The research concluded that international collaboration improves production and impact significantly. This research was carried out within the framework of the EULAC-Focus project.

In the framework of EULAC-Focus Project, José A. Castillo Ph.D., Faculty of the School of Biological Sciences and Engineering made two scientific publications on the production and impact of Ecuadorian science. The articles were published in the Journal of Hispanic Higher Education and were carried out in collaboration with Dr. Michael A. Powell, of the Secretariat of Higher Education, Science, Technology and Innovation (Senescyt, in Spanish). The publications compile data for a statistical study of scientific publications in Ecuador and an analysis of the influence of international collaboration on Ecuadorian science. After the publication of the articles, Dr. Castillo was interviewed by the international journal Nature.

The publications in the Journal of Hispanic Higher Education consisted of a comparative analysis of the volume of Ecuadorian scientific publications and the impact of them between 2006 and 2015, taking into consideration the factor of international collaboration. Four indicators were taken into account to evaluate the impact of these publications: number of citations, index h, SJR indicator and relative position in quartiles. The first indicator refers to the number of times an article was used as a reference for the production of another; the second refers to the balance between the number of publications and the number of citations; the third estimates the quality and prestige of scientific publications and the fourth refers to the relative position of a journal in the general ranking by field of knowledge. The results of the impact of the publication indicate that, in the case of the four indexes, international collaboration improves the position of a publication significantly.

The results of these two publications are part of what the EULAC-Focus project seeks to understand and analyze. More specifically, the project aims to strengthen the common vision between the EU and CELAC by guiding the cultural, scientific and social dimensions of bi-regional relations, thus reinforcing the strategic partnership aimed at increasing the productivity and quality of collaborative scientific work.

With the results of the publications, Dr. Castillo was one of the academics interviewed by the journal Nature for an article that compiles strategies to build and maintain international collaboration among academics. In this article, Dr. Castillo and three other researchers from Australia, Norway, and the United States, point out the ways in which each of their regions has benefited from the collaboration. In the specific case of Latin America and Ecuador, the professor mentions the importance of international collaborations for research in terms of resources and experience. In addition, it highlights the case of Yachay Tech University and how its students and academics have sought to strengthen international relations obtained from internships, scholarships, and opportunities abroad.

In addition, it highlights the case of Yachay Tech University and how its students and academics have sought to strengthen international relations obtained from internships, scholarships, and opportunities abroad.