[Productivity and impact of Spanish research into multiple sclerosis (1996-2010)].

Aims: To quantify by means of bibliometric indicators the scientific productivity of Spanish researchers and institutions that publish on multiple sclerosis in national and international journals during the period 1996-2010, and to determine their impact.

Materials And Methods: Papers under study were obtained from Web of Science and Scopus international databases, as well as IBECS and IME national databases, applying specific search profiles in each.

Results: 1613 articles were published in 460 journals, of which 71 were Spanish and 389 non Spanish, being the most productive Revista de Neurologia (n = 204), Multiple Sclerosis (n = 102) and Neurology (n = 97). The articles have been published mostly in English (71.92%) and Spanish (27.40%), participating 4728 authors from 1224 different institutions. The 67.08% of the papers have been cited at least once, but 32.92% have not received citations. The mean number of citations per paper was 12.47 ± 28.42. The most cited journals have been Neurology (n = 1821), followed by Multiple Sclerosis (n = 1124) and Journal of Neuroimmunology (n = 890).

Conclusions: The number of papers has increased steadily from 1996 to 2010, confirming the consolidation and growth of Spanish research in multiple sclerosis, whose results are published in a Revista de Neurologia and Multiple Sclerosis. We emphasize the growing internationalization of the Spanish research on the disease, but it is worrying that a third of the papers has not been cited.