Analysis of the biomedical literature in Spain in terms of cultural and gender diversity

In this paper, metaresearch is proposed as a tool for review and analysis of scientific publications. This concept refers to the need of critically evaluate and reflect what and how people research as a fundamental strategy of scientific progress. Our interest is situated in the field of the biomedicine and the study of health-illness-care process in foreign immigrants. The objective is to analyse how scientifically relevant questions about this population are selected, constructed and broached. Specifically, we aim to evaluate how ethnocentric/ethnicist and andocentric/ sexist biases affect this process and its results. We analyse from a cultural diversity and gender perspective the scientific articles on immigration published from 1984 to 2006 indexed in the Spanish Medical Index-CSIC. In the majority of the articles, the definition of the sanitary and academic significant questions responds to ethnocentric and androcentric visions that strengthen social stereotypes and inequalities. Furthermore, they involve limitations of scientific rigour and validity, with consequences in the sanitary practice.