Databases in the evaluation of scientific production in Latin America. Exploring OpenAlex’s potential for Argentine universities
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.15381/dds.n13.27890Keywords:
Argentina, OpenAlex, Scopus, evaluation, university rankingsAbstract
This article examines the coverage of OpenAlex and Scopus for scientific publications by Argentine authors, both nationwide and for a selection of 10 national universities, over the period 2019-2023. The objective is to compare the performance of both databases in terms of the overall volume of indexed publications, languages, and disciplinary areas. The results show that OpenAlex has a broader and more diverse coverage, in particular for publications in Spanish, in social sciences and humanities, and authored by a single individual. Additionally, it is observed that OpenAlex's coverage is especially relevant for smaller universities and articles with national collaborations or single authorship, which are often underrepresented in traditional bibliometric databases. These findings hold special significance amidst current challenges to science produced in Argentina made by the federal government elected in 2023 and the restriction of access to Scopus as a source for scientific research.
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