Abstract
Background:
Respiratory Care is a platform for respiratory therapists (RT) to engage in scholarly activity. Understanding the progression of RT authorship through Respiratory Care may provide insight related to the direction of research in the profession and how the Journal has evolved to support RTs in research. This investigation aims to illustrate RT scholarly activity through Respiratory Care over 10 years.
Methods:
Publications in Respiratory Care from 2011 and 2021 were included. Search queries were conducted through a tool provided on the Respiratory Care journal webpage and manuscript management system. Search results were verified by a second party for consistency. Papers were included in the analysis if the work had at least one RT author credentialed in the United States and were listed as an author regardless of the type of publication. Practitioner credentials were confirmed via the National Board of Respiratory Care’s credential verification tool. Descriptive statistics were used to express the frequency and percentage of RT authorship by type of publication and authorship status. Institutional Review Board (IRB) approval was not required for this investigation.
Results:
There were 242 and 264 published papers in 2011 and 2021, respectively. Of the 506 papers, there were 168 (33.2%) original research, 37 (7.3%) review, 14 (2.8%) clinical practice guideline (CPG), and 34 (6.7%) editorial papers with at least one RT author. In 2021, 159 (60.2%) papers had at least one RT author; 2011 had fewer papers with RT authorship (n = 115, 47.5%). Original research RT authorship increased from 2011 to 2021 (n = 49, 20.2%; n = 119, 45.1%). A greater number of review papers were published with an RT author in 2011 when compared to 2021 (n = 26, 10.7%; n = 11, 4.2%). There were fewer CPG publications with RT authorship in 2011 than 2021 (n = 4, 1.7%; n = 10, 3.8%). RT authorship in editorials decreased from 2011 to 2021 (n = 19, 7.9%; n = 15, 5.7%). For original research publications, first authorship, co-authorship, and senior co-authorship increased from 2011 to 2021. This change was the greatest in the co-authorship domain between 2011 to 2021 with an 84.6% increase in RT authorship.
Conclusions:
A global increase in RT authorship is noted in Respiratory Care between 2011 and 2021. There is a distinct shift in RT authorship in original research in Respiratory Care from 2011 to 2021. This relationship requires further investigation to illustrate a clear trend related to RT authorship in Respiratory Care.
Note: *Senior co-authorship was not included for review, CPG, and editorials due to ambiguity in determination. Note: *Senior co-authorship was not included for review, CPG, editorials, case reports, and special articles due to ambiguity in determination. View all access options for this article.Distribution of RT Authorship per Publication Type in 2021
Original Research (n = 119)
Review (n = 11)
CPG (n = 10)
Editorial (n = 15)
First Author n(%)
30 (25.2)
5 (45.5)
2 (20.0)
10 (66.7)
Co-Author n(%)
74 (62.3)
2 (18.2)
8 (80.0)
5 (33)
Senior Co-Author n(%)
15 (12.6)
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Distribution of RT Authorship per Publication Type in 2011
Original Research (n = 49)
Review (n = 26)
CPG (n = 4)
Editorial (n = 19)
Case Report (n = 15)
Special Article (n = 2)
First Author n(%)
13 (26.5)
15 (57.7)
1 (25.0)
15 (78.9)
7 (46.7)
2 (100)
Co-Author n(%)
26 (53.0)
11 (42.3)
3 (75.0)
4 (21.1)
8 (53.3)
0 (0)
Senior Co-Author n(%)
10 (20.4)
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