Analysis of bibliometric studies in Catalonia

Objective: This paper describes the production of bibliometric studies in Catalonia in quantitative terms. It examines publications that use bibliometric tools to determine features of scientific production but excludes journals that present or discuss bibliometric methods and techniques. Methodology: Bibliometric tools were used to analyse the registers of a relational database obtained from various sources, including the bibliographic databases of the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), Library and Information Science Abstracts (LISA), Library, Information Science & Technology Abstracts (LISTA), and the index Library Literature and Information Science. Searches were also performed using PubMed, Dialnet, and Google Scholar, and references were obtained by citation chaining. Results: A total of 297 documents were identified, of which 76.8 % were journal articles. These examined a substantial number of knowledge areas, of which biomedicine was especially prominent. The subject matter of the documents ranged across the spectrum of the knowledge areas analysed. In general, the studies that predominated addressed Spain, although there were variations that also responded to this range of areas. The predominant language was Spanish, most papers were co-authored by two or more authors and the most common author arrangement was a collaboration between departmental members.