Multiple auhorship in biochemistry and other fields; a case study of the journal of biological chemistry trhoughout 1905-1988

Abstract

Large samples of papers published in the Journal of Biological Chemistry were checked in order to study the multiple authorship pattern throughout the period from 1905 t o 1988 i n an internationally leading scientific journal with an especially high " citation impact". Both measures of mean number of authors per paper and proportion of multi-authored papers show that there has been a consistent growth during nost of the period, best described by a "steps model", expressing recurring sharp increases following relatively steady periods. From 1975 on, however, growth has been accelerating, when measured at five-year intervals. Findings do not support some earlier predictions made by Price, Meadows, and others. A detailed canparison to a wide range of almost sixty fields shows considerable differences between sciences, technology, social sciences and humanities, as well as great variations among the sciences and the social sciences themselves. The order of the various fields in the comparative table suggests that multiple authorship seems to be one of the factors related t o the "hardness" of a field. The JBC itself ranks among the top, albeit lower than some medical fields, but higher than other biochemistry journals, probably indicating its larger share in the more expensive, larger-teams-conducted, "big science" research.