A Map of Clinical Dermatology Research Centers in Spain: Results of the MaIND Study

Abstract

Background and objective: Bibliometric indicators and analyses of clinical research articles can help to quantify the scientific production of hospitals and institutions and identify their main areas of research. The aim of this study was to draw up a bibliometric map of clinical research in dermatology by Spanish hospitals and institutions through an analysis of quantitative, qualitative, and topic-based variables.

Material and method: Bibliometric study of clinical research articles that met the inclusion criteria and had a definitive publication date between 2005 and 2014 in PubMed or Embase in which the corresponding author's affiliation was a Spanish dermatology department or institution.

Results: Barcelona and Madrid were the provinces with the highest number of articles and citations. The centers with the most articles and citations were Hospital Clínic and Instituto Valenciano de Oncología. Those 2 hospitals also produced the highest number of articles on the most common research topic identified: melanoma. Because the articles were selected on the basis of the affiliation of the corresponding author to a Spanish dermatology center, this analysis does not include collaborative studies or clinical research studies led by nondermatology centers.

Conclusions: We have created a bibliometric map of clinical dermatology research in Spain that shows the distribution of scientific production and the main areas of research by province and hospital/institution. This map could be useful for education and research purposes.

Keywords: Bibliometrics; Bibliometría; Biomedical research; Clinical research; Dermatology; Dermatología; Española; Evidencia científica; Investigación biomédica; Investigación clínica; Scientific evidence; Spanish.