Ecuador has shown a growth in its scientific production since 2011, representing 85% of the total historical production. These investigations are reflected in scientific publications, which address world interest topics and serve as a link for the university, business, and society. This work aims to analyze the scientific production generated by Ecuador in the period of 1920–2020 using bibliometric methods to evaluate its intellectual structure and performance. The methodology applied in this study includes: (i) terms definition and search criteria; (ii) database selection, initial search, and document compilation; (iii) data extraction and software selection; and finally, (iv) analysis of results. The results show that scientific production has been consolidated in 30,205 documents, developed in 27 subject areas, in 13 languages under the contribution of 84 countries. This intellectual structure is in harmony with the global context when presenting research topics related to “Biology and regional climate change”, “Higher education and its various approaches”, “Technology and Computer Science”, “Medicine”, “Energy, food and water”, and ”Development and applications on the Web”. Topics framed in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), sustainability, climate change, and others. This study contributes to the academic community, considering current re-search issues and global concerns, the collaboration between universities and countries that allow establishing future collaboration links.

The Santa Elena province in Ecuador has great geodiversity potential, due to its geological characteristics and its coastal and marine context, as verified by publications about geosites, which have allowed the approach and development of initiatives in a context of geodiversity and sustainability. The aim of this article is to analyze 10 geosites from the Santa Elena province comparatively using the Brilha methodology, Geological and Mining Institute of Spain (IGME) methodology, and geosites assessment methodology (GAM) for the establishment of methodological considerations in the evaluation of geosites. These methodologies consider (i) 10 of the most representative geosites of the province for a comparative analysis; (ii) the application of the methodologies Brilha, IGME, and GAM to 10 geosites to establish the corresponding assessments; (iii) a comparative matrix of the results and analysis of the resulting assessment; and (iv) a proposal for the guidelines of an integrating methodology concerning geosites. The results show a similar ranking of 10 geosites, but highlight valuations that prioritize one aspect over another or focus on ecotourism aspects or geoconservation aspects. Based on the results and the comparative matrix, a method is structured integrating geodiversity, protection, geo-conservation, and geotourism aspects, which offer a different ranking of the considered geosites, being the most valued geosites the Chocolatera, Olón Cliff, Ancon Oilfield, and Manglaralto Coastal Aquifer.

The Santa Elena province in Ecuador has outstanding geological potential in petroleum, mining and geosite resources. All the wealth of palaeontological samples and their inherent link to the history of this territory require a recognised museum with educational and scientific material to support the potential and promotion of geotourism development. The Megatherium Palaeontological Museum is located in this province and was the first Palaeontological Museum in Ecuador. It exhibits samples corresponding to the Late Pleistocene Megafauna that inhabited the area. This study aims to evaluate the museum (a geoheritage element) as a possible (palaeontological) geosite by analysing its contributions to the geoheritage of the Santa Elena province. Thus, we also aim to enhance the geotourism of the area and promote its collections as a geotouristic attraction. The methodological process was based on: (i) information processing and systematisation in the museum and its environment; (ii) assessment of the museum’s geological interest through the method of the Geological Survey of Spain, the Brilha method and the Geosites Assessment Model; and (iii) a qualitative evaluation using the Delphi and the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats methodologies to define strategies and proposals for museum development. Based on the results of the applied quantitative assessment, the museum has a “very high” (277/400) degree of geological interest, due to the high values of scientific (310/400), academic (310/400) and touristic (210/400) interest. In this same way, the results obtained through the Brilha method reflect a high scientific (290/400), educational (280/400), and tourist (315/400) interest and a low degradation risk (190/400) value in the museum. Furthermore, the applied Geosites Assessment Model shows the museum as a geosite with high main and additional values, placing it between the Z23 and Z33 fields of the global valuation matrix. The evaluation approached through Delphi analysis and Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats matrix allowed us to propose improvement strategies to take advantage of the museum resources as an alternative that strengthens the geotouristic development of the area.