Trends in Authorship of Original Scientific Articles in Journal of Glaucoma: An Analysis of 25 Years Since the Initiation of the Journal.

Overview

abstract

PRéCIS:: Publications in glaucoma have seen an increase in the number of authors and disclosures per article, authors with dual degrees, and international authors, but contributions of women to articles published remains low. PURPOSE: Authorship trends have been studied across many medical specialties and in ophthalmology as a whole, but not specifically in glaucoma. The authors explored the authorship trends of original scientific articles in the Journal of Glaucoma. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The authors recorded the number of authors and disclosures per article, degree type of first and last authors, geographical origin of the corresponding author, and sex of first and last authors of original content from the Journal of Glaucoma published in 1992, 1997, 2002, 2007, 2012, and 2017. RESULTS: A total of 642 articles were analyzed. From 1992 to 2017, annual published articles increased from 38 to 242 (P=0.02), the mean number of authors per article increased from 3.2 to 5.2 (P<0.01), the mean number of disclosures per article increased from 0.3 to 1.0 (P=0.04), the proportion of first and last authors with dual degrees (medical plus advanced degrees) also increased (both P<0.03), whereas the proportion with a sole medical degree decreased (both P<0.05). There was a proportional decrease in articles from North America (P=0.03), and proportional increase from the "Far East" (P=0.04) and "Other" regions (P=0.04). No significant changes in proportions of female first and last authors were found (both P>0.28). CONCLUSIONS: Consistent with authorship trends across various other medical specialties, glaucoma has seen an increase in the number of authors and disclosures per article, authors with dual degrees, and authors from the "Far East" and "Other" regions. However, contributions of women to articles published in Journal of Glaucoma remain low.