title: Brazilian scientific output on autism spectrum disorders.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  This systematic review sought to conduct a general analysis of the Brazilian scientific output on autism spectrum disorders (ASD) published between 2002 and 2009.
  
  
  METHODS
  A literature search was conducted in the scientific databases PubMed, SciELO, and LILACS and in the CAPES portal, using keywords such as "autism" and "pervasive developmental disorders".
  
  
  RESULTS
  A total of 93 articles were identified, most of which were authored by researchers from Southeast Brazil and affiliated with public universities. Approximately one-third of all articles were published in journals with an impact factor ranging from 0.441 to 3.211; most were based on small sample sizes. Furthermore, 140 theses and dissertations were identified, 82.1% of which were master's theses. Interventions for ASD were the predominant research topic.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Brazilian researchers are clearly interested in the topic of ASD; however, a substantial portion of their scientific output is limited to doctoral dissertations or master's theses. A minority of articles was published in journals with a high impact factor. These findings suggest the need for studies with larger sample sizes, which could produce higher-impact findings and thus increase visibility of the Brazilian scientific output in the field of ASD research.
authors.affiliation: Programa de Pós-Graduação em Distúrbios do Desenvolvimento do Centro de Ciências Biológicas e da Saúde da Universidade Presbiteriana Mackenzie, São Paulo, SP, Brazil. cris@teixeira.org.br
authors.forename: Maria Cristina Triguero Veloz
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Teixeira
authors.forename: Tatiana Pontrelli
authors.initials: TP
authors.lastname: Mecca
authors.forename: Renata de Lima
authors.initials: Rde L
authors.lastname: Velloso
authors.forename: Riviane Borghesi
authors.initials: RB
authors.lastname: Bravo
authors.forename: Sabrina Helena Bandini
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Ribeiro
authors.forename: Marcos Tomanik
authors.initials: MT
authors.lastname: Mercadante
authors.forename: Cristiane Silvestre de
authors.initials: CS
authors.lastname: Paula
mesh_terms: D004212:Academic Dissertations as Topic; D035843:Biomedical Research / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D001938:Brazil; D002648:Child; D002659:Child Development Disorders, Pervasive; D006801:Humans; D055811:Journal Impact Factor; D010506:Periodicals as Topic / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011643:Publishing / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*