Bibliometric analysis of the scientific output on autism spectrum disorders

Abstract

Introduction: the transdisciplinary and interdisciplinary nature of the teams for the care of patients with autism spectrum disorders means that scientific production is broad and covers several areas of knowledge. Objective: to characterize the scientific output on autism spectrum disorders in Spanish language in the Scopus database between 2013 and 2022. Methods: a bibliometric study of the scientific output on autism spectrum disorders published in Spanish in Scopus between 2013 and July 2022 was carried out. The study universe consisted of 365 articles. Productivity and impact indicators were used. SciVal and Vosviewer were used. Results: 365 articles were published in Spanish, with a predominance of research articles (n=278). There was an increase in scientific output with a decrease in the number of citations. Forty-eight percent of the articles were published in Q2 journals and 33,3 % in Q4 journals, with the Revista de Neurología being the most productive (Ndoc=64). National authorship accounted for 41,6 % of the articles and 7,1 % with international collaboration. Spain (Ndoc=230) was the most productive country and the most productive institution was the University of Valencia (Ndoc=28).Conclusions: although there was an increase in the number of articles, the scientific output on autism spectrum disorders published in Spanish-language journals in Scopus was low, centered mainly on original articles. A high percentage of articles were published in journals in the first quartiles; the most productive journals and institutions belonged mostly to Spain