Introduction

The development of science and innovation require and need the exchange of knowledge among researchers, based on the results they achieve. These findings can be presented, validated and discussed by the broader scientific community. In this context, scientific journals serve as the primary and most transparent scientific body for disseminating research findings.

In the health sciences, the continuous generation and validation of knowledge are essential for scientific and technical progress. Scientific journals in the field of medical sciences play a crucial role in developing the scientific-research competencies of health professionals and students. These specialized media in scientific communication deliver high-impact results to the community ¹.

Researchers such as Vitón-Castillo et al. ² have recognized the growing controversy in the field of scientific communication, particularly regarding the evaluation of scientific output. They also emphasize the importance of evaluating the impact of scientific journals on science, which can be assessed through bibliometric studies based on various indicators.

Bibliometric studies are valuable tools for measuring scientific activity. They provide insights into researcher trends and identify the branches of knowledge that require further development through publication. By employing a range of indicators, these studies can evaluate the quality of editorial management across different levels-whether within a specific topic, scientific journals or databases ³.

The Finlay journal, established in January 1987 by a group of medical students, has become the leading professional scientific body in the Cienfuegos province. It was created to disseminate the findings of health professionals and to support the training of human resources in the healthcare sector. The journal is focused on chronic non-communicable diseases (NCDs) ⁴ and operates under the Open Journal Systems (OJS) editorial management platform. Published quarterly, the journal releases an average of 15 articles per issue on chronic NCDs from various fields of knowledge. Its significant scientific contributions have led to its indexing in key databases such as SciELO, Lindex, DOAJ, Redalyc, among others ⁵.

Véliz-Burgos et al. ⁵ conducted a study on the scientific output of the Finlay journal using the Web of Science platform, covering the period from 2015 to 2017. However, given the journal’s extensive editorial history, it is crucial to conduct studies spanning a longer timeframe. Additionally, there is a need to evaluate more comprehensively the journal’s impact through indicators that can provide a deeper understanding of its influence. Therefore, this research aims to characterize the articles on NCDs published in the journal from 2011 to 2022.

Materials and methods

Results

Out of the total number of analyzed articles (525), the highest number of published papers was recorded in 2021, with 60 articles (11.38 %), followed by 2022 and 2020, with 58 articles (11 %) and 52 articles (9.86 %), respectively (Figure 1).

Articles with three authors prevailed (155 articles, 29.52 %), followed by those with six authors (89 articles, 16.95 %) and one author (86 articles, 16.38 %). The DC accounted for 0.83 (Table 1).

A total of 1,808 signing authors contributed to research papers. The Cienfuegos province stood out with 1,074 authors (59.40 %). It was followed by the Havana (275 authors; 15.12 %) and Villa Clara (110 authors; 6.08 %) provinces (Table 2). There were 217 articles belonging to authors outside the Cienfuegos province, equivalent to a PA of 0.41.

OAs predominated (243; 46.28 %) with the highest number of references (5,117; 53.04 %) and highest number of 5-year-old references (2,709; 51.71 %). They were followed by case reports and RAs, with 112 articles (21.33 %) and 93 articles (17.71 %), respectively. Additionally, IM had the highest PI: 0.80 (Table 3).

Among the OAs, research works with an observationaldescriptive approach prevailed (225 published articles, which accounted for 92.59 % out of the total number of OAs). They were followed by analytical articles (17 research works; 3.23 %).

Regarding the main topics, cardiovascular diseases were the focus of 116 studies (22.09 %), followed by gynecological conditions with 50 studies (9.52 %) and endocrine-metabolic disorders with 49 studies (9.33 %).

A total of 4,870 citations were received across 386 articles, representing 73.25 % of the total number of publications. Notably, the article El envejecimiento, la vejez y la calidad de vida: ¿éxito o dificultad? stood out with the highest number of citations (194; 3.98 %) and the highest NCC with 38.3 (Table 4).

In terms of citations, 2017 stood out with the highest count (956 citations, representing 19.63 %), followed by 2018 with 828 citations (17.00 %) and 2016 with 675 citations (13.86 %). The year 2020 recorded the highest IF at 3.27 (Table 5). The journal’s h-index was 34.

Discussion

The research process and scientific development require periodic evaluations to enhance the quality of science. Bibliometric studies in the field of scientific publications facilitate the analysis of scientific production, offering tools and solutions to improve and enhance the editorial quality.

This research identified a predominance of articles published in 2021, with a notable representation of OAs employing an observational-descriptive approach. The Cienfuegos province had the highest number of signing authors, primarily in articles authored by three individuals. Cardiovascular diseases emerged as the main topic. Additionally, there was a noticeable increase in the number of citations.

The Finlay journal operates under the OJS editorial management platform, consistent with other Cuban health-related scientific journals operating under the Infomed health network. It adheres to the editorial policies set by the Editorial de Ciencias Médicas (ECIMED Medical Sciences Publishing House) in Cuba. The journal publishes four issues per year, each averaging 15 articles, totaling 60 articles annually.

The discrepancy between the total number of articles published per issue and the information included in this research may be attributed to the inclusion and exclusion criteria defined in the study’s methodology. The predominance of 2021 can also be linked to the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly in the Cienfuegos province, which experienced a peak in cases during July and August 2021 (with over 76,276 cases reported by November 2021) ^6,7. In this regard, ECIMED issued a directive to scientific journals to prioritize articles addressing COVID-19 to enhance understanding of the novel disease ⁸.

Additionally, the Finlay journal features research on chronic NCDs, a topic that gained prominence among researchers during the COVID-19 pandemic. Such context likely explains the predominance of 2021 in this study. These findings contrast with those of Vásquez-Uriarte et al ⁹, who reported a predominance of Peruvian scientific production on COVID-19 in 2020, totaling 87 studies. Conversely, PiñeraCastro et al. ¹⁰ found a predominance of neuroscience research in 2021, comprising 48 % of the analyzed articles. The number of signing authors contributing to articles in scientific journals depends on the number of published articles by such journals. Collaboration among authors is important for scientific advancement as it facilitates consensus and increases the number of contributors and research funding. It also supports the development of studies with broader scopes that guarantee the processing of a larger amount of data and variables. This, in turn, enhances the dissemination of knowledge within the scientific community ¹¹. These results differ from those reported by Valdespino-Alberti et al. ¹², who analyzed scientific production between 2005 and 2016, identifying 1,201 authors.

On the other hand, the research process goes through several stages of preparation before a scientific journal considers a manuscript. In this sense, collaboration between authors can speed up the stages of data collection and processing, ensuring that a manuscript reaches the publisher in better condition ¹³. This may justify the predominance of articles with more than one author and the DC. However, there is a difference compared to the findings of Ramos-Cordero et al. ¹⁴, who reported a predominance of articles with three authors. Nonetheless, both studies underscore the importance of collaboration, as they show a predominance of articles with more than one author.

The main objective of scientific journals in Cuba is to promote and disseminate the scientific achievements of each province, which has a scientific body dedicated to this purpose. In Cienfuegos, the Finlay journal was the pioneering body and laid the foundation for the creation of the MediSur journal and Inmedsur student scientific journal, highlighting its extensive editorial experience. These factors may explain the predominance of authors from Cienfuegos in this study, as well as the involvement of both national and international collaborators (from Peru, Ecuador, Chile and Belgium). The findings on international authors are not aligned with the results of Horta-Martínez et al. ¹⁵ and Barceló-Hidalgo et al. ¹⁶, while Vitón-Castillo et al. ¹⁷ do agree with such findings. Conversely, the research by Díaz-Rodríguez et al. ¹⁸ shows a predominance of Granma in about 23 % of the cases.

In the field of science-research, there is a constant demand of research, which must be novel and address unexplored areas of knowledge. In this respect, RAs play a crucial role by analyzing published work on a specific topic, laying the foundations for future original research (in the future, OAs) that can address these knowledge gaps. However, despite this relationship, OAs are prioritized by each scientific body according to the ECIMED guidelines ¹⁹, as their results drive scientific progress in specific topics or regions. In addition, ECIMED mandates that at least 60 % of the articles published in Cuban scientific journals must be OAs ^20,21.

According to the authors, these aspects justify the predominance of OAs in this study. This aligns with the findings of Landrove-Escalona et al. ²² regarding scientific production on pharmacology in the 16 de Abril student scientific journal, where 36.36 % were OAs. Similarly, it is consistent with previous research by Herrera Miranda et al. ²³, which also reported a predominance of OAs. This indicates that the journal continues to comply with ECIMED’s editorial policies for high-quality management. Conversely, these findings differ from those of Montalvo Sánchez et al. ²⁴, who observed a predominance of RAs.

In the case of OAs, several study types are defined, each with its own characteristics and objectives. Observationaldescriptive research, compared to other types of studies (e.g., analytical, case-control), offers greater benefits to the authors, such as ease of execution, straightforward presentation of results and analysis focused on the characteristics of the object of study ^19,25. This is consistent with the study by Jiménez-Pérez et al. ²⁶, where observational studies predominated in more than 80 % of the analyzed works.

Updating citations in published articles is an important aspect of any research. It reflects the quality of the information presented in a scientific work and the thoroughness of the review process prior to publication. However, it is also worth noting that certain topics may have limited published studies, leading to outdated information ²⁷.

IM are short articles that address a particular pathology through an overall image, presented as a microhistory. They require fewer references, which in some cases may be omitted altogether. As a result, they tend to be more up-to-date than other articles, justifying their predominance in this study. In contrast, Díaz-Rodríguez et al. ²⁸ reported a higher PI in OAs, which is inconsistent with the findings of the present research.

The Finlay journal has historically established chronic NCDs as its main topic. In this regard, it has maintained a close collaboration with the CARMEN (Conjunto de Acciones para la Reducción Multifactorial de las Enfermedades No Transmisibles Set ofActions for the Multifactorial Reduction of Non-Communicable Diseases) project in the Cienfuegos region. This project, developed by the Pan American Health Organization, focuses on researching on chronic NCDs and reducing them by addressing their risk factors. Cienfuegos was the first province in Cuba to implement the project’s second edition ²⁹. This collaboration explains the prevalence of articles on chronic NCDs and the high number of contributing authors from the region, establishing a clear link between both results. These findings contrast with those of Santalla-Corrales et al. ³⁰, who reported a predominance of COVID-19 as the main topic among the analyzed articles.

The visibility and impact of a scientific journal are determined by several factors: its objective, scope, research topics and indexing in various databases. In this respect, the Finlay journal enjoys excellent visibility and impact, as demonstrated by its NCC, IF and h-index results. The journal is indexed in national and international databases such as SciELO, Lindex, DOAJ and Redalyc and is also included in the Web of Science Emerging Sources Citation Index ⁵. These aspects justify the results obtained.

The authors acknowledge certain limitations in the study, including the lack of bibliometric indicators as productivity indices by authors and institutions. Additionally, the retrospective design of the study prevents the extrapolation of the data, so future analyses should consider newly published articles in the journal.

In conclusion, the Finlay journal serves as a key scientific platform for disseminating research results, with notable achievements and extensive experience in editorial management. The journal has experienced exponential growth, particularly in the number of published articles, with 2021 being the most prominent year. Its issues showcase the collaboration between national and international authors, with a strong emphasis on research from the Cienfuegos region. The topics focus on health problems that are included in the sector’s priority health programs and are based on original research to a greater extent, along with a growth in citations received especially in 2017.