Analysis of the productivity and impact of communication research in Spain and Latin America (1980-2022)

! This article examines the discipline of communication in the five Spanishspeaking countries with the highest scientific output in the Web of Science (WoS), ranked in order: Spain, Chile, Mexico, Argentina, and Colombia. It uses the algorithmic clustering tool citation topic (CT) from InCites (ClarivateAnalytics) to create unique groupings of scientific works based on their citation relationships. Based on this original cluster, various indicators are analyzed to assess impact, such as citations per article, the proportion of articles in SSCI versus ESCI, and quartiles. The evolution of international collaboration is also examined, and data is broken down by universities. Spain is the leader in production and indexed journals, perpetuating the hegemony of the Global North, although Chile has the bestimpact indicators. Mexico is in the midfield, while Colombia and Argentina are characterized by relatively low production and impact, apart from the increase in international collaboration observed in Colombia. It is confirmed thatSpanish-speaking scientific networks, especially from the Global South, are on the margins of a restrictive platform such as WoS. Finally, several strategies to improve the situation are proposed, including the review of journal indexes, the reconceptualization of research policies, and the decolonization of global science, as well as the creation of new frameworks for scientific legitimacy.