Supplementary Files
Keywords
open acess
science policy
health sciences
Chile
OpenAlex
Bibliometrics
COVID-19
How to Cite
Abstract
Health sciences in Chile registered at least USD 14.0 million in article processing charges (APCs) between 2019 and 2024, according to data extracted from OpenAlex using a disciplinary Topics filter (Field Medicine, id 27) and Chilean institutional affiliation. A total
of 23,230 publications were identified, of which 5,944 (25.6%) recorded an APC as paid in OpenAlex. Average expenditure was USD 2,353 per article (95% CI: 2,322–2,385; median: USD 2,382), with a maximum of USD 11,690. Time series analysis reveals a monotonically increasing, statistically significant trend (Mann-Kendall: tau=1.00; p=0.0085), with a +48.6% increase in 2020 attributable to COVID-19 publications. However, the APC registration rate in OpenAlex rose from 16.2% (2019) to 32.1% (2024), so part of the observed growth reflects improved source coverage rather than real expenditure growth alone. 55.8% of publications have no APC registered, consistent with structural underreporting of transformative agreements. MDPI, Elsevier and Frontiers account for 51.7% of registered expenditure (CR3). The presence of three clinical centres and several private universities among the leading affiliations reveals that the APC circuit extends beyond the state university system. Science policy recommendations are proposed.
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