Assessing the scientific research productivity of a Brazilian healthcare institution: a case study at the Heart Institute of São Paulo, Brazil.
BACKGROUND
The present study was motivated by the need to systematically assess the research productivity of the Heart Institute (InCor), Medical School of the University of São Paulo, Brazil.


OBJECTIVE
To explore methodology for the assessment of institutional scientific research productivity.


METHODS
Bibliometric indicators based on searches for author affiliation of original scientific articles or reviews published in journals indexed in the databases Web of Science, MEDLINE, EMBASE, LILACS and SciELO from January 2000 to December 2003 were used in this study. The retrieved records were analyzed according to the index parameters of the journals and modes of access. The number of citations was used to calculate the institutional impact factor.


RESULTS
Out of 1253 records retrieved from the five databases, 604 original articles and reviews were analyzed; of these, 246 (41%) articles were published in national journals and 221 (90%) of those were in journals with free online access through SciELO or their own websites. Of the 358 articles published in international journals, 333 (93%) had controlled online access and 223 (67%) were available through the Capes Portal of Journals. The average impact of each article for InCor was 2.224 in the period studied.


CONCLUSIONS
A simple and practical methodology to evaluate the scientific production of health research institutions includes searches in the LILACS database for national journals and in MEDLINE and the Web of Science for international journals. The institutional impact factor of articles indexed in the Web of Science may serve as a measure by which to assess and review the scientific productivity of a research institution.
Tess
Beatriz Helena
BH
Departamento de Medicina, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brasil. beatriz.tess@usp.br
Furuie
Sérgio Shiguemi
SS
Castro
Regina Célia Figueiredo
RC
Barreto
Maria do Carmo Cavarette
Mdo C
Nobre
Moacyr Roberto Cuce
MR
D015706:Bibliometrics; D035843:Biomedical Research / Q000592:standards* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D001938:Brazil; D002300:Cardiac Care Facilities / Q000592:standards / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D002309:Cardiology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D016206:Databases, Bibliographic / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D055811:Journal Impact Factor; D010506:Periodicals as Topic / Q000592:standards / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*