Participation of Developing Countries in International Scientific Production in Psychology During the Period 2017-2021 Based on the Web of Science Core Collection

Although developing countries represent a minimal percentage of the world's scientific production with impact, it is necessary to analyze and study them to appreciate their research policies, publication rates and collaborations. For this study, we have selected all the countries that, according to the Human Development Report 2020, have a research and development expenditure below 0.8, which puts 168 countries in the focus of analysis. Focusing on the articles and review articles that these countries have obtained in the 11 categories that exist in Web of Science (SCI, SSCI and ESCI collections) on psychology, all articles with an impact factor in the years 2017 to 2021 have been selected. In total, 21337 articles were extracted, 62% of which were produced in South America and Asia. The highest number of papers have been published in the categories "Psychology Multidisciplinary" (33.7%) and "Psychology Clinical" (16.0%). Journals indexed in developing countries tend to have a more significant impact within their own continent, and the scientific collaboration networks they maintain are predominantly within the same continent. This leads us to the conclusion that scientific production and dissemination in developing countries are severely constrained, possibly due to social, economic, and political factors.