Expanding Opportunities to Publish Research Articles in Mexico: Ophthalmology as a Case Study

<title>Abstract</title> <p>Background Research drives economic and scientific advancement. In Mexico, regulations mandate that residents must submit a research report to graduate. Objective Using ophthalmology as a case study, this analysis compares Mexico's ophthalmology research output to other OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) countries and evaluates the gap between estimated residency research reports and actual publications manuscripts over 10 years. Methods This bibliometric study analyzed ophthalmology research from 2014 to 2023 using Scimago Journal &amp; Country Rank, Scopus, and OECD data. Original articles from 130 ophthalmology journals and 10 high-impact journals were analyzed. Ten OECD countries served as benchmarks. Metrics included publication output, citation data, h-index, and collaborative publications Results Nearly 130,000 articles were published in ophthalmology journals. Mexico contributed 0.18% in quartile 1 and 1.13% in quartile 4 journals. Among 10 high-impact journals, Mexico ranked 7th with 81 articles (0.7%). The h-index for Mexico was low, with 248 citations across 13 papers. Despite an estimated 2,800 residency-generated reports over a decade, actual publications reached only about a quarter of this value. Conclusions Mexico’s ophthalmology research output is limited compared to other OECD countries and its estimated residency research capacity. Enhancing residency research efforts is critical for improving publication output.</p>