Bibliometric analysis of the scientific production in the area of Optometry

Abstract

Objective: Using a bibliometric approach an analysis was made of the scientific publications of Spanish investigators in the area of optometry, from 1974 until 2013.

Methods: The EMBASE database was used for this study, employing optomtr*, optic*, visual, vision, eye*, and ophthalm* as search terms. The most common bibliometric indicators were applied for the selected publications.

Results: The number of published articles retrieved for Spain from 1974-2013 was 1,055. The growth of publications was more exponential (R=0.93) than linear (R= 0.71). The doubling time of scientific production was 3.63 years. The level of productivity primarily corresponded to small producers (Transience index of 64%). The collaboration index was 4.4 authors per paper. The majority of the output was generated in academic settings (62.27%). The Bradford core was formed by four journals, in which Optometry and Vision Science accounted for the majority of publications, with 11.85%.

Conclusions: Research in the area of optometry in Spain is in a phase of exponential growth, containing a high level of transient authors, which may indicate either a low productivity or the presence of investigators from other related fields that have published in a sporadic manner in this area. A small number of research groups are responsible for producing the majority of articles, primarily in an academic setting. There is a high concentration of publications in a few journals.

Keywords: Artículos publicados; Bibliometrics; Bibliometría; Ciencias de la visión; España; Optometry; Optometría; Published articles; Spain; Vision science.