[Critical analysis of the bibliography of Actas Urológicas Españolas]

In the absence of Spanish journals and publications with a high impact factor and since one of the primary reasons to obtain such an impact is the frequency with which the publication is referenced, we wanted to check the general belief by which even in the Spanish journals the proportion of national articles that get referenced is very small. We reviewed all articles published by Actas Urológicas Españolas during 1989 and 1990 (12 issues, 246 articles with 4,549 references), and found that only 14.42% of references were from publications or books edited in Spain or at congresses held within Spain. After excluding books and communications originates in congresses, the figure is 10.9%. On the other hand, we noticed that over 25% articles do not include one single Spanish reference. Finally, the publication most often consulted is the USA Journal of Urology, which approaches some 20% of all mentions.