Evolution of the scholar community in the area of informetrics in Mexico: 1971-2018

Abstract

We study the evolution of the Mexican community of researchers active in the field of informetrics studies in the period 1971-2018. Bibliometric data was retrieved from ten databases. 938 documents were registered with a total of 2121 authors affiliated to Mexican institutions. However, 42.2% of them have a scarce research production during this period. The production profiles of the full sample are organized according to the publications and citations by Mexican scholars, research lines of the authors, evolution of the number of local and foreign scholars, number of active and non-active scholars, and members of the National System of Researchers and scientific disciplines. Our findings indicate that a high proportion (54.5%) of the authors are members of the National System of Researchers. Our sample of authors include scholars from different areas of knowledge, and the most prolific corresponds to professionals of librarianship and information science. There is an increasing trend in their research production, specifically during the period 1990-2018, but the collaboration network is structured with a minimum set of dominant nodes.