Research management in Honduras: perspective through the Revista Médica Hondureña

Abstract

Background: The Revista Médica Hondureña (RMH) registers information about events and evolutionary aspects of clinical assistance, public health, education, and research. Knowledge management for health research organizes information flows and promotes the generation, appropriation, exchange and use knowledge to increase the efficiency of research. Objective: Describe the research management in Honduras through the publications in the RMH (1930-2020). Methods: Scoping review; the search was done under the term research. Articles were selected according to the operational definition of research management based on the objectives of the Health Research policy (PAHO/WHO); they were classified by year of publication, type of article, theme, scope. Results: A total of 24 articles were identified (1989-2020); according to type of article: Opinion 12, Editorial 5, Original 3, Special 2, Bibliographic review 1, History 1; according to their general thematic area, articles approached one or more themes, mainly: Research generation 15, human talent competence 15, research prioritization 9, Diffusion and use of results 9, strategic alliances 8. As to its scope, 17 national, 3 regional, and 4 global. Discussion: The RMH reflects progress and challenges of health research in Honduras. It is necessary to promote initiatives and research about governance, practices and standards and evaluation mechanisms of research. The creation of a national system of health research would contribute to promoting the generation and use of scientific evidence of the highest quality and therefore a better public health system in Honduras.