Background: Scientific collaboration is necessary for the advance of science. The purpose of this study is to analyse collaboration between authors and Spanish institutions in scientific studies published in Farmacia Hospitalaria, applying methodology derived from the analysis of social networks.
Methodology: The study identified pairs of authors and institutions co-authoring or co-signing the same works published in Farmacia Hospitalaria between 1998 and 2007, building collaboration networks using the TextToPajek and Networks-PAJEK programs.
Results: 448 articles were analysed, showing an average signature/ article index of 4.79. Applying a collaboration threshold of 3 articles, 26 clusters were formed with principal researchers being Jiménez Torres and Pérez Ruixo (n=16 co-authorships) and Ribas Sala and Codina Jané (n=15). Among the institutions, there was significant collaboration between the Complejo Hospitalario Virgen del Rocío and the Complejo Hospitalario Nuestra Señora del Valme (n=4), both in Seville, and between Hospitals Vall d'Hebrón (Barcelona), the Hospital de Navarra, and the Universitat de Barcelona (n=4).
Discussion: Analysis of the collaboration networks in Farmacia Hospitalaria has made it possible to identify the groups of authors and institutions in the area, as well as their relationships in terms of research and scientific publications. We propose to analyse the changes in these groups over a period of time, as well as to identify collaboration patterns in other national and international journals.