Conducting a nationwide nutrition assessment of micronutrient status and intake in Mongolian adult population

Abstract

Background: The field of global surgery has resulted in fostered many collaborations between highand low-/middleincome researchers. Publication co-authorship is one proxy to determine if these relationships are equitable. In this study, we examined the literature to identify potential research authorship inequality. Structure/Method/Design: Web of Science search was used searched to search identify studies conducted in lowand middle-income countries (LMICs) from 2008 to 2013. OnlySearch terms included names of LMICs, was limited to primary research articles and that focused on general surgery (and its subspecialties), obstetrics and gynecology, orthopedics, urology, otorhinolaryngology, ophthalmology, and neurosurgery were included. Search terms included the names of all LMICs. An author was considered local if their affiliations were in the country where the research was conducted. Results (Scientific Abstract)/Collaborative Partners (Programmatic Abstract): 5366 articles were analyzed with a mean percentage of local authors per article of 75%. This proportion varied by region; Central Asia had the highest percentage local authorship (93%) and Sub-Saharan Africa had the lowest (60%) (P < 0.001). Articles from low-income countries had lower proportion of local authorship (43%) compared with upper-middle-income countries (83%, P < 0.001) based on World Bank income zones. However, individual countries’ gross domestic product per capita was not significantly correlated with authorship percentages. Of the articles analyzed, 4120 (77%) had a local first author. Articles with local first authors had a much higher percentage of overall local authorship (94%) compared with articles where the first author was not local (13%). Journal impact factor did not correlate with the proportion of local authors per article in this study. Summary/Conclusion: As global surgery research expands, it is important to promote equal partnerships between local investigators and high-income country collaborators. These findings suggest that surgical researchers in LMICs have been recognized in publication authorship in collaborative studies. Further research is needed to evaluate if this translates into increased or equal research capacity.