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Journal Reading and Publishing Patterns of Cuban Health Researchers

Scientific Information and Informatics Department, National Information Centre for Medical Sciences (Infomed), and Assistant Professor at the Communications School, University of Havana, Cuba, sanchezn{at}infomed.sld.cu

J. Carlos Fernández-Molina

Faculty of Communication and Information Studies, University of Granada (Spain), jcfernan{at}ugr.es

Studies about the patterns of use and diffusion of scientific information by researchers have been numerous in recent years, but very few of them have focused on developing countries. The objective of this study is to determine the patterns of use of scientific journals and the publication-related practices of Cuban researchers in the biomedical sector, clearly the best developed field in the country. To this end a survey was directed at researchers of the national health institutes of Cuba. The results point to patterns of use involving journals and publication practices similar to those of researchers from other world regions (predominating use of online journals, but a preference for the printed format, associations between the preference of format and different age brackets and scientific qualifications). At the same time, most researchers in Cuba believe that they have access to very few or only a part of the articles they consider necessary, which can be explained not only by the financial limitations of the country but also by the limited informational abilities and scarce familiarization with open access publications.

Key Words: scientific journals • scientific communication • biomedical sciences • Cuba

Information Development, Vol. 25, No. 4, 283-295 (2009)
DOI: 10.1177/0266666909349679


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