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A comprehensive analysis of authorship trends in Skeletal Radiology since inception from 1976 to 2020

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Abstract

Objective

The purpose of this study is to explore authorship trends within the musculoskeletal radiology subspecialty-focused journal, Skeletal Radiology, from inception to 2020.

Materials and methods

Skeletal Radiology articles published in 1976, 1986, 1996, 2006, 2016, and 2020 were reviewed. For each article, the number of authors, the number of distinct institutions, the names of first and last authors, the country of the first author, the article length, and the number of article references were recorded.

Results

A total of 885 articles passed the exclusion criteria to be included in the study. Since inception, there has been a significant increase in the number of SR articles published (P = 0.02), the mean number of authors per article (P < 0.01), the mean number of references per article (P < 0.01), the mean number of distinct institutions per article (P = 0.02), and the mean number of pages per article (P < 0.01). The proportion of female first and last authors significantly increased (P = 0.02, P = 0.02). There was a significant increase in the proportion of articles published from Asia (P = 0.04). However, no significant changes in the proportion of articles published from other regions were observed.

Conclusion

Similar to authorship trends in other medical journals, Skeletal Radiology demonstrated upward trends in authorship count, distinct institutional count, and article length. A rise in first and last female authorship was observed. Finally, an increase in the proportion of authors from Asia was observed while no significant changes in the proportion of authors from other regions were demonstrated.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Radiology, Icahn School of Medicine At Mount Sinai (West), New York, NY, USA

    Alexander L. Hsu, Marcus Konner, Ashima Muttreja, Cheng-Han Lee & Robert D. Irish

  2. Department of Ophthalmology, Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, NY, USA

    Jason L. Chien

Authors
  1. Alexander L. Hsu
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  2. Marcus Konner
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  3. Ashima Muttreja
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  4. Cheng-Han Lee
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Correspondence to Alexander L. Hsu.

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Hsu, A.L., Konner, M., Muttreja, A. et al. A comprehensive analysis of authorship trends in Skeletal Radiology since inception from 1976 to 2020. Skeletal Radiol 50, 2519–2523 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00256-021-03810-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00256-021-03810-y

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