The most cited articles in Spanish nursing (1997-2016): a bibliometric analysis

Nursing research is experiencing a fast development in the last decades. This study aims to identify and describe the most frequently cited articles in Spanish nursing in the period 1997-2016. For that purpose we obtained the lists of the 50 most frequently cited articles in journals included in the databases Scopus and/or SciELO Citation Index (SCI). The variables journal, nationality, year, authors and affiliation, study design and citation count were analyzed. The results show that there is a sustained growth of the scientific production in nursing and of the presence of Spanish journals in international databases. The most frequently cited articles were published in 22 different journals, with a maximum of 247 citations and a median of eight. In the articles of the ibero-american area (SCI) there is a predominance of academic Spanish authors publishing in Spanish journals, as well as a major proportion of theoretical studies and editorials. In the international area (Scopus) the majority of research articles are quantitative -mostly descriptive-, and the most cited are signed by academic authors and published in english written journals. The number of received citations is relatively low when compared to international nursing or other related disciplines. The scientific and editorial environment in Spanish nursing faces some challenges like an improved internationalization, a bigger diversity of publications and an increase of experimental studies that assess the outcomes of nursing interventions.