Abstract

CASTRO ARMAS, Ricardo; SUAREZ FAJARDO, Ambar; IZQUIERDO SABORIDO, Katia  and  ESPINOSA SARRIA, Eliécer. Information analysis of twelve years of scientific production of Cuban Journal of Medicinal Plants. Rev Cubana Plant Med [online]. 2009, vol.14, n.4. ISSN 1028-4796.

INTRODUCTION: an information study on scientific production of the first 12 years of the Cuban Journal of Medicinal Plants, an important publication becomes an space for the spreading of scientific results in this field in our country. OBJECTIVES: to assess the behavior of some metric indicators in scientific articles published between 1996 and 2007, e.g., the authors productivity, institutions, years of publication and subject matters. METHODS: we start from a database developed by ProCite 5.0 computing application including the 319 papers published during this period. RESULTS: authors achieve an organization by indicator from the data processing, analyzing them subsequently using the spreadsheets, to measure the productivity and to generate the charts by indicators. In productivity of articles by years, those with a greater number of publications were the 36, 33 and 32 during 2005, 2004 and 2000.In this same context, it is noted that publications trend in next five years is increasing. The greatest productivity by authors to relapse into eight specialists, headed by Victor R. Fuentes Fiallo M.D. with 12 articles as principal author and twelve as secondary authors. Institutions with higher number of publications was the Center of Drugs Research and Development (CDRD) with a total of 128 articles, followed by "Dr. Salvador Allende" Medical Sciences Faculty with 39 papers. Finally, the analysis by descriptors locates the papers on Aloe vera L in first place with 26 titles, followed by Ocimum basilicum L with 13, and Calendula officinalis L and Plantago major L with 11 papers each. CONCLUSIONS: the analysis of described indicators offers a global overview of journal performance during these twelve years.

Keywords : medicinal plants; information study; scientific production.