Scope and limitations of open science in Latin America: analysis of public policies and scientific publications

This paper analyzes the Open Science initiatives in Latin America through the study of public policy and scholarly publications. Sources from governmental agencies have been consulted and the international database SCOPUS has been exploited to obtain the main bibliometric indicators. The results show that it is in the last decade when initiatives in this subject begin to emerge, specifically in 7 countries: Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, México, Peru and Uruguay. Most of the policies are oriented towards the promotion of infrastructures for open access. Publications on open science are concentrated in the last 5 years and the region is increasing its contribution to the world. The topics of Open Access, Open Data, research innovation and participative research stand out but there is no tendency to publish these topics in open access journals. Although interest in open science has become evident, much of the policy and legislative initiatives have focused on open access.