encourage his pupils. The journal published many important reports defending the neuronal theory which expanded the cellular one to include the nervous system.

The aim of this paper is to present the bibliometric indicators of Actas Españolas de Psiquiatría that were obtained from the study "Potential impact factor of the Spanish medical journals in 2001", financed by the Spanish Ministerio de Educación, Cultura y Deporte. The citations made in Actas Españolas de Psiquiatría and its national and international impact factor and immediacy index have been obtained by the use of a methodology similar to the one used by the Institute for Scientific Information. The national indicators only take into account the citations made in 87 Spanish journals considered as sources, while those from the foreign source journals of Science Citation Index have been added to the previously cited ones. Actas Españolas de Psiquiatría has obtained a national impact factor of 0.315 and an international impact factor of 0.395, which places it as a leader in the Spanish psychiatric journals.

Introduction: Medical research in our geographic area has undergone significant changes over the last three decades. The objective of this study was to quantitatively determine Spain's medical research output published in the journals included in the Infectious Diseases section of the Journal Citation Reports, and to compare it with that of other European Union (EU) countries., Methods: The PubMed Web site (MEDLINE) was used to retrieve medical articles published by authors from Spain and other EU countries from 1991 to 2001 in 36 infectious disease journals included in the Infectious Diseases section of the Journal Citation Reports., Results: We retrieved a total of 17,899 documents published by EU authors during the study period. Authors from Spanish institutions contributed 1,340 documents, 7.5% of the overall EU production. Spain ranked in the sixth position of the EU by number of papers. It remained in the same position after adjusting for gross national product and dropped to the ninth position after correcting for population. The number of articles published increased from 72 in the biennium 1991-1992 to 442 in the biennium 2000-2001. Spanish production rose by 514%, as compared with a median increase of 149% in the other EU countries. Spain was the first producer of articles from the EU in four journals: Diagnostic Microbiology and Infectious Disease (27.6%), European Journal of Clinical Microbiology & Infectious Diseases (24.8%), American Journal of Infection Control (21.8%) and Microbial Drug Resistance (17.5%)., Conclusions: Spanish scientific production in infectious diseases has increased substantially in the period 1991-2001.

Objectives: To count the scientific contributions that were carried out at the Otorhinolarngology Departments in Spain from 1998 to 2002 years and to measure their scientific relevance using different bibliometrics tools., Method: Abstracts of articles located on MedLine (http://www.ncbi.nih.gov/PubMed) that have been published by Otorhinolaryngology departments in Spain, by a specific designed search strategy. Papers were classified by journal type (national/international) and study design (original or clinical case). A rank of productivity per hospital was design according to the following variables: total number of articles, total number of originals and cummulative impact factor (according to the category assigned by the Journal of Citation Reports, 2000 from the Institute for Scientific Information)., Results: A total of 18,472 papers were located, being 703 papers from 116 Otorhinolaryngology departments in Spain. This represents a 4% of the world's scientific production. There were 196 international and 498 papers in Spanish journals; in addition, 439 were original articles and 265 clinical cases. The centers in Spain with the most relevant scientific productivity are: Hospital Central de Asturias, Hospital Virgen del Rocío de Sevilla, Hospital La Paz de Madrid, Hospital Santa Creu i San Pau de Barcelona, Clínica Universitaria de Navarra and Clínica Puerta de Hierro de Madrid (all of them with a cummulated impact factor in 5 years > 10).

Objective: To describe the articles published in "Revista Española de Medicina Nuclear" (REMN) from 1991 through 2000., Material and Methods: Five hundred and forty-two articles (originals, reviews, editorials, letters, clinical notes and images of interest) published in REMN during the past 10 years (1991-2000) were gathered. The following variables were assessed: topic, procedure, type of article, number of authors, Spanish region affiliation, country, number of pages and number of references. The results for the five year periods 1991-1995 and 1996-2000 were also presented., Results: Excluding the editorial contributions, the most dealt with topic was the osteoarticular system (14.9%), followed by the heart (14.2%), endocrinology (12.1%), gastroenterology (11.3%) and neurology (10,3%). One hundred and thirty articles were linked to oncology. Madrid (23.7%), Catalonia (22.5%), Andalucia (10.6%) and Aragon (10.1%) were the Spanish regions that made the most contributions. Conventional planar scintigraphic studies were the most used procedure (49.1%), followed by SPECT (16.6%). The countries that were represented most were Spain and Cuba, with 410 and 36 works, respectively. The global trend underwent little change in the above variables in the decade. The pages/paper index was 6.1 +/- 1.7 for original papers and 6.5 +/- 4.3 for reviews. The authors/paper index was 6.3 +/- 2.3 for original papers and 2.7 +/- 2.1 for reviews. The references/paper index was 21.9 +/- 11.4 for original papers and 3+/- 1.1 39.6 for reviews. These three indexes increased in all sections between the periods 1991-1995 and 1996-2000., Conclusions: This survey shows subtle qualitative changes throughout the period analyzed. A quantitative increase in the scientific production in the REMN seems to exist. However, many factors must be considered in the final evaluation of these results and this remains beyond the scope of this descriptive work.

Objectives: 1. To find the scientific output on communication and health both in Spain and internationally. 2. To compare the two outputs according to the type of articles published and the design of the research., Design: Descriptive and bibliometric study., Material: The data bases MEDLINE (1995-2000) and IME (1990-2000) and the books summarising papers from semFYC Congresses (1995-2000) were used., Measurements: The number of articles on MEDLINE published and indexed with the description <>, plus a series of subject describers that could be included under the heading <>, were counted. On the IME and in the semFYC congress summaries the describers <> were used. The articles indexed on MEDLINE-IME were compared for their classification as original articles, clinical practice guidelines, review, editorial or letter to the editor. Original articles were classified in randomised and non-randomised trials, meta-analysis and observation studies., Main Results: 6766 articles were found on MEDLINE, 42 on the IME (0.046% of the total indexed) and 34 summaries from semFYC congresses (1.47% of the total). Among the most commonly studied questions were found patients' information and education, professional stress and psychological interviews; among the least studied were difficult and aggressive patients, negotiation and people accompanying patients. The original articles on MEDLINE and IME were 70% and 37%; and review articles, 11% and 44%. 1.4% of MEDLINE articles were randomised trials; and 0.08%, meta-analysis., Conclusions: Communication and health research is a young field that still requires descriptive studies. There is little scientific output in this area in Spain, with few original papers and too many reviews.

Objectives: To evaluate the validity of the information of bibliometric interest retrieved from MEDLINE and referred to the articles published by Atención Primaria journal from 1989 to 1995. To describe the presence of this journal and its evolution among the journals of its own thematic group (Family Practice) during the same period., Design: Retrospective descriptive study., Material: MEDLINE database on SilverPlatter, 1997 edition., Measurements: In a first step, all the documents published by the spanish journal during this period have been revised. Secondly, with a sample of 385 documents that comes from 24 issues selected at random, it has been analysed the indexing of the following fields: title in english (TI), original title (TO), authors (AU), bibliographic citation (SO), year of publication (PY), country of publication (CP) and type of publication (PT). The field institutional address of primary author (AD) will be studied exhaustively. The number of articles indexed coming from the different journals of the Family Practice group, and their evolution during the studied period were analysed, as the countries and languages of publication of these journals. The spanish journal has been compared with the rest of its thematic group in type of publications and type of studies (PT field)., Main Results: MEDLINE hasn't indexed 158 out of 1865 (8.47%) of the documents published by the journal from 1985 to 1995. This percentage becomes 4.04% when reply letters, that MEDLINE doesn't indexed, are not considered. MEDLINE offers the field AD for the papers published by the Spanish journal from 1990. From this moment on the field AD appears in 95% of the indexed documents. The 30% of the registers without the AD field, don't have institutional address in the original document. The institution or centre that MEDLINE cites firstly in the AD field, coincide with the one of the first author, in 99% of the cases. The number of authors is correct in all cases, even if in 3.37 +/- 1.8% there are typographical mistakes. TO, SO, PY and CP fields are always corrected. Nevertheless MEDLINE modifies in 66.7 +/- 4.7% of the documents the english title (TI field). The presence of the spanish journal in the Family Practice group has continuously increased in global terms from its inclusion in MEDLINE database, even if its relative contribution has stayed the same, around a 14%, in the course of the period analysed. There are differences between the spanish journal and the rest of the journals of its thematic group in type of publications and type of studies., Conclusions: The analysis of the 7 first years of the Atención Primaria indexing bring us to affirm that MEDLINE can be used to obtain valid information to describe some bibliometric aspects interesting for the scientific production, mainly coming from primary care spanish professionals, and published in this journal. Translations into english of the titles that appears in the english summary had to be improved. Institutional address had to be always and more clearly provided. The presence of the spanish journal among the journals of its thematic group is important (14%), even if its profile in type of publications and type of studies is significantly different.

Objective: To describe the original research articles published in Revista Española De Anestesiología y Reanimación (REAR) from 1987 through 1996, as well as to characterize the citations included in those articles., Material and Methods: The 299 articles published as original research in REAR over the past 10 years (1987 through 1996) were analyzed. The bibliographic aspects examined were coauthorship (authors/paper index), citations per article, isolation in function of language of publication of references, degree of obsolescence of articles based on year of references cited ("half-life"), self-citation and degree of dispersion of citations., Results: The authors/paper index was 5.16 +/- 1.62. No statistically significant difference was found in number of authors over the 10-year study period. Mean number of references cited per article was 24.05 +/- 12.02. We found statistically significant differences for 1993 and the period 1987 to 1988, and 1994 and the year 1987 (p < 0.001). The "half-life" of articles was 6 when analyzing on a year-by-year basis; this index ranged from 5.5 to 7, with no significant annual differences. REAR articles accounted for 4.02% of all citations. English was the most frequent language of cited publications, with 6,240 references (86.8%), followed by Spanish with 621 (8.64%), French with 223 (3.1%) and German with 74 (1.03%). Of the 7,191 references analyzed, 6,447 (89.65%) were of scientific journals. Books are the second most commonly cited type of document, with 623 (8.66%) citations. Analyzing journals cited 25 or more times, we found that 74.19% of the articles (4,783/6,447) had been published in 5.3% of the journals (36/678). Seven journals of anesthesia, which represented 1.03% of all journals (7/678) appeared in 52.81% of references of this type (3,405/6,447)., Conclusions: The number of authors of original research articles published in REAR in the last 10 years was high. Spanish authors in anesthesiology cite mainly literature in English; use up-to-date sources of information, mainly journals; and take a large proportion of information from a small number of journals, which are those of greatest international impact in our specialty.

Different aspects of Microbiología SEM editorial process over the years 1994-1997 are analyzed: number of originals received, the process leading to their publication, rates of accepted and refused papers, time needed for each step of the editorial process--which comprises scientific, language editing, if needed--, as well as some characteristics that can define the patterns of the articles, such as number of authors, institutions where the authors work and mean number of references. The contents of the different sections (editorial, research and review articles, perspectives, opinion, books review) are commented on, as well as the role played by some of them as forums for the discussion of topics of current scientific interest, especially the editorials focusing on the state-of-the-art of microbiological research in Latin American countries. Characteristics and frequency of monographic issues are also presented. The information is complemented with data about the circulation and distribution of the journal, its inclusion in international indexes and its current electronic publication on the world wide web.

A bibliometric study was made of the Spanish scientific output in the Neurosciences between 1984 and 1993. The material studied was selected in accordance with the Science Citation Index (SCI) for the year 1993 (Neurosciences section) and from the journals considered to be a "priority' by the data base Excepta Medica CD: Neurosciences. The usual bibliometric rules were used: price's law of scientific literature growth, Bradford's law of scientific literature dispersal and Lotka's law of author productivity. The national participation indices (IPa) in the leading publications with an international readership, the % SUP index (% of documents included in 10% of the world top quality production), the authors/articles index, institutional contributions and the geographical origin of these were all analyzed also. Our results showed an exponential growth in the Spanish neuroscientific literature (correlation coefficient: 0.981) and increasing IPa (period 1984-1988; 0.88; period 1989-1993: 1.59). A total of 1,488 original documents were analyzed. There was an impact factor (FI) of over 3 in 20.8% of the articles, with an average FI of 2.701. The % SUP was 6.07. The journal with the largest numbers of original papers in Brain Research (Bradford's first zone) with 186 articles and the largest IPa was in the Journal of Pineal Research (8.403). The total number of authors was 2,470, total signatures of authors were 5,958 (3.04% of the authors had a productivity index (IP) > or = 1 and 57% an IP = 0. The average number of authors/article was 4.02. The origin of the articles was: University (56.77%), Hospital (26.73%) and CSIC (14.95%). Scientific production was concentrated in the CCAA of Madrid and Cataluña 55.93%, followed by Andalucia, Castilla-León and Valencia (22.57%).

Objectives: To contribute to improving the understanding of the information bases of Spanish scientific production in the primary care field; to aid international contacts and the diffusion of information among doctors in our country., Design: A bibliometric analysis of the bibliographic references of the studies published in the journal Atención Primaria during 1991. A data base, managed by dBASE IV, was created., Setting: The Unit of Documental Analysis and Bibliometry of the Institute of Documental and Historical Studies in Science (University of Valencia-CSIC)., Material: 2,615 bibliographic references in 205 studies contained in volume 8 of Atención Primaria., Main Results: References from journal articles (68%) and books (26%) predominated. There were a large number of references from Spanish publications (45%) as against Northamerican (27%) and British (15%). There were few references from other European countries or Latin America. Information was quickly out of date (4 year semiperiod; Price index 50%). High proportion of self-quotations from the journal., Conclusions: The major role of the journal Atención Primaria in communicating information in the primary care field was underlined. The small amount of information from Latin America and E.U. countries (except Great Britain) highlights the isolation of Spain from these countries, which can be explained by the limits of the primary care field itself. There was also little use of information to which access was more difficult for primary care doctors, such as doctoral theses, congress papers or reports. Moreover this is a field with a high percentage of recent literature and rapidly out-of-date information.

Background: Reasons for the quantitative study of the Spanish publications on AIDS are both the huge volume attained by the printed material on the subject since the first case was described in 1981 by the Center for Disease Control, and the high incidence of the cases reported on this disease., Methodology: Searches have been performed on the subject through the database of the Indice Médico Español (IME), the Indice Español de Ciencia y Technología (ICYT), the ISBN and Bibliografía Española in order to retrieve all possible Spanish journal papers' and books. The references were distributed using criteria of documentary tipology, publication date, institutions involved, autonomous communities, and, finally, after its relation with the confirmed cases of AIDS., Results: A total 2,013 items have been retrieved, 1,821 journal papers' and 192 books. More than 50% of the papers are published only by five journals, being 139 the total number of journals able to carry pertinent information. The most productive journals were Medicina Clínica and Enfermedades Infecciosas y Microbiología Clínica., Conclusions: The results confirm exponential growth of the publications from 1983, the first year when a paper was published on AIDS in Spain. The grow is similar to the tend observed in other countries. Parallelism has been detected between growth in the number of publications and in the number of journals publishing on the subject, the growth in the number of journals publishing on the subject, the growth in the number of institutions which collaborate and the growing tend of reported cases in Spain. The results of the bibliometric study, showing an epidemiological growth out of comparison in the history of the scientific literature, could be useful both to information scientists, and to the research inside this scientific field.

The number of papers published by spanish otolaryngologists, as well as the number of citations received in journals indexed in the Science Citation Index CD-ROM during 1981-1990, were studied. The survey revealed a total of 87 papers published, with 40 of them on basic research, and 195 citations. Finally, the need of a research development in this field is stressed.