La investigación biomédica en Colombia: Un análisis de Medline

Latin America generates a low proportion of the references quoted in MEDLINE, the most popular health-related literature search database in the world. This paper explores references from and about Colombia in MEDLINE during the period 1987-1996. Topics addressed, patterns of authorship and research locations are established. The number of Latin American journals indexed in MEDLINE has been progressively reduced during this ten-year period, with Colombian journals completely excluded since 1991. During this ten-year period the total output of Colombian research institutions in foreign journals consisted of 531 articles, 219 (41%) of which come from the four leading universities. These figures are substantially lower than those from other countries of the region like Venezuela or Chile. Despite some governmental efforts, Colombia continues with a low scientific output and has yet to attract the interest of foreign researchers. Alternatives for development of Latin American research and publications are offered.