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Profile of the Mexican health sciences elite: A bibliometric analysis of research performance

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Abstract

The most prestigious award in Mexico, the “National Prize for Science and Art” has been awarded to 33 health scientists. An exercise was carried out to assess their performance to answer the question: why them?

The laureates' profile was based on data retrieved from MEDLINE andScience Citation Index Expanded available on the WWW as well as the ISI's 15-year (1981–1995) cumulative impact factor lists. The laureates published 2,049 papers and were cited 50,834 times.

Our results showed the scientific pre-eminence of laureates. We concluded that bibliometric data could complement other indicators of research performance. Bibliometrics could insure the Prize committee against error and the operationalization of the Matthew Effect could be minimized to honor only the most creative researchers.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Philosophy and Letters, National University of Mexico, Ciudad Universitaria, Cuauhtémoc 57 Col. Del Carmen Coyoacán, 04510, Mexico City, (Mexico)

    Judith Licea de Arenas

  2. National Library of Mexico, Ciudad Universitaria, 04510, Mexico City, (Mexico)

    J. Valles

  3. Department of Agriculture, Autonomous Metropolitan University, Xochimilco Campus, Calz. del Hueso y Canal Nacional, Mexico City, (Mexico)

    M. Arenas

Authors
  1. Judith Licea de Arenas
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  2. J. Valles
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  3. M. Arenas
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de Arenas, J.L., Valles, J. & Arenas, M. Profile of the Mexican health sciences elite: A bibliometric analysis of research performance. Scientometrics 46, 539–547 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02459610

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02459610

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