Research and scientific publication in nursing in Argentina
Carlos Jesús Canova-Barrios, Carlos Oscar Lepez, Gabriela Manzitto, Analía Ortigoza
Abstract
Throughout the years, Nursing has aimed to establish a robust body of knowledge that positively impacts professional practice in the areas of healthcare, education, and administration. Despite this, Argentina has shown limited research development within the field, highlighting the need for a detailed analysis to serve as a diagnosis for designing and implementing strategies to enhance national indicators of scientific production. This study explored nursing research output from 1996 to 2021 in the SCImago Journal & Country Ranking (SJR) database and compared it with other countries in the region. Additionally, the undergraduate and postgraduate education in Argentina was analyzed. The findings revealed that Argentina's nursing scientific production ranks fifth in Latin America, with Brazil being the leading country, producing almost 15 times more than Argentina. The predominant research categories are Nutrition and Dietetics, followed by Miscellaneous and Advanced Nursing. An upward trend in international collaboration was observed, reaching 60,66 % in 2021. Methodology of Research constitutes 10,31 % of the total curriculum hours, and there is only one specific doctoral program in Nursing in the country. The overall doctoral graduation rate (across all disciplinary and related training axes) ranges between 3-7 %. In conclusion, Argentina's scientific output has been increasing in recent years; however, challenges persist in training qualified research personnel, particularly in scientific writing and data analysis. This is linked to a shortage of faculty with postgraduate training and research experience, as well as a limited curriculum time to cover methodological contents