Thomson Scientific Takes a Fresh Look at Multiauthor Papers
November 27 2007 - 11:01PM
PR Newswire (US)
Was 2005 a Fluke for Multiauthor Papers or a Sign of What's to
Come? PHILADELPHIA and LONDON, Nov. 28 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ --
Thomson Scientific, part of The Thomson Corporation (NYSE: TOC;
TSX: TOC) and leading provider of information solutions to the
worldwide research and business communities, today announced the
results of a study assessing trends in multiauthor papers. In the
November/December issue of Science Watch, Thomson Scientific
analyzes data from its Thomson Science Indicators to evaluate the
number of papers with more than 50, 100, 200 and 500 authors
between the years 1993 to 2006. Science Watch uses unique citation
data to provide rankings, interviews and reports on today's most
significant science. The numbers of scientific papers published
with more than 50, 100, 200 and 500 authors plateaued from 2000 to
2003, then experienced a sharp increase in 2005. That year, each
group reached its all-time highest levels. More than 750 papers
with 50 or more authors were published in 2005, compared with a
little more than 500 the previous year. Papers with more than 100
authors grew by more than 50 percent from 200 from just over 300 in
2003 to an impressive 475 in 2005. Interestingly, papers with 500
or more authors increased from 40 in 2003 to 131 in 2005. This
group saw the largest jump of all -- a 200 percent increase. While
2005 saw great leaps in the total number of multiauthor papers,
most of the totals for the assorted groupings of multiauthor papers
showed a decline during 2006 -- the most recent year of available
data. "In a few years we will be able to look back and see if the
multiauthor papers reached a zenith in 2005 or if this is an
ongoing trend," said Christopher King, editor of Science Watch. "It
is important to note that we currently are able to identify some
general trends. For example, the mean number of authors per Thomson
Scientific indexed paper is continuing its upward trend reaching
3.8 in 2006. On the flipside, the percentage of single- authored
papers continued its descent and is now at 24 percent of all
published papers." In order to convey the general makeup of recent
multiauthor papers, Thomson Scientific divided the papers with more
than 100 authors into two main groupings: physical sciences and
biomedicine. The physical science group increased its volume by 144
in 2005 to total 393. (The majority of these papers were in the
main field of physics.) Meanwhile, the number of biomedicine papers
with 100 or more authors declined from 41 in 2004 to 19 in 2006.
This Science Watch study also highlights individual papers that had
the highest number of authors. In 1987, a paper with 200 authors
took the prize, and each year has seen the winning number increase.
In 2000, the most- multiauthored paper had 918 contributors. The
paper taking top honors in 2006 had 2,512 authors. About The
Thomson Corporation The Thomson Corporation
(http://www.thomson.com/) is a global leader in providing essential
electronic workflow solutions to business and professional
customers. With operational headquarters in Stamford, Conn.,
Thomson provides value-added information, software tools and
applications to professionals in the fields of law, tax,
accounting, financial services, scientific research and healthcare.
The Corporation's common shares are listed on the New York and
Toronto stock exchanges (NYSE: TOC; TSX: TOC). Thomson Scientific
is a business of The Thomson Corporation. Its information solutions
assist professionals at every stage of research and development --
from discovery to analysis to product development and distribution.
Thomson Scientific information solutions can be found at
http://scientific.thomson.com/. NOTE: For information on
subscribing to Science Watch, contact Christopher King, tel: +1
215.823.5341 DATASOURCE: The Thomson Corporation CONTACT: Susan
Besaw of Thomson Scientific, +1-215-823-1840, Web site:
http://www.scientific.thomson.com/
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