Research and partnerships in studies on population genetics of Neotropical plants: A scientometric evaluation

• The increase in publications on ‘population genetics of Neotropical plants’ was slower than general studies on population genetics.
• The number of Neotropical species and families studied was low considering the huge number of plant species in the Neotropics.
• The number of authors and groups publishing in ‘population genetics of Neotropical plants’ is still low.
• We suggest special funding for non- or poorly studied families.
• We recommend increased human resource training and research funding in Colombia, Ecuador, Venezuela, Bolivia and Paraguay.

Population genetics contributes to the understanding of the origin and maintenance of Neotropical biodiversity. We performed a scientometric analysis of ‘population genetics of Neotropical plants’ publications in Thomson Reuters Web of Science database, to identify patterns and trends and generate useful information for science and technology policy and decision-making in research funding. A total of 270 articles were identified. We found a general increase in the number of ‘population genetics of Neotropical plants’ publications but at a lower rate than the overall increase in ‘general population genetics’. Brazil and Costa Rica were the most studied countries, and Brazilians followed by North Americans authored the most publications. Twenty-five co-authorship collaboration groups and 9 institutional collaboration sub communities were identified. The number of groups remains low, and the distribution among countries is skewed. National and international partnerships significantly increased during the time period of our survey and at a higher rate than articles with no partnership. Despite the high biodiversity in the Neotropics, only 157 different species were studied during the last 68 years. Our results demonstrated low levels of ‘population genetics of Neotropical plants’ publications, which indicate the need to accelerate and increase research funding in this area.