Scientometrics in Argentina from an analysis of scientific production: Who does it?

Introduction: In Argentina, bibliometrics and scientometrics have become crucial for evaluating scientific research. These disciplines use indicators and statistical tools to measure scientific production, identify trends and collaborations, and guide academic management. Despite their value, limitations and biases are recognized, emphasizing the need for ethical use. Methods: This bibliometric study analyzes the scientific production of authors affiliated to Argentine institutions in the field of bibliometrics and scientometrics using the Scopus database, covering a period from 2013 to 2022. Results and discussion: We found 271 articles with 1175 authors, with an average of 4.33 authors per article and a total of 2995 citations. The most represented areas were social sciences (35.8%), medicine (17.3%), and computer science (15.9%). International collaboration was common, with a positive impact on the number of citations. The University of Buenos Aires led the production, and a decrease in citations per article was observed, possibly related to the defunding of science in the region. Conclusion: Despite the reduction in the number of citations per publication, the impact of citations weighted by field has increased in the field of scientometrics in Argentina, especially in public universities. Although a collaborative network has not been confirmed, it stands out that social sciences is the most represented discipline and the most productive researchers belong to this field, highlighting the need to foster collaboration to boost scientometrics research in the country