Ibero-American journals in Scopus and web of science

Abstract

In this paper we map the scientific journals from Ibero-American countries indexed in the Web of Science and Scopus. Data were collected from the journals' websites. Of 879 journals in the two databases, Spain accounted for 35.6% of the titles, Brazil 28.5%, and the remaining 11 countries together 35.9%. Medicine had the most titles in almost all countries, with 28.9% of the total, followed by agricultural and biological sciences (particularly in Brazil) with 14.9%, and social sciences with 11.5%. A digital format was used by 95% of the journals and 82% were open access, with an even higher level of open access in Latin America. The publishers were mainly universities (37.7%) and associations (31.1%). Ibero-American countries, with the exception of Spain, do not have a long tradition as scientific journal publishers, but in the last few years they have gained in importance as players in scientific communication with the use of new business models for journals. © Rosângela Schwarz Rodrigues and Ernest Abadal 2014.