Regional disparities and scientific collaboration in Brazilian surgical research: a national bibliometric study

To analyse Brazilian scientific production in surgery from a bibliometric perspective, with a particular focus on regional distribution, patterns of scientific collaboration, and the impact of publications in both national and international arenas.

We conducted a retrospective, national, ecological observational study using bibliometric data from the SciVal platform (Elsevier), derived from the Scopus database. The study included full scientific articles with at least one Brazilian affiliation published between 2014 and 2023. We evaluated key bibliometric indicators, including publication volume, national and international collaboration, citation counts, and Field-Weighted Citation Impact (FWCI). Analyses were stratified by geographical region, with indicators normalised by resident population and the total number of medical doctors.

We identified 14,160 scientific articles in the surgical field, accounting for about 8.5% of Brazilian medical research output. Publication volume grew steadily throughout the decade, followed by a recent stabilisation. Output was heavily concentrated in the Southeast and South regions, which also recorded the highest scientific impact (FWCI up to 0.82) and the greatest integration into international collaboration networks (23%). In contrast, the North region exhibited the lowest output and impact (FWCI = 0.48). International collaboration was consistently associated with superior bibliometric performance. The most frequent research topics included spinal surgery, orthopaedics, hernias, and obesity, with the latter associated with the highest scientific impact (FWCI = 1.80).

Surgical research output in Brazil has shown sustained growth, though it is marked by pronounced regional disparities and a strong dependence on established academic centres and international collaborative networks. Expanding scientific capacity in underrepresented regions and strengthening collaborative strategies with robust national leadership are key priorities for the balanced and sustainable development of surgical research in the country.