Authorship growth in contemporary medical literature

Abstract

Objectives: The aims of this study were to investigate authorship trends among publications in high-impact, peer-reviewed specialty journals published within the last decade and to assess how publication practices differ among medical specialties. Methods: The National Institutes of Health’s Portfolio Analysis platform, iCite, was queried for PubMed-indexed case reports, review articles, and original research articles published between 2005 and 2017 in 69 high-impact, clinical journals encompassing 23 medical specialties. Overall, 121,397 peer-reviewed publications were evaluated—of which, 45.1% were original research, 28.7% were review articles, and 26.3% were case reports. Multivariable regression was used to evaluate the magnitude of association of publication year on the number of authors per article by specialty and article type. Results: Original research articles have the greatest increase in authorship (0.23 more authors per article per year), as compared with review articles (0.18 authors per article per year) and case reports (0.01 authors per article per year). Twenty-two of the 23 specialties evaluated had increase in authorship in high-impact specialty journals. Specialty growth rates ranged from 0.42 authors/year (Neurology), Psychiatry (0.35 authors/year), General Surgery (0.29 authors/year), Urology (0.27 authors/year), and Pathology (0.27 authors/year). Specialties with a greater percentage of graduates entering academics had more authors per article; surgical specialties and length of residency were not found to be predictive factors. Conclusion: There has been substantial growth in the authorship bylines of contemporary medical literature, much of which cannot be explained by increased complexity or collaboration alone.

Retractions and post-retraction citations in the COVID-19 infodemic: is Academia spreading misinformation?

“…Considering that 86% of these retractions were in the medical literature, including specialties, we can point out that even in normal circumstances (i.e., not in a pandemic situation), a growth in the number of authors per article can be observed in this field. This is explained by the complexity of multi-disciplinary and multiinstitutional collaboration (An et al 2020). In 4% (n= 2) of the cases, it was not possible to have access to the documents.…”

Authorship Trends in the Rheumatology Literature, 1990–2020

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The number of cited authors per publication has increased substantially over time in the field of medicine. 1,2 This trend of "authorship inflation" has been observed in high-impact medical journals 1 and multiple medical subspecialties, 2 but to our knowledge has yet to be assessed in the field of rheumatology. In this analysis, we describe the number of cited authors in rheumatology publications over a 30-year period.A search of PubMed (NLM) MEDLINE-indexed rheumatology publications from January 1, 1990, to January 11, 2020, was designed by an experienced research librarian and conducted to identify rheumatology clinical practice guidelines, randomized controlled trials (RCTs), systematic reviews and metaanalyses (SRMAs), non-SRMA review articles, and case reports (see Supplementary Data for search terms and strategy, available with the online version of this article).

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“…The number of cited authors per publication has increased substantially over time in the field of medicine. 1,2 This trend of "authorship inflation" has been observed in high-impact medical journals 1 and multiple medical subspecialties, 2 but to our knowledge has yet to be assessed in the field of rheumatology. In this analysis, we describe the number of cited authors in rheumatology publications over a 30-year period.…”

It is easy to become an author in scientific journals now but, what are the implications?

“…Single-author articles are rare today. [ 34 35 36 ] An et al . counted the number of authors for all original research articles and review articles published in European Urology, the Journal of Urology, Urology, and BJU International from January 2006 to December 2016.…”

“…In fact, another research has shown that much of this increase in the number of authors cannot be explained by the increased complexity of articles or an increase in the number of collaborative and multicenter studies. [ 34 ] To overcome this problem, the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors issued guidelines as to who can be an author. [ 37 ]…”