Version 1
: Received: 8 July 2024 / Approved: 8 July 2024 / Online: 9 July 2024 (05:45:32 CEST)
How to cite:
Meho, L.; Akl, E. Using Bibliometrics to Detect Unconventional Authorship Practices and Examine Their Impact on Global Research Metrics, 2019-2023. Preprints2024, 2024070691. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202407.0691.v1
Meho, L.; Akl, E. Using Bibliometrics to Detect Unconventional Authorship Practices and Examine Their Impact on Global Research Metrics, 2019-2023. Preprints 2024, 2024070691. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202407.0691.v1
Meho, L.; Akl, E. Using Bibliometrics to Detect Unconventional Authorship Practices and Examine Their Impact on Global Research Metrics, 2019-2023. Preprints2024, 2024070691. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202407.0691.v1
APA Style
Meho, L., & Akl, E. (2024). Using Bibliometrics to Detect Unconventional Authorship Practices and Examine Their Impact on Global Research Metrics, 2019-2023. Preprints. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202407.0691.v1
Chicago/Turabian Style
Meho, L. and Elie Akl. 2024 "Using Bibliometrics to Detect Unconventional Authorship Practices and Examine Their Impact on Global Research Metrics, 2019-2023" Preprints. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202407.0691.v1
Abstract
Between 2019 and 2023, sixteen universities increased their research output by more than fifteen times the global average, alongside significant changes in authorship dynamics (e.g., decreased first authorship, increased numbers ofhyperprolific authors, increased numbers of multiaffiliations, and increased numbers of authors per publication). Using bibliometric methods, this study detected patterns suggesting a reliance on unconventional authorship practices, such as gift, honorary, and sold authorship, to inflate publication metrics. This study underscores the need for reforms by universities, policymakers, funding agencies, ranking agencies, accreditation bodies, scholarly publishers, and researchers to maintain academic integrity and ensure the reliability of global ranking systems.
Keywords
authorship practices; bibliometrics; research metrics; publication inflation; hyperprolific authors; gift authorship; honorary authorship; sold authorship; academic integrity; research integrity; university rankings
Subject
Social Sciences, Library and Information Sciences
Copyright:
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
