title: Twelve years of scientific production on Medline by Latin American spine surgeons.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Despite the small contribution of LA in the Science Citation Index (SCI), a growing contribution by LA research to international literature has been observed in recent years.
  
  
  METHODS
  Systematic review.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate the scientific contribution of Latin American (LA) Spine Surgeons in the last decade.
  
  
  METHODS
  A literature search of publications by LA spinal surgeons on topics concerning the spine or spinal cord was performed using an online database; Pubmed.gov. The results were limited to articles published from January 2000 to December 2011. The quality of the publication was evaluated with the journal impact factor (IF), Oxford classification and number of citations.
  
  
  RESULTS
  This study comprised 320 articles published in the Medline database by LA spine surgeons from 2000 to 2011. In recent years, there has been an increase in the number of publications by LA spine surgeons. It was observed that 38.4% of LA papers were published in LA journals. 46.6% of the articles were published in journals with an IF lower than 1, and there was no statistically significant difference in the number of articles published in journals with a higher IF during the period. Linear-by-linear association analysis demonstrated an improvement in the level of evidence provided by LA articles published in recent years.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study showed a growth in the number of publications in last 12 years by LA spinal surgeons. It is necessary to discuss a way to increase quantity and quality of scientific publications, mainly through a better education in research.
authors: Department of Neurosurgery, University of Caxias do Sul, Caxias do Sul, RS, Brazil.
authors: Asdrubal
authors: A
authors: Falavigna
authors: Department of Neurosurgery, Hospital do Servidor Público Estadual Francisco Morato de Oliveira, São Paulo, SP, Brazil.
authors: Ricardo Vieira
authors: RV
authors: Botelho
authors: Department of Neurosurgery, Hospital São José of the Santa Casa de Porto Alegre, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil.
authors: Alisson Roberto
authors: AR
authors: Teles
authors: Department of Neurosurgery, University of Caxias do Sul, Caxias do Sul, RS, Brazil.
authors: Pedro Guarise
authors: PG
authors: da Silva
authors: Department of Orthopedics, Federal University of São Paulo, Sao Paulo, SP, Brazil.
authors: Delio
authors: D
authors: Martins
authors: Department of Orthopedics, Hospital Universitario Fundación Favaloro, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
authors: Juan Pablo
authors: JP
authors: Guyot
authors: Department of Orthopedics, Universidad del Desarrollo, Santiago de Chile, Chile.
authors: Alvaro Silva
authors: AS
authors: Gonzalez
authors: Department of Orthopedics, Centro Médico Nacional de Occidente, Guadalajara, Mexico.
authors: José Maria Jiménez
authors: JM
authors: Avila
authors: Department of Orthopedics, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, SP, Brazil.
authors: Helton Luiz Aparecido
authors: HL
authors: Defino
mesh_terms: D035843:Biomedical Research / Q000266:history* / Q000639:trends*; D005260:Female; D049674:History, 21st Century; D006801:Humans; D007843:Latin America; D016239:MEDLINE; D008297:Male; D009493:Neurosurgery / Q000266:history*; D010506:Periodicals as Topic; D012189:Retrospective Studies