Proliferation of authors on research reports in medicine |
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Authors: | Joost P H Drenth |
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Institution: | (1) Department of Medicine, Division of General Internal Medicine, University Hospital St. Radboud, P.O. Box 9101, 6500 HB Nijmegen, The Netherlands |
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Abstract: | Publication in the biomedical literature is important because it is the major pathway by which new concepts and discoveries
are disseminated amongst scientists. In the last 30 years there has been a dramatic increase, not only in the volume of publications
but in the number of authors per article as well. This paper summarizes the current literature on authorship and its proliferation
in medicine. From the literature it becomes clear that for biomedical articles, the mean number of authors increased from
1.7 in 1960 to 3.1 in 1990, and there are indications that this trend is even greater in clinical medicine such that single
authorship almost has disappeared. Formal guidelines of who should be considered an author have been set by the International
Committee of Medical Journal Editors. There are studies suggesting that not all authors on multiauthor papers fulfill these
criteria. Inappropriate multiple authorship leads to dilution of authorship responsibility and unjustified citation in curriculum
vitae. Recommendations regarding the prevention of inappropriate authorship are given in this paper.
This paper is adapted from a lecture presented to a Symposium on Scientific Integrity, Warsaw, Poland, 23 November 1995.
Dr. Drenth is a clinical investigator and resident in internal medicine. |
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Keywords: | author authorship medical publication |
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