Investigación española en células madre (1997-2010)Localización y evolución de las principales líneas de investigación a través de los KeyWords Plus

Resumen

•Objective:Torender and analyze the evolution and dynamics of the main research lines in the Spanishscientific output on stem cells between 1997 and 2010.•Material and Methods:We retrieved the documents from the Science Citation Index (SCI). The units ofanalysis were the descriptors KeyWords Plus (KW +). The tools used for visualization have been softwarePajek combined with Pathfinder Network (PFnet), and VOSviewer software. This study analyzes the periodincludes between 1997-2007, and the evolution of the research into three sub-periods: 1997-2001, 2002-2006 and 2007-2010.•Results and Discussion:The results of the full period locate up to six main research lines. In the first period,there is a strong presence of the descriptors that represent documents related to hematology and oncology.However, the other research lines do not begin to be clearly detected until the second period. Here, we canlocate clusters of descriptors related to hematopoietic stem cell research, others related with thegeneration, proliferation and differentiation of stem cells and finally, alternate associated to an emergingcluster of neural progenitor cells. The results show that the weight of these latter groups make them moreevident in the last period.•Conclusion:The visualization of the relationships between the KW + has yielded two complementaryimages of the situation and evolution of Spanish research on stem cells. The methodology has identifiedareas of research both consolidated and emerging, intuiting the development of a thematic domain overtime. The visualization software complement each other quite well, matching in the identification of themain research lines and in the location of the most influential descriptors.