Abstract

RIBEIRO SCHNEIDER, Daniela et al. Scientific cooperation on drug abuse between Latin American and the European Union (2001-2010) from the ISI Web of Science. Salud Ment [online]. 2014, vol.37, n.3, pp.205-216. ISSN 0185-3325.

Background The importance of collaboration among research groups in the drug abuse field has been increasingly reinforced. These collaborations consolidate the scientific activity and guarantee the improvement of methods and outcomes. This study aims at analyzing the collaboration networks on drug abuse between Latin American and European countries by means of applying bibliometric methods and collaboration networks analysis. Methods The search was conducted through the Science Citation Index Expanded and Social Sciences Citation Index from ISI Web of Science data base. A total of 228 articles were found by using a specific drug abuse search strategy during the period 2001-2010. Articles belonging to WOS categories non-related to health sciences were excluded. Results The European country with the higher amount of collaborative articles was Spain (n=69) and Brazil was the Latin American country (n=73). United States of America had an active role in the collaboration networks (n=85). The most productive institution and author were from Mexico. The collaborative work between Latin America and Europe has increased from 2001 (n=4) to 2010 (n=50). The collaboration networks analysis showed that Spain and Brazil (n=27) as well as Spain and Colombia (n=23) were the countries with the highest joint production. Conclusions The last decade has seen a significant increase in the scientific collaboration between Latin American and European in drug addiction studies, where Brazil and Mexico stand out in Latin American countries, as well as Spain and Italy in Europe. The role of the United States leadership in international research networks is emphazided and identified, occupying an intermediary role in the collaboration between different countries and continents.

Keywords : Scientific collaboration networks; drug abuse; bibliometrics.

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