Bibliometric analysis of dental research in Peruvian universities, 2013-2023.

UNLABELLED: Scientific production in dentistry has grown in Peru over the past decade; however, institutional differences in publication impact, thematic areas, and collaboration patterns remain unclear. AIM: To compare the Scopus-indexed dental scientific output of five Peruvian universities between 2013 and 2023. MATERIALS AND METHOD: A cross-sectional bibliometric study was conducted using Scopus to identify dental publications affiliated with the five most productive Peruvian universities from 2013 to 2023. Eligibility criteria included dental-related topics and full variable availability. After screening 825 records, 584 were included. Extracted variables included publication year, type, thematic area, citations, scientific productivity, number of authors, and collaboration patterns. Descriptive indicators were computed; normality was assessed using Shapiro-Wilk. Group differences were tested with Chisquare and Kruskal-Wallis tests, with Bonferroni-adjusted post hoc analyses. Statistical significance was set at p<0.05. RESULTS: The greatest increase in scientific output occurred between 2019 and 2023, peaking in 2021. Universidad Científica del Sur produced the highest number of publications (34.25%), while Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia obtained the highest citation impact. Public Oral Health was the most frequently represented area. Significant differences were found in thematic specialization (p=0.016), citation averages (p<0.001), number of authors (p=0.007), and collaboration types (p<0.001). National collaborations predominated, while international partnerships remained limited. CONCLUSIONS: Peruvian dental research indexed in Scopus has increased substantially in recent years. Citation impact and thematic specialization differ among universities, reflecting heterogeneous research development. The predominance of national collaboration highlights the need to reinforce international cooperative networks. These findings support the formulation of differentiated strategies to strengthen institutional research capacity and global visibility.