Introduction:

One way to evaluate research function is analyzing the scientific production indexed in databases.

Objective:

To evaluate the level of scientific production in medicine in South America using the SCOPUS database.

Materials and methods:

Bibliometric, observational, descriptive and cross-sectional study based on Scopus database records of medical publications between 1996 and 2016.

Results:

Brazil is the country with the highest volume of scientific production in South America and the Mercosur bloc with 210 969 publications over the period under study, followed by Argentina with 44 826. Bolivia and Paraguay are the countries with the lowest contribution, with 1 173 and 784 scientific papers, respectively.

Conclusion:

The countries with the highest volume of scientific production in South America are Brazil, Argentina, Chile and Colombia, since their combined scientific production in Medicine accounts for more than 90% of the region's total production. Similarly, there are countries with low levels of scientific production, but with significant average annual growth rates.

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