Analysis of the colombian universities according to SCImago ranking 2010-2012

Objectives. To analyze the classification of Colombian universities according to the Latin-american and spanish ranking SCImago Institutions rankings (SIR) 2012. Materials and methods. A descriptive analysis was performed, which included academic productivity of each University according to SIR. 2010 and 2011 classifications were also included to discuss the academic progress of the universities. The analysis included the following indicators: scientific production, international collaboration, scientific quality, average percentage of publications in journals of the first quartile SJR and ratio of excellence. Results. Colombia ranks third place with 113 universities in Latin America and the seventh place with 7 universities with more than 400 documents. Only 6.2% of the Colombian institutions maintain a competitive scientific production compared to the rest of the Latin-American and spanish universities. The first five Colombian universities with higher productivity were: Nacional, Antioquia, Andes, Valle, and Javeriana. The first five universities of the Caribbean were: Norte, Cartagena, Córdoba, Magdalena and Sucre. Some private universities such as Antonio Nariño, El Bosque and the Colombian School of Engineering, despite not being within the first fifteen places of the country, they have made efforts to improve the indicators of scientific quality through publications in journals of the first quartile and radio excellence. Conclusions. The classifications that allow to compare the IES at the global level are important. The IES of Colombia should bet on quality using at least five factors SCImago ranking. Although the rankings are not mandatory, ignoring them means self-isolation in a world each day more globalized.