Latin American and Caribbean journals indexed in Google Scholar Metrics

• Published in: Scientometrics Vol. 127; no. 2; pp. 763 - 783
• Main Authors: do Canto, Fabio Lorensi, Pinto, Adilson Luiz, Gavron, Edson Mário, Talau, Marcos
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Cham Springer International Publishing 01.02.2022; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Bibliographic control; Bibliometrics; Citation analysis; Computer Science; Impact analysis; Indexing; Information Storage and Retrieval; Library Science; Periodicity; Productivity; Programming languages; Search engines; Social sciences; Journals evaluation; Scientific journals (Latin America and Caribbean); H5-index; Google scholar metrics
• ISSN: 0138-9130; 1588-2861
• DOI: 10.1007/s11192-021-04237-x

This research analyzes the coverage of Latin American and Caribbean journals in Google Scholar Metrics. It has identified the number of indexed journals by country and compared them with other databases (Scopus, Journal Citation Reports, and SciELO). The characteristics of publications are described based on research areas and subjects, impact (h5-index and h5-median), languages, periodicity, and productivity. Data from 8,205 journals from 24 Latin American and Caribbean countries were downloaded from Latindex. A Python script was used for automated titles search at Google Scholar Metrics, and 3070 (37.42%) journals were found. The journals from Brazil, Mexico, Colombia, Argentina, Chile and Cuba account for 88% of the total, and those in the arts & humanities, social sciences, and health & medicine account for 72%. Approximately 71% of journals are published by educational institutions and 75% have a periodicity of less than three issues per year. The impact is influenced by productivity and language, and the h5-index average is higher in the more productive journals and those published in English. Google Scholar Metrics is a relevant source for Latin America and Caribbean, since the broad coverage allows impact analysis for a larger number of journals. The limited resources for searching and filtering data and the lack of bibliographic control make it difficult to use for bibliometric purposes. Google Scholar Metrics is useful as an alternative source, and its limitations can be overcome with other tools.