State of the art of historical bibliometrics. An approach to the cases of colombia and Mexico

Abstract

This article addresses the state of the art of researches that have analyzed the history of scientific production in Latin America from the perspective of historical bibliometrics. First, an approach to the history of bibliometrics is shown, emphasizing that this has not been a tool for the exclusive use of functionalist sociology, but it has been linked from its beginnings to other disciplines such as history. Second, it is shown that in Latin America there have been critical interpretations regarding the discouraging diagnoses presented by international bibliographic indexes about the low productivity and visibility of science in this region, establishing that the proliferation of historical bibliometric researches is framed in this context, like those advanced in Colombia and Mexico. Third, the researches carried out in these countries are analyzed, specifying their main topics, methodologies, and sources of interest. Finally, it is concluded that these works offer important inputs for reinterpreting the history of the dynamics of scientific communication in the region, presenting a general proposal of some of its possible future directions.