Bibliometrics of Latin American research on COVID-19 in the first year of the pandemic: the main trends
This study aimed to identify and analyze the characteristics of COVID-19 publications in the Science Citation Index Expanded published by Latin Americans in 2020. Documents including searching keywords in their title, abstract, or author keywords were assessed. The analyzed aspects covered characteristics of document types, languages, Web of Science categories, and journals. Publication performances of countries and institutions were evaluated by six publication indicators and two citation indicators. Results showed that a lower percentage of articles and a higher percentage of Spanish language were found. Web of Science category of general and internal medicine published the most articles. The Clinics was the most popular journal. The Cadernos de Saude Publica and Revista da Associacao Medica Brasileira published the most articles and reviews, respectively. Brazil took a leading position in the six publication indicators. The University of São Paulo in Brazil was the most productive institution. Based on the number of citations from the Web of Science Core Collection since publication to the end of 2020, 10 most frequently cited publications were presented. In addition, the analysis of words in publication titles, author keywords, and KeyWords Plus was performed to find the main research focuses.