PROFESSORS RESPONSIBLE FOR INCREASE IN AUTHORSHIP
Joost PH Drenth
Department of Medicine, Canisius Wilhelmina Hospital, 6532 SZ Nijmegen, The Netherlands
Objective: This survey was conducted to assess the change over a 10-year period in number and profile of authors of original articles published in the British Medical Journal (BMJ).
Design: A comparative descriptive analysis of the number and appointment of authors to articles published in the BMJ. The specific appointment, order, and number of authors for each
original article published in volume 290 (1985), 300 (1990), and 310 (1995) were examined. Six categories (C) containing hierarchically similar appointments were distinguished: I (professor);
II (head); III (consultant); IV (senior registrar); V (lecturer/registrar); VI (medical student); and VII (house officer).
Results: The number of original articles dropped from 238 (1985) to 125 (1995). The mean (95% confidence interval) number of authors per article increased from 3.92 (3.67-4.17) in 1985,
to 3.87 (3.62-4.13) in 1990, and to 4.46 (4.10-4.82) in 1995. Most authors belonged to category III but its proportion dropped over the decade (1985-1995) from 26.6% to 22.5%, while category I
grew from 13.1% to 20.2%. With regard to first authorship, category I almost doubled in 10 years from 8.9% to 16.8% compared to category V, which decreased from 35.3% to 25.6%. Most last authors
were from category I, 19.7% (1985), and its contribution grew to 29% in 1995, whilst category III decreased from 39.1% (1985) to 25.8% (1995)
Conclusions: Over the last 10 years the number of BMJ authors has increased. A substantial fraction of the increase can be attributed to the rise of category I
authorship (authors who are professors).
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