Science in Latin America: Trends and patterns

A statistical analysis of relevant bibliometric data available on Latin America (LA) and its countries has been carried out. The aim of this paper is offering an overview of the current state of the art concerning the science and technology in the region, comparing it with others in order to reach a global overview. As expected, the state and progress of Science in Latin America are not satisfactory especially considering its potential, being much lower than what could be achieved. The variables used have been obtained from the databases of UNESCO and the RICYT, as well as from PISA Reports: the area of each country, number of citizens per country, number of researches per country, and gross domestic product per country. Likewise, the Thomson Reuters database that informs us on the ranking of the countries based on their scientific publications considered of excellence is the most frequently used by all political and academic instructions of the world. This database quantifies and details the scientific production of relevant articles, by States, research disciplines, scientific Institutions and individual researchers. Scientometrics offers data of huge value, although in the author's opinion, it does not turn out to be fully sufficient in order to get a fine assessment of science and technology. Regrettably, the most of LA countries have not provided all the data that would be desirable, so the conclusions obtained in this study ought to be, considered coarse-grained. The study has not directly considered technological information as well as the production of patents, the strengths and shortcomings of science in LA or the efforts to improve the scientific cultures and educational excellence (PISA reports), some of which will be grounds for another paper that will be published in the next issue of this Journal. However, in light of various data, such as the PISA report, it can be anticipated that some generalized opinions on the driving forces of science, technology and innovation (STI) may be questionable. The statistical analysis shows that there is a positive relationship between area of countries, populations, gross domestic product, number of researchers, as well as the number of papers indexed by Thomson Reuters. Thus, in general terms, the more extensive a country, the greater its relevance in the international context of STI. Obviously there are differences between Latin American countries, but they seem irrelevant at the global level. Thus it could be concluded that the future of Science and Technology in Latin America depends on both cultural factors and geopolitical challenges. Only a coordinated and joint effort of the countries could relaunch Latin America to the forefront of international science in matter of STI.