Contributions of Latin America to scientific research in neuroscience and psychology

Abstract

Background: In Latin America, research in neuroscience and psychology has had a continuous development; however, the magnitude of this development and its impact on the comparison to other regions or countries has not been well studied. Objective: The objective of the study was to carry out a bibliometric analysis of scientific productivity in neuroscience and psychology in Latin America. Methods: We consulted the Scimago Journal and Country Rank database to obtain the classification of the Latin American countries in these knowledge disciplines, during the period from 2015 to 2020. Results: We found 32 Latin American countries with citable documents in these disciplines. Notably, 90% of Latin American scientific productivity is concentrated in five countries: Brazil, Mexico, Argentina. Chile, and Colombia, with Brazil being the leading country in all cases. Conclusions: Research in neuroscience and psychology in Latin America has had a sustained and moderate growth. However, it is highly circumscribed in these five countries.