I was always attracted to science.  When I was a child, I wanted to know how my toys worked, and many times, I would separate them into their components and assemble them later.  I must confess that this enterprise was not always successful, and more than once I ended up with one or two pieces that I could not find a place for. I tried once to build a small telescope using a pipe and several of my dad’s magnifier glasses.  As you may guess it did not work, but that never discouraged me to continue exploring the world. This curiosity motivated me to study Chemistry, and thanks to that, today I am doing a postdoctoral fellowship in one of the most important biomedical institutes in the world.  

Science was a word that went through my head when I was a little child and today it is present everywhere in our lives and our country is not an exception. Lately a lot has been said in Ecuador about the importance of science and technology, but….. What is the real contribution of our country in the scientific field?  A couple of months ago, I read an interesting report published in one of the main Ecuadorian newspapers, its headline read:  ”Every five years, there are 4 publications”. I found the headline itself, alarming and decided to read thoroughly the article that was used to get the information supplied in the report.   

The article reported that in average, from 1965 until January 2009, the country published a total of 66 papers in international scientific journals per year (articles reviewed by publishers and independent investigators specialized in the field).  When I performed a quick search in a database (Scopus) about the number of publications of universities and technical colleges, it showed that approximately 61 % of the total papers came from research made in these institutions.  This means that every year, all of these educational institutions publish approximately 40 papers.   According to Conesup (Organism that regulates universities), Ecuador has 73 registered universities and technical colleges. After a simple mathematical operation, it can be concluded that each of these institutions in Ecuador contributes to the scientific field an average of 0.5 papers every year, that is to say LESS THAN ONE PAPER ANNUALY!!!!!.  Among researchers it is always said, “research that is not published does not exist”.  If we analyze the alarming deficit of scientific papers reported, we end up asking ourselves, what happened with all the investigation that is carried out in the country?  

From my perspective, research in Ecuador has not developed yet. In the past, the country lived inside a bubble where people did not know what was going on outside.  The bibliographic information available was very limited and out of date, and the amount of PhDs was very low, I would say minimum. This added to the almost null interest of the authorities and the universities about doing research caused a lack of development of this activity in the country. However, currently the country has better prepared professionals, the universities have more PhDs working as faculty, and thanks to the Internet, (it has proved to be a great tool) now it is easier to know what is happening around the world, get up to date information and make contacts with other investigators, which was not easy before. This has allowed the annual number of scientific publications to grow considerably in the past years.  

As previously mentioned, Ecuador has 73 universities and technical colleges.  A more detailed analysis of the information shows that only 11 of them publish their research.  Unfortunately, it has to be added that inside these universities only very few members of their faculty are investigators who actually do research. This is something to worry about.

My search in Scopus also showed a substantial increase in the number of publications, especially in the last 3 decades, from an average of 4 annual publications in the 80´s, 18 in the decade of the 90´s to 89 papers between 2000 and 2008.  That is an increase in a 2225 %, and can be considered very encouraging data, but it is not enough.  If we compare with the average of papers published, between 2000 and 2008, in other countries in the region (Brazil = 20041, Argentina = 4293, Chile = 2974, Venezuela = 1121, Colombia = 1121, Uruguay = 377, Peru = 220, Bolivia = 43 and Paraguay = 18) it can be seen that we are only doing better than Bolivia and Paraguay.  

Still there is a long way to go, we can not remain behind and just hope that we can benefit of what others achieve through research.  We must produce, develop and investigate; as this is the only way we will be able to generate wealth and to be better prepared for the challenges that a changing world will force us to face. Many things need to change to be able to do this, and Ecuadorians will certainly need to put a lot of work into it, especially the more qualified people.  We share the vision that education is very important for the development of a nation.  It helps people to be more productive and therefore expands their opportunities.  If we were able to increase the educational level of people in the country, not only that the number of scientific publications will raise in the future but also the standard of living.  Supporting education is to think about a better future for our people. 

Jorge Heredia