[Productivity and impact of Spanish research into multiple sclerosis (1996-2010)]

To quantify by means of bibliometric indicators the scientific productivity of Spanish researchers and institutions that publish on multiple sclerosis in national and international journals during the period 1996-2010, and to determine their impact.

Papers under study were obtained from Web of Science and Scopus international databases, as well as IBECS and IME national databases, applying specific search profiles in each.

1613 articles were published in 460 journals, of which 71 were Spanish and 389 non Spanish, being the most productive Revista de Neurologia (n = 204), Multiple Sclerosis (n = 102) and Neurology (n = 97). The articles have been published mostly in English (71.92%) and Spanish (27.40%), participating 4728 authors from 1224 different institutions. The 67.08% of the papers have been cited at least once, but 32.92% have not received citations. The mean number of citations per paper was 12.47 ± 28.42. The most cited journals have been Neurology (n = 1821), followed by Multiple Sclerosis (n = 1124) and Journal of Neuroimmunology (n = 890).

The number of papers has increased steadily from 1996 to 2010, confirming the consolidation and growth of Spanish research in multiple sclerosis, whose results are published in a Revista de Neurologia and Multiple Sclerosis. We emphasize the growing internationalization of the Spanish research on the disease, but it is worrying that a third of the papers has not been cited.