Production and dissemination of the Mexian biomemdical journals, with some considerations of the latin American/Caribbean region

Abstract

A quantitative analysis of 67 Mexican Biomedical Journals (MBMJ), according to their editorship, frequency of publication, subject classification and "in-depth" biomedical coverage, was performed. The inclusion of these journals in six major secondary sources (Index Medicus, Excerpta Medica, Biological Abstracts, Index Medicus Latinoamericano, Chemical Abstracts, and Science Citation Index) was also examined. A comparative analysis o f the MBMJ with other Latin American and Caribbean Biomedical Journals (LABMJ), as covered by these sources, was performed. Science Citation Index' Journal Citation Reports was used to analyse the citation pattern of the only MBMJ (Archives de Investigacion Medica) covered by Science Citation Index. Again, a comparison with other three LABtlJ was made. Regarding the biomedical journal production and dissemination i n the Latin American/Caribbean region, Mexico was found to rank second, preceded only by Brazil. After Mexico, i n descending order followed : Argentina, Chile, Venezuela, Cuba, and Colombia. These seven countries were also found to be the higher contributors to publications outside the region. Although interesting results were found regarding the citation analysis of four LABMJ, these isolated results do not lead to any conclusions regarding the citation patterns o f the Mexican or Latin AmericanICaribbean journals. Further studies need to be performed to obtain indicators which help measure the national and regional contribution o f these countries t o the world i n the biomedical field .