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A Bibliometric Study of Authorship and Collaboration Trends Over the Past 30 Years in Four Major Musculoskeletal Science Journals

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Abstract

This study explored changes in bibliometric variables over the last 30 years for four major musculoskeletal science journals (BONE®), Calcified Tissue International® (CTI®), Journal of Bone and Mineral Research® (JBMR®), and Journal of Orthopaedic Research® (JOR®), with a specific focus on author gender. Bibliometric data were collected for all manuscripts in 1985 (BONE®, CTI®, JOR®), 1986 (JBMR®), 1995, 2005, and 2015; 2776 manuscripts met inclusion criteria. Manuscripts from Europe were more often published in BONE® or CTI®, while those from North America in JBMR® or JOR®. All journals demonstrated an increase over time in the number of authors (3.67–7.3), number of countries (1.1–1.4), number of institutions (1.4–3.1), and number of references (25.1–45.4). The number of manuscript pages increased (6.6–8.9) except for JOR® which showed a decline. CTI® had the lowest number of authors (4.9 vs. 5.6–6.8). There was a change in the corresponding author position from first to last for all journals; this change was highest for CTI® (35%) and lowest for BONE® (14.0%). All journals demonstrated an increase over time in female authors; however, CTI® was the highest amongst these four journals. The percentage of female first authors rose from 24.6 to 44.3% (CTI® 29.1–52.3%). The percentage of corresponding female authors rose from 17.5 to 33.6% (CTI® 22.9–40.0%). The proportion of female authors is increasing, likely reflecting the increasing number of women obtaining doctorates in science, medicine, and engineering.

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Acknowledgements

The authors acknowledge the work of many individuals that tabulated the data for the three other journals. These individuals are James P. Fischer, Austin E. Wininger, Elive F. Likine, Andrew S. Gudeman, Alexander R. Brinker, Jonathan Ryu, Kevin A. Maupin, Faisal Khan, Morgan M. Sandelski, Jeffrey D. Rytlewski, Jennifer Lamb, Christina Pedro, Michael B. N. Adjei, Abhijit Seetharam, Mohammed T. Ali, Christine Y. Wan, Katherine E. Schultz, and Shatoria Lunsford. This work was supported in part by the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Indiana University School of Medicine (MAK, RTL), the Garceau Professorship Endowment and Rapp Pediatric Orthopaedic Research Fund, Riley Children’s Foundation (RTL), and the Ruth Lilly Medical Library (ECW). This work was also supported by the Ralph W. and Grace M. Showalter Research Trust (MAK).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN, USA

    Arielle F. Russell, Randall T. Loder, Andrew S. Gudeman, Peter Bolaji, Piiamaria Virtanen & Melissa A. Kacena

  2. Ruth Lilly Medical Library, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN, USA

    Elizabeth C. Whipple

  3. Riley Children’s Hospital, ROC 4250, 705 Riley Hospital Drive, Indianapolis, IN, 46202, USA

    Randall T. Loder

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  1. Arielle F. Russell
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Contributions

RTL, MAK, and ECW designed the study. All authors contributed to the study conduct. AFR, ASG, PB, and PV participated in data collection. Data analysis, interpretation and reporting of the work, as well as initial drafting of the manuscript was conducted by AFR, ASG, RTL, MAK, and ECW. All authors revised the paper critically for intellectual content and approved the final version. All authors agree to be accountable for the work and to ensure that any questions relating to the accuracy and integrity of the paper are investigated and properly resolved. RTL is responsible for the overall content of the paper and is the guarantor.

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Correspondence to Randall T. Loder.

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Arielle F. Russell, Randall T. Loder, Andrew S. Gudeman, Peter Bolaji, Piiamaria Virtanen, Elizabeth C. Whipple, Melissa A. Kacena declare that they have no conflicts of interest.

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Russell, A.F., Loder, R.T., Gudeman, A.S. et al. A Bibliometric Study of Authorship and Collaboration Trends Over the Past 30 Years in Four Major Musculoskeletal Science Journals. Calcif Tissue Int 104, 239–250 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00223-018-0492-3

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