Artículos biomédicos de autores chilenos publicados en revistas extranjeras durante 1997: una revisión del MEDLINE / Biomedical papers by chilean authors published in international journals during 1997: a selection from MEDLINE

ABSTRACT

Background: Many Chilean biomedical investigators publish the results of their research in international journals, not easily accesible to fellow physicians of the country. Aim: To assess the amount and quality of papers published by Chilean authors in international journals. Data source and methods: Using Medline databases from January to August, 1997, all papers in which Chile appeared in the field "AD" (Address of author) were selected. Papers with a clear relationship to human medicine were identified. Results: During the study period, 390 papers with authors residing in Chile appeared in Medline. Of these, 188 (48 per cent) were published in Chile and the rest was published abroad. Thirty manuscripts had a greater relationship to clinical medicine and the authors of nine of them were invited to submit a translation of their abstract into Spanish to have them reproduced in the present article. Conclusions: A significant proportion of biomedical research papers originated in Chile is published abroad with the consequent lack of diffusion among non-specialized readers from their own country