Do Editorial Members of Otorhinolaryngology Journals Publish Their Own Work? An Analysis of Editorial Self-Publication Practices in Otorhinolaryngology Journals.

Abstract

Objective: To investigate the prevalence and other characteristics of editorial self-publication in general otorhinolaryngology journals. Methods: Among the otorhinolaryngology journals indexed in SCI-E in 2023, 12 met the inclusion criteria for the study. The editorial members of the journals were identified from the front matter of all issues published in 2023 and classified according to their editorial role. Original articles, review articles, and case reports were extracted from each journal's archives and the prevalence and other characteristics of articles published by editorial members were investigated independently by 2 authors. Results: A total of 795 editorial members were identified across 12 journals and 185 (23.3%) had at least 1 instance of editor-as-author (EAA), ranging from 11.3% to 41.5%, depending on the journal. Editorial members were listed as an EAA in 290 of the 2106 articles (13.8%), with a range of 5.7% to 54.5%. Original articles were the most common type of editorial self-publication, accounting for 71.7%, followed by review articles (17.6%) and case reports (10.7%). Conclusion: To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to investigate editorial self-publishing practice in otorhinolaryngology journals and to demonstrate that the prevalence of being an EAA varies widely among otorhinolaryngology journals.