bims-skolko Biomed News
on Scholarly communication
Issue of 2022–05–29
twenty papers selected by
Thomas Krichel, Open Library Society
  1. An Ethical Exploration of Increased Average Number of Authors Per Publication.
  2. Publishing in Potentially Predatory Journals: Do Universities Adopt University Leaders' Dishonest Behavior?
  3. Improving the Reliability of Literature Reviews: Detection of Retracted Articles through Academic Search Engines.
  4. Open access in low-income countries - open letter on equity.
  5. Gender parity and homophily in the Drug and Alcohol Dependence editorial process.
  6. Ten simple rules for navigating the reference letter seeking process.
  7. Fourteen Crutches for Mediocrity. The logismoi that jeopardize good research and publication.
  8. The Journey to a Successful Illustrated Review.
  9. Effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Authors and Reviewers of American Geophysical Union Journals.
  10. The high scholarly value of grey literature before and during Covid-19.
  11. The integrity of the research record: a mess so big and so deep and so tall.
  12. A way to progress science in pediatric and adolescent gynecology: Update of author guidelines and double-blind peer review.
  13. Meta-research studies should improve and evaluate their own data sharing practices.
  14. Gender representation on journal editorial boards in the field of veterinary sciences.
  15. Association of International Editorial Staff With Published Articles From Low- and Middle-Income Countries.
  16. Evolution and Characterization of Health Sciences Paper Retractions in Brazil and Portugal.
  17. Starting the conversation.
  18. BDJ Open 2021 - our most successful year to date.
  19. Introducing Communications Medicine.
  20. The Radiology: Artificial Intelligence Trainee Editorial Board: Initial Experience and Future Directions.
  1. Sci Eng Ethics. 2022 May 23. 28(3): 25
    An Ethical Exploration of Increased Average Number of Authors Per Publication.
    Mohammad Hosseini, Jonathan Lewis, Hub Zwart, Bert Gordijn.
      This article explores the impact of an Increase in the average Number of Authors per Publication (INAP) on known ethical issues of authorship. For this purpose, the ten most common ethical issues associated with scholarly authorship are used to set up a taxonomy of existing issues and raise awareness among the community to take precautionary measures and adopt best practices to minimize the negative impact of INAP. We confirm that intense international, interdisciplinary and complex collaborations are necessary, and INAP is an expression of this trend. However, perverse incentives aimed to increase institutional and personal publication counts and egregious instances of guest or honorary authorship are problematic. We argue that whether INAP is due to increased complexity and scale of science, perverse incentives or undeserved authorship, it could negatively affect known ethical issues of authorship at some level. In the long run, INAP depreciates the value of authorship status and may disproportionately impact junior researchers and those who contribute to technical and routine tasks. We provide two suggestions that could reduce the long-term impact of INAP on the reward system of science. First, we suggest further refinement of the CRediT taxonomy including better integration into current systems of attribution and acknowledgement, and better harmony with major authorship guidelines such as those suggested by the ICMJE. Second, we propose adjustments to the academic recognition and promotion systems at an institutional level as well as the introduction of best practices.
    Keywords:  Authorship ethics; Authorship inflation; Publication ethics; Research integrity; Scholarly authorship
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1007/s11948-021-00352-3
  2. Account Res. 2022 May 26.
    Publishing in Potentially Predatory Journals: Do Universities Adopt University Leaders' Dishonest Behavior?
    Daria Gerashchenko.
      With the development of science digitalization, it became possible to detect dishonest behavior. The increasing magnitude of predatory publishing has boosted scientific research on the topic. While studies on university leaders' impact concentrate mainly on its positive effects on organizational performance, to date, little is known about whether academic leaders can negatively influence the organizations they lead depending on their engagement in academic misconduct. Using a sample of Russian universities and their leaders from 2010-2020, I ask whether universities tend to adopt leaders' dishonest behavior. Specifically, I analyzed whether universities increase publications in potentially predatory journals after a leader with such a record enters the office. Relying on a culture theory of academic misconduct, I discuss the role-related factors that contribute to a leader's influence over employees. I focus on whether the leader's influence relates to external incentives for universities to publish more, the leader's career development type, or the leader's and university's research area. The findings demonstrate that the share of publications in potentially predatory journals tends to increase if a leader with such publications assumes office, especially if the university is research-oriented. The results suggest that academic reputation of a leader matters to the university's consequent misconduct.
    Keywords:  Academic leaders; Russia; higher education; predatory publishing; universities
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1080/08989621.2022.2081916
  3. Eur J Investig Health Psychol Educ. 2022 May 04. 12(5): 458-464
    Improving the Reliability of Literature Reviews: Detection of Retracted Articles through Academic Search Engines.
    Elena Pastor-Ramón, Ivan Herrera-Peco, Oskia Agirre, María García-Puente, José María Morán.
      Nowadays, a multitude of scientific publications on health science are being developed that require correct bibliographic search in order to avoid the use and inclusion of retracted literature in them. The use of these articles could directly affect the consistency of the scientific studies and could affect clinical practice. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the capacity of the main scientific literature search engines, both general (Gooogle Scholar) and scientific (PubMed, EMBASE, SCOPUS, and Web of Science), used in health sciences in order to check their ability to detect and warn users of retracted articles in the searches carried out. The sample of retracted articles was obtained from RetractionWatch. The results showed that although Google Scholar was the search engine with the highest capacity to retrieve selected articles, it was the least effective, compared with scientific search engines, at providing information on the retraction of articles. The use of different scientific search engines to retrieve as many scientific articles as possible, as well as never using only a generic search engine, is highly recommended. This will reduce the possibility of including retracted articles and will avoid affecting the reliability of the scientific studies carried out.
    Keywords:  biomedical publishing; publication ethics; research methodology; retraction of publication; scientific misconduct
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.3390/ejihpe12050034
  4. Nature. 2022 May;605(7911): 620
    Open access in low-income countries - open letter on equity.
    Franco M Cabrerizo.
      
    Keywords:  Developing world; Ethics; Publishing
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-022-01414-7
  5. Drug Alcohol Depend. 2022 May 13. pii: S0376-8716(22)00230-7. [Epub ahead of print]236 109493
    Gender parity and homophily in the Drug and Alcohol Dependence editorial process.
    Melissa R Schick, Rachel L Tomko, Anna M Maralit, Zubair Afzal, Lindsay M Squeglia, Agnieszka Freda, Linda Porrino, Jennifer Dahne, Erin A McClure, Eric C Strain.
       BACKGROUND: Despite efforts towards gender parity and some improvement over time, gender bias in peer review remains a pervasive issue. We examined gender representation and homophily in the peer review process for Drug and Alcohol Dependence (DAD).
    METHODS: We extracted data for papers submitted to DAD between 2004 and 2019, inclusive. Inferred gender was assigned to handling editors and reviewers using the NamSor gender inference Application Programming Interface (API).
    RESULTS: Men and women handling editors were approximately equally likely to invite women reviewers over time, with only a few exceptions. Over time, 47.1% of editors were women, and 42.6% of review invitations were sent to women. Men were largely consistent over time in their likelihood of accepting a review invitation, while the likelihood of women accepting a review invitation was more variable over time. Gender differences in rates of accepting a review invitation were minimal; however, as women approached half of all invited reviewers in recent years, there has been a greater trend for women, relative to men, to decline review invitations. Evidence of homophily on the part of reviewers accepting invitations was minimal, but in certain years, a tendency to accept review invitations at higher rates from editors of the same gender was observed.
    DISCUSSION: Given the benefits of diversity in scientific advancement, these results underline the importance of continuing efforts to increase gender diversity among editors and in reviewer pools, and the need for reviewers to be mindful of their own reviewing practices.
    Keywords:  Equity; Gender bias; Peer review; Substance use; Women in science
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2022.109493
  6. PLoS Comput Biol. 2022 May;18(5): e1010102
    Ten simple rules for navigating the reference letter seeking process.
    Courtney Peña, Latishya J Steele, Debra S Karhson, Judith T Ned, Crystal M Botham, Miranda B Stratton.
      
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1010102
  7. Cir Esp (Engl Ed). 2022 May;pii: S2173-5077(22)00121-1. [Epub ahead of print]100(5): 262-265
    Fourteen Crutches for Mediocrity. The logismoi that jeopardize good research and publication.
    Fernando Augusto Mardiros Herbella, Michael Gregory Sarr, Marco Giuseppe Patti.
      Publications are used widely as a measure of academic quality. Many investigators have difficulty publishing in this competitive field. After coming across a religious lecture on the "Fourteen Crutches for Mediocrity", our team adapted this approach to life to the science of publishing: (1) what is the problem of doing it?; (2) there are worse!; (3) everybody does it!; (4) why exaggerate?; (5) I will do it tomorrow!; (6) maybe if …; (7) it is not used anymore!; (8) be a cousin not a brother!; (9) I need to be thanked!; (10) don't eat your own head, let it be!; (11) I can't possibly accomplish it!; (12) I don't feel like doing it!; (13) I am fed up!; (14) I am not worthwhile! These crutches jeopardize good research and thoughtful learned publications.
    Keywords:  Becas; Bibliometrics; Bibliometría; Escritura médica; Investigación; Manuscripts; Manuscritos; Medical writing; Publicaciones; Publications; Research; Scholarship
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cireng.2022.05.009
  8. Res Pract Thromb Haemost. 2022 May;6(4): e12721
    The Journey to a Successful Illustrated Review.
    Sarah Nersesian, Michelle Sholzberg, Mary Cushman, Alisa S Wolberg.
      Illustrated review articles, rooted in scientific rigor, are made up of "capsules" or panels of visuals that together provide an up-to-date overview of a topic. Illustrated reviews aim to provide a more accessible format than traditional written reviews to facilitate more effective knowledge translation and dissemination. However, the novelty of this format can dissuade prospective authors due to uncertainty and lack of comfort. To remedy this uncertainty, we have summarized the journey of developing an illustrated review, from identifying an appropriate topic to submitting the final manuscript for peer review. We highlight the importance of approaching an illustrated review from a storytelling perspective, and encouraging authors to keep their audience in mind when picking a theme or characters. We provide storyboard considerations and simplify graphic design principles to develop an outline and line draft for the illustrated review. We list programs available to authors to demystify creating attractive and engaging scientific visuals. Finally, we provide information on choosing colors or fonts and where to find copyright-free icons, graphics, illustrations, and pictures. This review provides prospective authors with the knowledge, tools, and resources to create an effective illustrated review article. If there is difficulty with the links embedded within the document please download the full PDF.
    Keywords:  graphics; hemostasis; illustration; publishing; thrombosis; visualization
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1002/rth2.12721
  9. Earth Space Sci. 2022 Feb;9(2): e2021EA002050
    Effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Authors and Reviewers of American Geophysical Union Journals.
    Paige Wooden, Brooks Hanson.
      The COVID-19 pandemic affected the scientific workforce in many ways. Many worried that stay-at-home orders would disproportionately harm the productivity and well-being of women and early-career scientists, who were expected to shoulder more childcare, homeschooling, and other domestic duties while also interrupting field and lab research, essential for career advancement. AGU journal submission and author and reviewer demographic data allowed us to investigate the effect the pandemic may have had on many Earth and space scientists, especially on women and early career scientists. However, we found that submissions to AGU journals increased during the pandemic as did total submissions from women (with no difference in the proportion). Although the rate at which women agreed to review decreased slightly (down 0.5%), women still made up a larger proportion of agreed reviewers during the pandemic compared to 2 years earlier. Little difference was seen overall in median times to complete reviews except with women in their 40s and 70s, suggesting that they were affected more during the pandemic than other age and gender groups. Although AGU's data do not show that the effects of the pandemic decreased women's participation in AGU journals, the lag between research and writing/submitting may still be seen in later months, which we will continue to report on as we analyze the data. The stay-at-home orders may also have allowed people to devote time to writing up research conducted prepandemic; writing too can be done during down-time hours, which may have supported the increase in submissions to and reviews for AGU journals.
    Keywords:  COVID‐19; author demographics; geoscience journals; reviewer demographics; reviewers; submissions from women
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1029/2021EA002050
  10. Scientometrics. 2022 May 21. 1-16
    The high scholarly value of grey literature before and during Covid-19.
    Kayvan Kousha, Mike Thelwall, Matthew Bickley.
      New academic knowledge in journal articles is partly built on peer reviewed research already published in journals or books. Academics can also draw from non-academic sources, such as the websites of organisations that publish credible information. This article investigates trends in the academic citing of this type of grey literature for 17 health, media, statistics, and large international organisations, with a focus on Covid-19. The results show substantial and steadily increasing numbers of citations to all 17 sites, with larger increases from 2019 to 2020. In 2020, Covid-19 citations to these websites were particularly common for news organisations, the WHO, and the UK Office for National Statistics, apparently for up-to-date information in the rapidly changing circumstances of the pandemic. Except for the UN, the most cited URLs of each organisation were not traditional report-like grey literature but were other types, such as news stories, data, statistics, and general guidance. The Covid-19 citations to most of these websites originated primarily from medical research, commonly for coronavirus data and statistics. Other fields extensively cited some of the non-health websites, as illustrated by social science (including psychology) studies often citing UNESCO. The results confirm that grey literature from major websites has become even more important within academia during the pandemic, providing up-to-date information from credible sources despite a lack of academic peer review. Researchers, reviewers, and editors should accept that it is reasonable to cite this information, when relevant, and evaluators should value academic work that supports these non-academic outputs.
    Supplementary Information: The online version of this article (10.1007/s11192-022-04398-3) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
    Keywords:  Coronavirus; Covid-19; Grey literature impact; Non-academic impact
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1007/s11192-022-04398-3
  11. Br J Psychiatry. 2022 May 25. 1-2
    The integrity of the research record: a mess so big and so deep and so tall.
    William Lee, Patricia Casey, Norman Poole, Kenneth R Kaufman, Stephen M Lawrie, Gin Malhi, Eva Petkova, Najma Siddiqi, Kamaldeep Bhui.
       SUMMARY: Poor research integrity is increasingly recognised as a serious problem in science. We outline some evidence for this claim and introduce the Royal College of Psychiatrists (RCPsych) journals' Research Integrity Group, which has been created to address this problem.
    Keywords:  Ethics; questionable research practices; research fraud; research integrity; research quality
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1192/bjp.2022.74
  12. J Pediatr Adolesc Gynecol. 2022 Jun;pii: S1083-3188(22)00189-9. [Epub ahead of print]35(3): 247-248
    A way to progress science in pediatric and adolescent gynecology: Update of author guidelines and double-blind peer review.
    Eveline J Roos.
      
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpag.2022.04.004
  13. J Clin Epidemiol. 2022 May 24. pii: S0895-4356(22)00129-9. [Epub ahead of print]
    Meta-research studies should improve and evaluate their own data sharing practices.
    Ioana Cristea, Florian Naudet, Laura Caquelin.
      Data sharing is gradually becoming a requirement across all fields of science, owing to its key benefits in verifying the reproducibility of findings and reusing existent data for new purposes. Although meta-research studies are complex, time-consuming and hinge on the availability of data produced and curated by others, there has been little focus on how they make their own data available. This is in stark contrast with the heightened attention data sharing has received in clinical research. Yet, as secondary data users par excellence, meta-researchers are ethically bound to both improving and evaluating data sharing practices, as well as correctly sharing their own data. We contrast particularities of data sharing in meta-research and clinical research, such as benefits, barriers, inadequate and potentially pervasive sharing practices. We conclude with an array of concrete and tailored recommendations for improvement.
    Keywords:  data sharing; meta-analysis; meta-research; reproducibility
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclinepi.2022.05.007
  14. Res Vet Sci. 2022 May 18. pii: S0034-5288(22)00121-7. [Epub ahead of print]148 21-26
    Gender representation on journal editorial boards in the field of veterinary sciences.
    Althea Wang, Rebecca Dunlop, Rachel Allavena, Chiara Palmieri.
      Despite the increased entry of women into the veterinary profession over the past several decades, women remain substantially underrepresented in senior leadership positions. This may include editorial positions at veterinary sciences journals. This study examines the gender distribution of editorships of 143 journals from the Thomson Reuters Web of Knowledge Journal Citation Reports category of veterinary science. The gender analysis was performed by impact factor, editorial board role, country and publisher. Females were underrepresented in the group of managing editors (32.2% females vs 67.2% males), editors (34.5% females vs 65.1% males) and others (33.3% females vs. 65.4% males). The journal impact factor did not have a significant impact on the proportion of males versus females on the editorial board. The median publisher had 27.5% editorships belonging to women. North America Europe and Oceania showed the greatest representation of women on editorial boards. Our findings provide the first measure of gender distribution on editorial boards in the veterinary sciences and may stimulate a discussion on the current situation of women in academic positions and, in particular, on editorial boards. Further research should investigate the underlying causes contributing to this aspect of gender inequality and identify possible strategies to encourage a greater participation of women to editorial boards.
    Keywords:  Editorship; Gender; Journal; Veterinary science
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rvsc.2022.05.001
  15. JAMA Netw Open. 2022 May 02. 5(5): e2213269
    Association of International Editorial Staff With Published Articles From Low- and Middle-Income Countries.
    Gandolina Melhem, Chris A Rees, Bruno F Sunguya, Mohsin Ali, Anura Kurpad, Christopher P Duggan.
       Importance: The association between geographic diversity of medical journal editorial staff and publications reporting research conducted in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) is unclear.
    Objective: To examine the association between having editorial staff members affiliated with LMICs and publishing research articles from LMICs in leading biomedical journals.
    Design, Setting, and Participants: This cross-sectional study included biomedical journals in fields representing the largest disease burden globally from January 1 to December 31, 2020. Websites of the 5 leading journals in general medicine, pediatrics, surgery, obstetrics and gynecology, cancer, cardiovascular diseases, infectious diseases, psychiatry, and nutrition were reviewed to obtain the country affiliations of editorial staff members. To determine article study countries, original research articles in each journal were reviewed through MEDLINE. Editorial staff country affiliations and study country locations were classified according to World Bank income brackets and regions.
    Exposure: Editorial staff country affiliation.
    Main Outcomes and Measures: Descriptive statistics of the proportion of editorial staff affiliated with each income bracket and region and Spearman rank correlation coefficients were used to assess the association between the proportion of editorial staff affiliated with LMICs and the proportion of published articles reporting work conducted in these countries.
    Results: There were 3819 editorial staff members in the 45 included journals: 3637 (95.2%) were affiliated with high-income countries, 140 (3.7%) with upper-middle-income countries, 37 (1.0%) with lower-middle-income countries, and 5 (0.1%) with low-income countries. All 48 editors-in-chief were affiliated with a high-income country. Editorial staff members were mostly affiliated with North American countries (n = 2120 [55.5%]) and European or Central Asian countries (n = 1256 [32.9%]). Of the 10 096 original research articles included in our analysis, 7857 (77.8%) reported research conducted in high-income countries, 1562 (15.5%) reported research conducted in upper-middle-income countries, 507 (5.0%) reported research conducted in lower-middle-income countries, and 170 (1.7%) reported research conducted in low-income countries. Greater editorial staff representation correlated moderately with more published articles reporting research conducted in LMICs (Spearman ρ = 0.51; 95% CI, 0.25-0.70; P < .001).
    Conclusions and Relevance: In this cross-sectional study, editorial staff in leading biomedical journals were largely composed of individuals affiliated with high-income countries in North America and Europe. A correlation was found between greater editorial staff representation and publication of research focused on LMICs, suggesting that the inclusion of editorial staff affiliated with LMICs may promote the publication of research conducted in those countries.
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2022.13269
  16. Account Res. 2022 May 27.
    Evolution and Characterization of Health Sciences Paper Retractions in Brazil and Portugal.
    Cristina Candal-Pedreira, Alberto Ruano-Ravina, Julia Rey-Brandariz, Nerea Mourino, Sofia Ravara, Pedro Aguiar, Mónica Pérez-Ríos.
      The retraction of health sciences publications is a growing concern. To understand the patterns in a particular country-context and design specific measures to address the problem, it is important to describe and characterise retractions. We aimed to assess the evolution of health science retractions in Brazil and Portugal and to describe their features. We conducted a cross-sectional study including all health sciences retracted articles with at least one author affiliated to a Portuguese or Brazilian institution identified through Retraction Watch database.A total of 182 retracted articles published in 129 journals were identified. The number of retractions increased over time, but the proportion related to the whole of publications remained stable. A total of 50.0% and 60.8% of the Portuguese and Brazilian retracted articles, respectively, were published in first and second quartile journals. Scientific misconduct accounted for 60.1% and 55.9% of retractions in Brazil and Portugal, respectively. In both countries, the most frequent cause of misconduct was plagiarism. 61.8% and 53.4% of the Portuguese and Brazilian retracted articles, respectively, included a funding declaration and, of those, 90.3% and 88.6% received funding. The time from publication to retraction decreases as the journal quartile increases. Articles retracted for misconduct received more citations than those retracted for error.The retraction of health sciences articles did not decrease over time in Brazil and Portugal. There is a need to develop strategies aimed at preventing, monitoring and managing scientific misconduct according to the country context.
    Keywords:  Brazil; Portugal; retractions; scientific misconduct
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1080/08989621.2022.2080549
  17. Commun Med (Lond). 2022 ;2 32
    Starting the conversation.
      Listening to the different communities that we serve, and promoting dialogue between them, are important goals for us as a journal. To further these aims, Communications Medicine is now publishing a new article type that will help us capture and amplify the voices of all those involved in clinical, translational and public health research, and allow them to more easily hear each other's point of view.
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1038/s43856-022-00099-3
  18. Br Dent J. 2022 May;232(10): 744-746
    BDJ Open 2021 - our most successful year to date.
    Jonathan Lewney.
      This paper aims to provide an update on the previous version published towards the end of last year, titled 'BDJ Open (2019-2020) and the advantages of open access publishing'. In this paper, we will highlight articles published throughout 2021, in order to focus on which areas authors felt were important to publish open access and also which areas have been expanded upon in the journal. Furthermore, this paper will examine how open access publishing in BDJ Open has enabled the continuous process of hypothesis testing to be shared more widely, as well as how publishing protocols and early results open access gives strength to that by allowing earlier opportunity for comment by other researchers, both through the peer review process and through further correspondence to authors directly and to the journal editors who publish their work.
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1038/s41415-022-4197-7
  19. Commun Med (Lond). 2021 ;1 1
    Introducing Communications Medicine.
      Communications Medicine is publishing its first articles today. We are an inclusive and open access medical journal that aims to facilitate and disseminate discovery that will promote health for all and improve the lives of those experiencing or living with disease.
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1038/s43856-021-00009-z
  20. Acad Radiol. 2022 May 20. pii: S1076-6332(22)00257-4. [Epub ahead of print]
    The Radiology: Artificial Intelligence Trainee Editorial Board: Initial Experience and Future Directions.
    Pedro V Staziaki, Paul H Yi, Matthew D Li, Dania Daye, Charles E Kahn, Judy W Gichoya.
      In 2019, the journal Radiology: Artificial Intelligence introduced its Trainee Editorial Board (TEB) to offer formal training in medical journalism to medical students, radiology residents and fellows, and research-career trainees. The TEB aims to build a community of radiologists, radiation oncologists, medical physicists, and researchers in fields related to artificial intelligence (AI) in radiology. The program presented opportunities to learn about the editorial process, improve skills in writing and reviewing, advance the field of AI in radiology, and help translate and disseminate AI research. To meet these goals, TEB members contribute actively to the editorial process from peer review to publication, participate in educational webinars, and create and curate content in a variety of forms. Almost all of the contact has been mediated through the web. In this article, we share initial experiences and identify future directions and opportunities.
    Keywords:  Artificial Intelligence; Education, Medical; Research
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.acra.2022.04.010
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