Lotka's law in a sample of dental teachers: implications and recommendations

Introduction: Production of scientific manuscripts is one of the mission tasks of university professors. For reasons of training, motivation, incentives, or personal disinterest, some become more productive than others. Objective: To determine if the production of full-time professors in the dentistry program of a public university in Colombia follows Lotka's law. Methodology: The publications of each professor on the CVLAC-Scieti Col site were collected and counted. The behavior of the publications per professor was analyzed and compared with what was expected by Lotka's law. Results: Even though the professors' production did not follow Lotka's law, close to 60% of the historical production is concentrated in only 2 professors, one from the basic area (40% of the products) and one from the clinical area (remaining 22%). Conclusion: It is necessary to improve the research training of teachers, especially those in the clinical area, encompassing scientific writing activities. Likewise, it may be important to create focus groups with experienced teachers who, free from prejudice, strengthen the skills of beginners.

• Main Author: Castillo-Pedraza, Midian Clara (author)
• Other Authors: Wilches-Visbal, Jorge Homero (author), Escobar-Ospino, Diana Luz (author)
• Format: article
• Language: spa
• Published: 2024
• Subjects: indicadores de producción científica; docentes; odontología; programa de estímulos e incentivos; scientific publication indicators; teachers; dentistry; program for incentives and benefits
• Online Access: https://revistadigital.uce.edu.ec/index.php/odontologia/article/view/4553