Productivity of authors in the field of diabetes: bibliographic analysis of trial publications

摘要

STUDY QUESTION Are trial publications of glucose lowering drugs dominated by a small group of highly prolific authors? SUMMARY ANSWER One third of the randomised controlled trial (RCT) evidence base on glucose lowering drug treatment for diabetes had contributions from 110 (<1% of all) authors. WHAT !S KNOWN AND WHATTHIS PAPER ADDS Honorary authorship is known to be common in research articles. This analysis shows that 110 authors contributed to one third, and the top 11 contributed to 10% of the evidence base of glucose lowering treatment, addingto concerns about the independence and integrity of this evidence base.