title: Identification of biomedical journals in Spain and Latin America.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Journals in languages other than English that publish original clinical research are often not well covered in the main biomedical databases and therefore often not included in systematic reviews. This study aimed to identify Spanish language biomedical journals from Spain and Latin America and to describe their main features.
  
  
  METHODS
  Journals were identified in electronic databases, publishers' catalogues and local registries. Eligibility was determined by assessing data from these sources or the journals' websites, when available.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A total of 2457 journals were initially identified; 1498 met inclusion criteria. Spain (27.3%), Mexico (16.0%), Argentina (15.1%) and Chile (11.9%) had the highest number of journals. Most (85.8%) are currently active; 87.8% have an ISSN. The median and mean length of publication were 22 and 29 years, respectively. A total of 66.0% were indexed in at least one database; 3.0% had an impact factor in 2012. A total of 845 journals had websites (56.4%), of which 700 (82.8%) were searchable and 681 (80.6%) free of charge.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Most of the identified journals have no impact factor or are not indexed in any of the major databases. The list of identified biomedical journals can be a useful resource when conducting hand searching activities and identifying clinical trials that otherwise would not be retrieved.
authors.affiliation: Iberoamerican Cochrane Centre, Institute of Biomedical Research (IIB Sant Pau), CIBER Epidemiología y Salud Pública (CIBERESP), Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Xavier
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Bonfill
authors.affiliation: Centro Colaborador Cochrane de Ecuador, Facultad de Ciencias de la Salud Eugenio Espejo, Universidad Tecnológica Equinoccial, Quito, Ecuador.
authors.forename: Dimelza
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Osorio
authors.affiliation: Iberoamerican Cochrane Centre, Institute of Biomedical Research (IIB Sant Pau), CIBER Epidemiología y Salud Pública (CIBERESP), Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Margarita
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Posso
authors.affiliation: Iberoamerican Cochrane Centre, Institute of Biomedical Research (IIB Sant Pau), CIBER Epidemiología y Salud Pública (CIBERESP), Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Ivan
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Solà
authors.affiliation: Programa de Salud Basada en Evidencia, Facultad de Medicina, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago, Chile.|Departamento de Medicina Interna, Facultad de Medicina, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Fundación Epistemonikos, Santiago, Chile.
authors.forename: Gabriel
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Rada
authors.affiliation: National Coordinating Centre of Clinical Trials, Havana, Cuba.
authors.forename: Ania
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Torres
authors.affiliation: Universidad Nacional del Sur, Bahía Blanca, Argentina.
authors.forename: Marcelo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: García Dieguez
authors.affiliation: Instituto Nacional de Salud Pública, Centro de Información para Decisiones en Salud Pública (CENIDSP), México D.F, México.
authors.forename: Maricela
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Piña-Pozas
authors.affiliation: Department of Research Methodology, National Institute of Pediatrics, México D.F, México.
authors.forename: Luisa
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Díaz-García
authors.affiliation: IHCAI Foundation, Centro Colaborador Centroamericano de la Red Cochrane Iberoamericana, San José, Costa Rica.
authors.forename: Mario
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tristán
authors.affiliation: Universidad Católica Boliviana, San Pablo, Santa Cruz, Estado Plurinacional de Bolivia.
authors.forename: Omar
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Gandarilla
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Anestesiología e Instituto de Investigación, Clínica Universitaria Colombia, Colsanitas, Bogotá, Colombia.
authors.forename: David A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Rincón-Valenzuela
authors.affiliation: Red Cochrane Iberoamericana, Valencia, Venezuela.
authors.forename: Arturo
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Martí
authors.affiliation: Centro Colaborador Cochrane de Ecuador, Facultad de Ciencias de la Salud Eugenio Espejo, Universidad Tecnológica Equinoccial, Quito, Ecuador.
authors.forename: Ricardo
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Hidalgo
authors.affiliation: Centro Colaborador Cochrane de Ecuador, Facultad de Ciencias de la Salud Eugenio Espejo, Universidad Tecnológica Equinoccial, Quito, Ecuador.
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Simancas-Racines
authors.affiliation: Centro Colaborador Guatemalteco de la Red Cochrane Iberoamericana, Fundación Oxlajuj N'oj, Centro de Investigaciones de las Ciencias de la Salud (CICS), Facultad de Ciencias Médicas Universidad de San Carlos de Guatemala (USAC), Ciudad de Guatemala, Guatemala.
authors.forename: Luis
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: López
authors.affiliation: Centro Colaborador Panameño de la Red Cochrane Iberoamericana, Ciudad de Panamá, Panamá
authors.forename: Ricardo
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Correa
authors.affiliation: Sociedad Científica del Paraguay, Grupo Asociado Paraguayo de la Red Cochrane Iberoamericana, Organización Panamericana de la Salud, Asunción, Paraguay.
authors.forename: Antonieta
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Rojas-De-Arias
authors.affiliation: Centro colaborador Peruano de la Red Cochrane Iberomamericana, Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia, Lima, Perú
authors.forename: César
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Loza
authors.affiliation: Centro Colaborador Uruguayo de la Red Cochrane Iberoamericana, Montevideo, Uruguay.
authors.forename: Óscar
authors.initials: Ó
authors.lastname: Gianneo
authors.affiliation: Iberoamerican Cochrane Centre, Institute of Biomedical Research (IIB Sant Pau), CIBER Epidemiología y Salud Pública (CIBERESP), Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Hector
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Pardo
mesh_terms: D016206:Databases, Bibliographic / Q000600:supply & distribution*; D006801:Humans; D055811:Journal Impact Factor; D007802:Language; D007843:Latin America; D011643:Publishing / Q000600:supply & distribution / Q000639:trends*; D012106:Research / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D013030:Spain
keywords: America, South; Europe, South-West; citation analysis; clinical trials; database searching; journals