{"id":90754,"date":"2018-10-17T10:39:54","date_gmt":"2018-10-17T08:39:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/?p=90754"},"modified":"2025-12-19T11:23:07","modified_gmt":"2025-12-19T10:23:07","slug":"erasmus-mc-is-world-champion-in-prolific-authorship","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/2018\/10\/17\/erasmus-mc-is-world-champion-in-prolific-authorship\/","title":{"rendered":"Erasmus MC is world champion in prolific authorship"},"content":{"rendered":"

The average academic in the Netherlands publishes fewer than two papers a year. But some scholars publish a paper every five days. Among them are nine scholars from Erasmus MC, which has more hyperprolific authors than any other institution in the world, according to a recent study published in Nature<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n

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\n\t\n\n<\/svg>\n<\/span>\n\tImage by:<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tRonald van den Heerik<\/a>\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>

The authors of the study searched for scholars who had published more than 72 studies (the equivalent of one paper every five days) in any one calendar year between 2000 and 2016. Of the 265 authors they found, many work in the medical sector.<\/p>\n

The number of hyperprolific authors has soared in recent years. In 2014, according to the definition of Nature<\/em>, there were twenty times more than in 2001, while the number of authors of scientific publications only increased by a factor of 2.5.<\/p>\n

The institute that occurs most frequently in the worldwide list of hyperprolific authors is Erasmus MC. Nine EMC scholars published more than 72 papers per calendar year in one or more years. Most of the hyperprolific authors in Rotterdam are involved in the cohort studies ERGO and Generation R. Big, long-term research projects that yield thousands of publications.<\/p>\n

What does authorship entail?<\/h2>

The authors of the Nature<\/em> article wonder what authorship entails when a scholar publishes so much. They sent a survey to some of the hyperprolific authors, asking them whether they fulfilled the criteria for authorship of medical studies. These criteria specify that authors must play a significant part in designing or conducting experiments or processing results, help to write or revise the manuscript, approve the published version and take responsibility for the article\u2019s contents.<\/p>\n

Some of the respondents said that they did not always fulfill all the criteria. What\u2019s more, 19 of the 27 respondents admitted that they had not met at least one criterion more than 25% of the time.<\/p>\n

Cooperation<\/h2>

In response to the Nature article<\/a>, hyperprolific authors in Rotterdam point to the large cohort studies and research consortia in which they operate. For example, Afran Ikram, Professor of Epidemiology and head of the Epidemiology department, writes to the authors of the Nature<\/em> study: \u201cThe main explanation for the increase in publication activity has been the many collaborative efforts that I am part of. This is not unlike the physics field with biomedical research, especially the genetic epidemiological work, now increasingly becoming a major collaborative effort, in which multiple teams from multiple centers worldwide work together to achieve major breakthroughs.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hundred authors<\/h2>\n\t
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