ABSTRACT
The National Medical Sciences Information Center and its Publishing House should follow up the behavior of the national scientific production as a basis for decision making. The present bibliometric study was designed to fulfill this task. The purpose of the study was to characterize the behavior of the scientific production about COVID-19 published in Cuban medical journals from 11 March to 11 June 2020. The sample was 106 documents about COVID-19 published during the period, which were analyzed with the methods used in metric studies of information. Bibliometric indicators of output, collaboration and impact were applied. In bibliometric terms, scientific communication about COVID-19 in Cuban medical journals was characterized by a gradual increase in the number of studies. Cuban institutions and their researchers showed a high degree of leadership in research and scientific communication processes. The strategies designed to manage scientific publications in the time of the pandemic exhibited positive results. A tendency was observed toward scientific collaboration, wherein universities stood out for their productivity. Outstanding actions include the establishment of multisectoral institutional alliances, as well as studies conducted by specialists from various fields which obtained results of a high scientific value, validating the leadership of Cuba in research about COVID-19, despite the economic and political situation in the region. © 2021, Centro Nacional de Informacion de Ciencias Medicas. All rights reserved.
ABSTRACT
Introduction: Since the first case of SARS-CoV-2 was confirmed, the pandemic has experienced an almost uncontrollable increase in the number of cases. The scientific production plays a key role in the fight against the necessary control and eradication of the pandemic. From the very beginning, thousands of articles per day are produced at international level;furthermore, editorials and databases have made a great effort to give due priority and visibility to these contributions. Cuba has made significant efforts in this respect. Objective: To characterize the scientific production on COVID-19 in Cuban medical Journals during the first ninety days after the start of the pandemic in Cuba. Material and Methods: A cross-sectional descriptive study aimed at analyzing 100% of the originales. Conclusiones: la producción científica nacional en revistas médicas cubanas en el período estudiado es baja, si tomamos en consideración que las cartas al editor no son artículos de investigación propiamente dichos. Hay áreas de las ciencias médicas como la medicina familiar que pudiendo haber aportado sus experiencias en el trabajo investigativo en la comunidad, aun no lo han hecho en este período de tiempo. Palabras claves: Ciencia;ciencia de información médica;producción científica y tecnología nacional;coronavirus;pandemias;COVID-19 scientific medical Journals was conducted. Variables such as documental typology, institutional and collaborative affiliations, subject matter, country and time of publication, among others were identified. Results: In total, 58 % of the articles were published in medical Journals and 31,1 % was a contribution by Medisur Journal, University of Medical Sciences in Cienfuegos. In addition, 77,8 % of the articles were written by Cuban health researchers, 22,6 % of the articles were Letters to the Editor and 20,8 % were original articles. Conclusions: Over the period studied, the national scientific production in Cuban medical Journals is low taking into account that the Letters to the Editor are not actual research articles. Some subject areas in Medical Sciences such as Family Medicine, which could have © 2020 Universidad de Ciencias Medicas de La Hab. All rights reserved.