Faster, higher, stronger – together? A bibliometric analysis of author distribution in top medical education journals
Dawit Wondimagegn, Cynthia Whitehead, Carrie Cartmill, Elóy Rodrigues, Antónia Correia, Tiago Salessi Lins, Manuel João Costa
Abstract
INTRODUCTION: Medical education and medical education research are growing industries that have become increasingly globalised. Recognition of the colonial foundations of medical education has led to a growing focus on issues of equity, absence and marginalisation. One area of absence that has been underexplored is that of published voices from low-income and middle-income countries. We undertook a bibliometric analysis of five top medical education journals to determine which countries were absent and which countries were represented in prestigious first and last authorship positions. METHODS: . Country of origin was identified for first and last author of each publication, and the number of publications originating from each country was counted. RESULTS: Our analysis revealed a dominance of first and last authors from five countries: USA, Canada, UK, Netherlands and Australia. Authors from these five countries had first or last authored 70% of publications. Of the 195 countries in the world, 43% (approximately 83) were not represented by a single publication. There was an increase in the percentage of publications from outside of these five countries from 23% in 2012 to 40% in 2021. CONCLUSION: The dominance of wealthy nations within spaces that claim to be international is a finding that requires attention. We draw on analogies from modern Olympic sport and our own collaborative research process to show how academic publishing continues to be a colonised space that advantages those from wealthy and English-speaking countries.