Tracing the contribution of Latin American research to AEHM: A scientiometric perspective on past trends and future opportunities

Abstract

The Aquatic Ecosystem Health and Management (AEHM) journal has served as a well-known platform
for disseminating ecosystem-based research across freshwater and marine systems over the last quarter
century. In this regard, we have made a comprehensive bibliometric and science mapping analysis of
AEHM (1998–2024), with a particular accent on the evolution and patterns of contributions from countries
of Latin America. We believe our perspective may enrich the understanding of the journal’s scholarly
dynamics and offer insight into potential paths to further its mission of fostering global ecosystem health.
Our analysis was based on the SCOPUS database and included 1,346 documents published between
1998 and 2024. The collection encompasses a variety of document types, with a predominance of original
articles (997), complemented by conference papers (171), reviews (49), editorials, and other formats. The
average citation per document was nearly 12, with a modest but consistent citation rate (0.8 per year),
reflecting sustained engagement from the academic community.
The overall authorship profile shows a strong collaborative orientation, with an average of 3.5 coauthors per article and a collaboration index of 2.9 (i.e. how many authors participate on average in
collaborative articles, excluding single-authored papers). This indicates that AEHM functions as a nexus
for interdisciplinary work and collective knowledge production. When focusing on Latin America, 108
documents were identified with at least one author affiliated to a Latin American institution. Although this
represents a modest portion of the total, these contributions demonstrated higher impact, with 21 average
citations per document and a higher collaboration index (3.9), underscoring their relevance and degree of
cooperation.