The massive growth of graduate programs in Brazil, observed in the areas of Health Sciences and Public Health, makes it necessary to consider the processes underlying the diffusion of science. Qualitative analyses on the main themes of the field have been conveyed using scientific journals and a directory of research groups. The agreement made between ABRASCO and CAPES opened the possibility of using a database that, although construed for the evaluation of graduate programs, may be useful for different purposes. In this study, the full papers registered in three triennials from 1998 to 2006 were analyzed. In order to accomplish this it was necessary to standardize the titles of the scientific journals and also the titles of full text articles published, in large part because the co-authorship of researchers from different programs resulted in duplications of entries. Only then was possible to build a database where every article is registered no more than once. From this point, the changes throughout the three periods were analyzed, as well as the most frequently consulted journals, number of authors, language, national and foreign journals, and regional and interregional cooperation. The data presented here may be useful for the discussions on the scientific production and dissemination of knowledge in the area of Public Health.
Scientific production; Public health; Graduate programs
