Oorspronkelijke stukken in het Nederlands Tijdschrift voor Geneeskunde in de tweede helft van de 20e eeuw: aard van de beschreven onderzoeken en aantal en achtergrond van de auteurs

To determine the quantitative changes in methods and number of authors of original articles (OA) describing a (medical) scientific study in the Nederlands Tijdschrift voor Geneeskunde (NTvG) during 6 volumes in the second part of the 20th century.

Design

Retrospective bibliometric.

Method

All OA published in 1949, 1959, 1969, 1979, 1989 and 1999 were screened on describing a (medical) scientific study, the method used, the number of authors, (medical) students or interns being part of the author list, the number of disciplines of the authors and the institutes where the authors did the study.

Results

The volumes mentioned contained 888 OA. The percentage of OA describing the used method increased from 47 in 1949 to 98 in 1999. In these OS 52 of the designs were retrospective. The proportion of prospective studies increased, but never met 25 of all OA. The median number of authors increased from 1 (range: 1-5) in 1949 to 5 (1-16) in 1999. The median number of disciplines of the authors increased from 1 (1-2) in 1949 to 3 (1-6) in 1999. The percentage of OA with students or interns being part of the author list varied from 1 in 1949 to 13 in 1999. In 1969-1999 most OA were received from authors from universities or academic hospitals. The percentage of OA received from authors from academic hospitals in collaboration with general hospitals increased from 0 in 1949 to 15 in 1999. Randomized clinical trials and prospective studies were mainly received from authors from universities or academic hospitals. The part of retrospective studies was largest among OA received from authors from general hospitals (58).

Conclusion

In the second part of the 20th century the OA published in the NTvG changed. The number of authors increased. In recent years most authors were from universities or academic hospitals, although the proportion written by authors from these institutes in collaboration with those from general hospitals increased. Most OA described retrospective studies, the proportion received from authors from general hospitals being the largest. The percentage of OA describing prospective studies increased over the years.