The emerging phenomenon of multiple corresponding authorship in China

Zhigang Hu, Ruonan Cai and Wencan Tian ()
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Zhigang Hu: South China Normal University, Institute for Science Technology and Society
Ruonan Cai: Shandong University, School of Business
Wencan Tian: Beijing Normal University, Center for Computational Communication Research

Scientometrics, 2025, vol. 130, issue 11, No 33, 6775-6796

Abstract: Abstract The proliferation of multiple corresponding authorship (MCA) challenges traditional academic evaluation, particularly in China’s performance-oriented research landscape. This study, using nearly 1.75 million articles indexed in the Web of Science (2016–2020), dissects MCA’s prevalence, trends, and author strategies in China. Findings confirm MCA’s exceptional prevalence and consistent rise in China, significantly exceeding global averages. It is most prominent in experimental fields, with 83.32% of Chinese MCA instances being intra-institutional. Prolific authors consistently hold the last author position, often as corresponding authors, marking seniority. Author roles evolve with productivity, shifting from first author for low-output researchers to last author and increasingly MCA roles for high-output individuals. These diverse strategies reveal MCA as a strategic adaptation to China’s incentive-driven evaluation system. Understanding this behavior is crucial for developing equitable evaluation frameworks and safeguarding research integrity.

Keywords: Multiple corresponding authorship; Scientific collaboration; Authorship practices; Byline position; Research evaluation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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DOI: 10.1007/s11192-025-05462-4

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