How many authors are (too) many? A retrospective, descriptive analysis of authorship in biomedical publications

Martin Jakab (), Eva Kittl and Tobias Kiesslich
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Martin Jakab: Paracelsus Medical University
Eva Kittl: Paracelsus Medical University
Tobias Kiesslich: Paracelsus Medical University

Scientometrics, 2024, vol. 129, issue 3, No 6, 1299-1328

Abstract: Abstract Publishing in academic journals is primary to disseminate research findings, with authorship reflecting a scientist’s contribution, yielding academic recognition, and carrying significant financial implications. Author numbers per article have consistently risen in recent decades, as demonstrated in various journals and fields. This study is a comprehensive analysis of authorship trends in biomedical papers from the NCBI PubMed database between 2000 and 2020, utilizing the Entrez Direct (EDirect) E-utilities to retrieve bibliometric data from a dataset of 17,015,001 articles. For all publication types, the mean author number per publication significantly increased over the last two decades from 3.99 to 6.25 (+ 57%, p

Keywords: Authorship inflation; Hyperauthorship; Multiauthorship; Authorship proliferation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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DOI: 10.1007/s11192-024-04928-1

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