{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2025,11,19]],"date-time":"2025-11-19T10:35:28Z","timestamp":1763548528813,"version":"3.45.0"},"reference-count":63,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"4","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,11,19]],"date-time":"2025-11-19T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1763510400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Publications"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Scientific production is a key indicator of a country\u2019s academic and institutional development. This review followed a quantitative and descriptive bibliometric design using Lotka\u2019s Law, aimed at analysing Ecuador\u2019s scientific production in the area of Agricultural and Biological Sciences from 2014 to 2024. The bibliographic data were obtained from the Scopus database, which offers comprehensive coverage of the peer-reviewed literature and standardised metadata. Data (2881 documents) revealed publication patterns, collaboration networks and impact indicators. Lotka\u2019s Law was applied to evaluate and describe author productivity among researchers affiliated with Ecuadorian universities and the Instituto Nacional de Investigaciones Agropecuarias (INIAP). The model yielded an average n-parameter of 2.56, indicating a moderate concentration among a small group of researchers. There was a sustained growth in scientific publications, especially after 2018, with a high proportion published in Q1 and Q2 journals. The institutions with the most relevant affiliations included PUCE, UTM, USFQ, INIAP, ESPOL and UDLA, all maintaining consistent contributions to scientific output. The keyword co-occurrence analysis revealed a thematic focus on biodiversity, taxonomy and conservation. The limitations of this study were related to the fact that the analysis was based only on data retrieved from the Scopus database and that the use of Lotka\u2019s Law assumes a theoretical distribution that does not fully account for contextual factors. Overall, Ecuador\u2019s scientific system shows progress in terms of research productivity; however, it requires further development and the strengthening of institutional and human research capacities to generate more equitable scientific production in terms of the number of researchers.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/publications13040059","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,11,19]],"date-time":"2025-11-19T10:02:13Z","timestamp":1763546533000},"page":"59","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["An Assessment of Scientific Productivity: Review in the Area of Agricultural and Biological Sciences in Ecuador Using Scientometrics and Lotka\u2019s Law"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"13","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-4472-4126","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"William","family":"Viera-Arroyo","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Direcci\u00f3n de Investigaciones, Instituto Nacional de Investigaciones Agropecuarias (INIAP), Av. Eloy Alfaro N30-350 y Amazonas, Quito 170518, Ecuador"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0000-4760-5742","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Lya","family":"Vera","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Direcci\u00f3n de Investigaciones, Instituto Nacional de Investigaciones Agropecuarias (INIAP), Av. Eloy Alfaro N30-350 y Amazonas, Quito 170518, Ecuador"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-9344-318X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Mart\u00edn","family":"Moya","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Direcci\u00f3n de Investigaciones, Instituto Nacional de Investigaciones Agropecuarias (INIAP), Av. Eloy Alfaro N30-350 y Amazonas, Quito 170518, Ecuador"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-5446-0323","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Duther","family":"L\u00f3pez","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Direcci\u00f3n de Investigaciones, Instituto Nacional de Investigaciones Agropecuarias (INIAP), Av. Eloy Alfaro N30-350 y Amazonas, Quito 170518, Ecuador"}]},{"given":"Wilson","family":"V\u00e1squez-Castillo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Grupo de Investigaci\u00f3n en Alimentos y Agroindustria (GIA<sub>2<\/sub>), Ingenier\u00eda Agroindustrial, Universidad de Las Am\u00e9ricas (UDLA), Redondel del Ciclista V\u00eda a Nay\u00f3n, Quito 170124, Ecuador"}]},{"given":"Carlos","family":"Caicedo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Direcci\u00f3n de Investigaciones, Instituto Nacional de Investigaciones Agropecuarias (INIAP), Av. 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