Publications from the Caribbean in the health sciences.

Abstract

The investigation reported here examined scientific publications from Barbados, Jamaica, and Trinidad and Tobago over the period 1976-1990. Its purpose was to provide new information about Caribbean research in the health field through assessment of published works. To this end a broad array of journal subject categories was examined using SCISEARCH, an international index of medical and scientific literature. In all, 1,712 titles (articles, editorials, reviews, letters, meeting abstracts, and notes) were selected for analysis. This analysis indicated that Jamaica accounted for about three-quarters of the titles and that there had been a steady increase in the number of titles published over the study period that was most marked in Barbados. Most of the principal authors were affiliated with the University of the West Indies, and nearly one-third of the titles were published in the West Indian Medical Journal, the sole publication from the three study countries that SCISEARCH listed. Most of the subjects covered fell within the area of "general medicine" rather than experimental medicine or public health. However, of the 383 titles dealing with experimental medicine, nearly all (331) originated in Jamaica. In contrast, less than half of the 262 titles in the public health field came from Jamaica, a relatively large number (106) originating in Trinidad and Tobago. Most of the 1,712 titles (63.8%) dealt with topics outside the priority areas identified by the Caribbean Ministers of Health as part of the Caribbean Cooperation in Health (CCH) Initiative.