Bibliometrics is a measure found from numerical data calculated from the characteristics observed in scientific publications. Currently there is a need to know the behavior and validity of the published evidence to improve the quality of medical evidence as well as create equity in terms of the participation of Latin countries in world literature.^1,2

We conducted a bibliometric analysis using the available information of the TOP five journals belonging to the subject area and category: Pathology and Forensic Medicine; according to Scimago Journal & Country Rank (SJR), in order to assess the participation of Latin authors in articles published in pathology journals with the highest impact in the world (according to 2021 metrics), in the last year (2021). Therefore, the journals analyzed were: Journal of Pathology (SJR: 2.537), Modern Pathology (SJR: 2.394), American Journal of Pathology (SJR: 1.619), Journal of Pathology: Clinical Research (SJR: 1.438) and Pathology (SJR: 1.145). We extracted and analyzed metrics, number of articles published, participating authors, Latin authors, publications according to the different typologies, and characterized the authors with the highest participation. The publications were classified according to their typology as original articles, reviews (narrative, systematic and meta-analysis) and other types. The participation of collaborative groups was not considered.

A total of 734 publications were identified, 67.98% were original articles (n = 499), 12.67% were reviews (n = 93) and 19.34% were articles of other types (n = 142). In total, 6683 authors participated, 1.32% were Latin authors (n = 88) and only 0.15% of them were principal authors (n = 10). Respect the total number of publications of each type, Latin authors participated more frequently in articles of other types (n = 20; 14.08%) and less frequently in articles of reviews (n = 9; 9.67%). Of the total number of publications, Latino participation was only 11.99%.

Journal of Pathology: Clinical Research was the journal with the highest participation of Latin authors in the total number of articles published (35.84%) and in the total number of authors (3.01%), followed by Journal of Pathology in both categories (19.23% and 1.88%, respectively) (Figure 1). American Journal of Pathology was the journal with the highest number of articles with Latino as main authors (13.04%). In contrast, Journal of Pathology: Clinical Research led in the participation of Latin authors over the total number of original articles (33.33%) and reviews. Journal of Pathology led the Latin participation in articles of other types. The Latin authors with the highest participation in the journals studied are described in Table 1.

The Latin American countries with the most representative authorship in pathology were Brazil with 44 authors, followed by Mexico, Colombia, Chile, and Peru with 32, 8, 2 and 1 respectively. These countries also have considerable participation in other areas such as Cardiology and Internal Medicine.^3,4

Based on these results, we conclude that, at present, the research that is carried out in pathology is concentrated in international reference centers and developed countries, being important to encourage research in Latin American countries so that more regional evidence with international contribution is produced.

Conflicts of interest

The authors declare that they have not conflicts of interest.

REFERENCES

1. Flores-Fernández C, Aguilera-Eguía R. Indicadores bibliométricos y su importancia en la investigación clínica. ¿Por qué conocerlos?. Rev Soc Esp Dolor 2019; 26 (5): 315-316.
2. Pérez-Fontalvo NM, De Arco-Aragón MA, Jimenez-García JDC, Lozada-Martinez ID. Molecular and computational research in low- and middle-income countries: development is close at hand. J Taibah Univ Med Sci 2021; 16 (6): 948-949.
3. Camacho-Pérez D, Agamez-Blanco CA, Diaz-Vallejo JA, Cuji-Galarza WD, Lozada-Martinez ID. What was the participation of Latin authors in TOP journals in internal medicine during 2021? A brief bibliometric analysis. QJM 2022: hcac166. doi: 10.1093/qjmed/hcac166
4. Acevedo-Aguilar LM, Lozada-Martinez ID, Mass-Hernández LM, Picón-Jaimes YA, et al. JACC was the TOP cardiology journal with the highest participation of Latin authors in 2021. Ann Med Surg (Lond) 2022; 79: 103959. doi: 10.1016/j.amsu.2022

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