Research Publication by Pharmacist Authors in Major Medical Journals: Changes over a 10‐Year Interval

Abstract

To determine the degree to which pharmacists were involved in major clinical research publications in 1993 and 2003, and to compare the difference in publication rates by pharmacists between these 2 years. Retrospective analysis. Thirty-seven medical journals that had high readership, had a focus on original research, were clinically oriented, and were highly regarded by the research community. Selection of the medical journals was first determined by those having the highest impact factors. Then journals with regular publication of original clinical research and listings of authors' degrees or licensure were included. All original research articles in these journals were reviewed for both 1993 and 2003. The primary outcome was the presence of a pharmacist as an author of one of their research articles in each of those 2 years. For those articles, the following data were collected: study subjects, study design, authors' affiliations, source of research funding, and position of author (first and/or corresponding). The primary outcome was analyzed by using multivariate logistic regression analysis. Other outcomes were compared between 1993 and 2003 by using a chi(2) test. The number of clinical research articles identified was 8127 in 1993 and 8793 in 2003. The median (mean, interquartile range) number of authors/article increased from 5 (5.3, 3-7) in 1993 to 6 (6.6, 4-8) in 2003 (p<0.01). There were 191 pharmacist-authored papers (2.4%) in 1993, compared with 271 (3.1%) in 2003, for a relative increase of 29.2%. Adjusting for the increase seen in the number of authors during that period, the odds ratio that a pharmacist was an author in 2003 compared with 1993 was 1.26 (95% confidence interval 1.04-1.53). Most (94.2%) pharmacist-authored papers described studies involving human subjects. The proportion of clinical pharmacists (but not the number) serving as the primary author declined over time, from 36.6% (70/191) in 1993 to 27.3% (74/271) in 2003 (p=0.041). The most frequent funding sources were industry (from 38.2% in 1993 to 39.5% in 2003) and federal (from 25.1% in 1993 to 31.4% in 2003); however, the differences were not statistically significant. An increase was noted in the proportion of publications involving pharmacists as an author in major medical journals in 2003 compared with 1993. Pharmacists must continue to be active in clinical research, with adequate training and funding remaining significant obstacles.