Title: Social Science Information Studies

Title: Social Science Journal

ISO Abbrev. Title: Soc. Sci. J.

JCR Abbrev. Title: SOC SCI J

ISSN: 0362-3319

Issues/Year: 4

Language: English

Journal Country/Territory: Netherlands

Publisher: Elsevier Science BV

Publisher Address: Po Box 211, 1000 Ae Amsterdam, Netherlands

Subject Categories:

Social Sciences, Interdisciplinary: Impact Factor 0.253, 58/68 (2009)

Michaels, J.W. and Pippert, J.M. (1986), Social Science Journal characteristics and journal citation measures. Social Science Journal, 23 (1), 33-42.

Full Text: S\Soc Sci J23, 33.pdf

Abstract: This article examines the relationship between structural characteristics of journals and journal citation measures. Journals listed in the Social Science Citation Index were found to differ from unlisted journals on 11 of 18 characteristics. For listed journals, journal characteristics accounted for 58 percent of the variance in 1981 citations to all years, but only 33 and 15 percent respectively of the variances in the more restrictive impact factor and immediacy index measures. The effects of several journal characteristics on citations to all years and impact factor were different for journals sponsored by professional associations compared to other journals. Journal characteristics identified as having independent impacts on citation measures are suggestive of the directions journal editors might choose to move in as their journals mature.

Hoaas, D.J. and Madigan, L.J. (1999), A citation analysis of economists in principles of economics textbooks. Social Science Journal, 36 (3), 525-532.

Full Text: S\Soc Sci J36, 525.pdf

Abstract: This paper uses citation analysis to identify those economists from the history of economic thought most often referenced in principles of economics textbooks. The textbooks considered for the study represent 10 of the top-selling principles textbooks in the field. The analysis includes a simple page count of the number of citations an economist receives in principles texts and a more thorough discussion of each specific economist’s contributions. The results generated mirror the results of previous citation analysis conducted on the entire field of economics.

Title: Social Science & Medicine

ISO Abbreviated Title: Soc. Sci. Med.

JCR Abbreviated Title: Soc Sci Med

ISSN: 0277-9536

Issues/Year: 24

Journal Country England

Language: Multi-Language

Publisher: Pergamon-Elsevier Science Ltd

Publisher Address: The Boulevard, Langford Lane, Kidlington, Oxford OX5 1GB, England

Subject Categories:

Public, Environmental & Occupational Health: Impact Factor 1.691, / (2000)

Social Sciences, Biomedical: Impact Factor 1.691, / (2000)

Brodsky, H. and Hakkert, A.S. (1983), Highway fatal accidents and accessibility of emergency medical services. Social Science & Medicine, 17 (11), 731-740.

Full Text: S\Soc Sci Med17, 731.pdf

Abstract: Medical estimates of potentially ‘salvageable’ lives with better emergency medical services (EMS) in fatal highway crashes have generally been around 20%. In rural counties in Texas, however, our statistical results show that at least 38% of fatal accidents could have been nonfatal. This higher figure may reflect the extreme contrasts in EMS accessibility that exist in certain rural areas. Accident related variables that would have affected our results were controlled by log linear analysis. Better ‘quality’ EMS in rural Texas would, apparently, save lives, but to insure cost-effectiveness more needs to be learned about the impact of various components of EMS: notification time, ambulance response and hospital care.

Colquhoun, J. (1984), New evidence on fluoridation. Social Science & Medicine, 19 (11), 1239-1246.

Full Text: S\Soc Sci Med19, 1239.pdf

Dunning, J.M. (1984), New evidence on fluoridation: Commentary. Social Science & Medicine, 19 (11), 1244-1246.

Full Text: S\Soc Sci Med19, 1244.pdf

Colquhoun, J. (1984), New evidence on fluoridation: Rejoinder. Social Science & Medicine, 19 (11), 1246.

Full Text: S\Soc Sci Med19, 1246.pdf

Dodge, C.P. (1990), Health implications of war in Uganda and Sudan. Social Science & Medicine, 31 (6), 691-698.

Full Text: S\Soc Sci Med31, 691.pdf

Abstract: Civil war disrupted agriculture and trade in Uganda and Sudan. This reduced tax revenues and drained scarce resources away from health budgets to finance increased military expenditures. Hundreds and thousands of people were driven from their homes either as internally displaced people or as refugees. Normal health service delivery systems were broken down forcing doctors, nurses and other health professionals into towns, cities or neighbouring countries in search of peace and employment. Scores of hospitals, health centres and dispensaries were abandoned, destroyed or looted, rendering even the limited physical facilities useless. Preventive public health services such as immunization and provision of potable drinking water were discontinued leaving huge populations susceptible to controllable infectious diseases and epidemics.

Hertz, E., Hebert, J.R. and Landon, J. (1994), Social and environmental factors and life expectancy, infant mortality, and maternal mortality rates: Results of a cross-national comparison. Social Science & Medicine, 39 (1), 105-114.

Full Text: S\Soc Sci Med39, 105.pdf

Abstract: Using data from United Nations sources we conducted an international comparison study of infant and maternal mortality rates and life expectancy at birth. We examined these three dependent variables in relation to a range of independent variables including dietary factors, medical resource availability, gross national product (GNP/capita), literacy rates, growth in the labor force, and provision of sanitation facilities and safe water. Based on exploratory stepwise regression models, we fitted a series of general linear models for each of the three dependent variables. For the models with the highest explanatory ability, the percent of households without sanitation facilities showed the strongest association with all three dependent variables: life expectancy at birth (R² = 0.83, B =-0.088, P = 0.0007), infant mortality rate (R² = 0.87, B = +0.611, P < 0.0001), and maternal mortality rate (R2 = 0.54, B = +8.297, P = 0.002). Additional significant predictors of life expectancy at birth and infant mortality rate included the quantity of animal products consumed, the percent of households without safe water, excess calories consumed as fat, and the total literacy level. Maternal mortality rate was significantly associated with total energy consumption and excess energy consumed as fat. Using residuals from the general linear models we chose three outlying countries: Costa Rica, Sri Lanka and Egypt, on which to do case studies. These country case studies are discussed briefly in regard to characteristics that could account for their differing statistical relationships.

? Skolbekken, J.A. (1995), The risk epidemic in medical journals. Social Science & Medicine, 40 (3), 291-305.

Full Text: 1995\Soc Sci Med40, 291.pdf

Abstract: Searches in MEDLINE databases show a rapid increase in the number of articles with the term ‘risk(s)’ in the title and/or abstract in the period from 1967 to 1991. This trend is found in medical journals giving a general coverage of medicine and journals covering obstetrics and gynaecology in U.S.A., Britain and Scandinavia. The most rapid increase is, however, found in epidemiological journals. Comparisons of the developments in the occurrence of such terms as risk, hazard, danger and uncertainty show that the increasing frequency of the term risk in the medical literature can not be explained as a change in terminology alone. It is hypothesized that the ongoing trend, which resembles an epidemic, is a result of developments in science and technology, that has changed our beliefs about the locus of control from factors outside human control to factors inside our control. The origins of the epidemic may be traced to the development of such disciplines as probability statistics, increased focus on risk management and health promotion, with recent developments in computer technology as the factor responsible for the escalation seen in the past decade. With the cultural selection of risks in mind, the social construction of risk is discussed. Potentially harmful effects of such an epidemic are discussed, exemplified through controversies over current epidemiological risk construction and strategies for coronary risk reduction. It is finally argued that the risk epidemic reflects the social constructions of a particular culture at a particular time in history.

Keywords: Britain, Construction, Control, Coverage, Cultural, Culture, Databases, Development, Epidemic, General, Gynaecology, Hazard, Health, Health Promotion, History, Human, Journals, Literature, Locus of Control, Management, Medical, Medical Journals, Medical Literature, Medicine, Medline, Obstetrics, Promotion, Reduction, Risk, Risk Management, Risks, Science, Science and Technology, Social, Statistics, Technology, Term, Terminology, Trend, Uncertainty

Notes: highly cited

? Ong, L.M.L., Dehaes, J.C.J.M., Hoos, A.M. and Lammes, F.B. (1995), Doctor-patient communication - A review of the literature. Social Science & Medicine, 41 (7): 903-918.

Full Text: 1995\Soc Sci Med41, 903.pdf

Abstract: Communication can be seen as the main ingredient in medical care. In reviewing doctor-patient communication, the following topics are addressed: (1) different purposes of medical communication, (2) analysis of doctor-patient communication, (3) specific communicative behaviors, (4) the influence of communicative behaviors on patient outcomes, and (5) concluding remarks.

Three different purposes of communication are identified, namely: (a) creating a good inter-personal relationship, (b) exchanging information, and (c) making treatment-related decisions. Communication during medical encounters can be analyzed by using different interaction analysis systems (IAS). These systems differ with regard to their clinical relevance, observational strategy, reliability/validity and channels of communicative behavior. Several communicative behaviors that occur in consultations are discussed: instrumental (cure oriented) vs affective (care oriented) behavior, verbal vs non-verbal behavior, privacy behavior, high vs low controlling behavior, and medical vs everyday language vocabularies. Consequences of specific physician behaviors on certain patient outcomes, namely: satisfaction, compliance/adherence to treatment, recall and understanding of information, and health status/psychiatric morbidity are described. Finally, a framework relating background, process and outcome variables is presented.

Keywords: Doctor-Patient Communication, Purposes of Communication, Interaction Analysis Systems, Communicative Behaviors, Patient Outcomes, Early Breast-Cancer, Medical-Students, Bad-News, Nonverbal-Communication, Physician Attitudes, Information-Seeking, Interviewing Skills, Treatment Decisions, Chronic Disease, Satisfaction

Wang, L.F. and Huang, J.Z. (1995), Outline of control practice of endemic fluorosis in China. Social Science & Medicine, 41 (8), 1191-1195.

Full Text: S\Soc Sci Med41, 1191.pdf

Abstract: Endemic fluorosis is prevalent in China covering 29 provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions. The endemically affected areas can be divided, according to the sources of fluoride, into three types: high fluoride water, pollution from coal burning, and drinking brick tea in excess. Since the 1960’s, several pilot surveys of the disease have been made and control programmes carried out in some of the areas. An Expert Consultation Committee on Endemic Fluorosis Control of the Ministry of Public Health was formally established in 1979. A national survey programme and series of working criteria for the disease were drawn up at the First National Congress of Endemic Fluorosis Control in 1981. Under the Central Government of China, administrative organizations and institutions concerned at all levels have been set up, forming a nation-wide network of control. Cooperation and coordination among such departments as health, water conservancy, geology and finance have been achieved in the planning and implementation of control programmes. Since 1980, many projects for improving drinking water quality through de-fluoridation have been completed. At the same time, new methods and technologies for improving stove and grain baking have become widely used in some of the areas where environmental fluoride pollution exists from burning coal. After all the control programmes had been introduced, the incidence of the illness was reduced with some patients making a complete recovery.

Rogerson, R.J. (1995), Environmental and health-related quality of life: Conceptual and methodological similarities. Social Science & Medicine, 41 (10), 1373-1382.

Full Text: S\Soc Sci Med41, 1373.pdf

Abstract: The recent revival of interest in the concept of quality of life by academics in both the social and medical sciences and amongst politicians has focused attention on the continuing debate about the definition, measurement and utilisation of quality of life. In particular, the need amongst regulatory and financial authorities-both in the health sector and in local government-to know about the potential impact of intervention has encouraged further interest in the use of quality of life measures to assist resource allocation and assessing the impact of policy decisions. In this paper it is argued that whilst such measures may be the ultimate goal of research, this can only be constructed on a fuller understanding of quality of life measures of current conditions and the relationship between components of life quality. A conceptual framework is developed to show the relationship between the way that quality of life, in both environmental and health-related studies, has been conceived and measured. The strong similarities in both respects are discussed, pointing to the need for heightened interdisciplinary dissemination of research methods and assessments.

Keywords: Subjective Social-Indicators, Of-Life, Well, Deprivation, Glasgow, Cancer, Conceptualization, Quality of Life, Measurement, Environment

Clark, J.A., Wray, N., Brody, B., Ashton, C., Giesler, B. and Watkins, H. (1997), Dimensions of quality of life expressed by men treated for metastatic prostate cancer. Social Science & Medicine, 45 (8), 1299-1309.

Full Text: S\Soc Sci Med45, 1299.pdf

Abstract: Men who pursue active treatment for metastatic prostate cancer face a choice between medical or surgical castration. While both alternatives have documented side-effects (e.g. loss of libido, breast enlargement and tenderness, hot flashes, and nausea), their psychosocial impacts are not well understood. As part of a study of patients’ treatment decision making, we have sought to construct a patient-based measure of the salient disease and treatment-related qualities of life experienced by these men subsequent to treatment. Focus groups (15 with patients, two with wives) were used to develop candidate Likert scale questionnaire items representing quality of life issues that patients said were important. These items were combined with assessments of symptoms, comorbidity, and generic measures of functional status and well-being in a mail survey of patients treated at the Houston VAMC and two other Houston hospitals (n = 201, response rate = 63%). Psychometric analyses (principal components and multitrait scaling) were used to identify distinct dimensions of life quality, correlations with generic measures, and symptom reports were used in validation analyses. Qualitative analyses of focus group data identified three major domains of life quality: self-perceptions, anxiety about the effects of treatment, and concern with the process of decision making and treatment. Psychometric analyses identified nine reliable and valid indicators of prostate cancer-related quality of life: body image, sexual problems, spouse affection, spouse worry, masculinity, cancer-related self-image, cancer distress, cancer acceptance, and regret of treatment decision. Internal consistency (alpha) ranged from 0.71 to 0.90. Correlations with reference scales (e.g. MOS Mental Health Index, Profile of Mood States) and symptom status supported concurrent validity. Prostate cancer patients perceive a number of important psychosocial consequences of their treatment. These consequences are represented by nine scales comprising a brief (35 items) disease and treatment sensitive health-related quality of life instrument, which we will use in monitoring the outcomes of patients’ treatment choices. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd.

Keywords: Of-Life, Clinical-Trials, Patients Choice, End-Points, Buserelin, Carcinoma, Distress, Therapy, Health-Related Quality of Life, Prostate Cancer

Gulliford, M.C. and Mahabir, D. (1998), Social inequalities in morbidity from diabetes mellitus in public primary care clinics in Trinidad and Tobago. Social Science & Medicine, 46 (1), 137-144.

Full Text: S\Soc Sci Med46, 137.pdf

Abstract: Associations between socio-economic status and non-communicable diseases in middle income countries have received little study. We conducted an interview survey to evaluate the associations of morbidity with social conditions among people attending government primary care health centres with diabetes mellitus in Trinidad. Data collected included morbidity from hyperglycaemia, foot problems, visual problems and cardiovascular disease, as well as social and demographic variables. of 622 subjects, 35% were aged > or = 65 years, 54% were Indo-Trinidadian, 13% had no schooling, only 11% were in full-time employment, and 33% had no piped drinking water supply in the home. Prevalent symptoms included itching, reported by 215 (35%), nocturia in 315 (51%), burning or numbness in the feet in 350 (56%), and difficulty with eyesight in 363 (58%). A morbidity summary score was used as dependent variable in regression analyses. Comparing those with no schooling with those with secondary education, the mean difference in morbidity score was 1.77 (95% CI 1.15-2.39), attenuated to 0.71 (0.06-1.37) after adjusting for age, gender, ethnic group and diabetes duration. The equivalent differences for those with no piped water supply in the house, compared with those with, were 0.53 (0.17-0.88) and 0.57 (0.24-0.89). For the unemployed, compared with those in full-time jobs, at ages 15-59 years the differences were 0.85 (0.14-1.56) and 0.58 (-0.11-1.27). We conclude that morbidity in persons with diabetes is associated with indicators of lower socio-economic status and that this association is partly explained by confounding with older age, female gender, longer duration of diabetes and Indo-Trinidadian ethnic group. A negative association between socio-economic status and morbidity from diabetes contributes to a justification for investment of public health resources in the control of diabetes and other non-communicable diseases.

Cheung, Y.B. (1998), Accidents, assaults, and marital status. Social Science & Medicine, 47 (9), 1325-1329.

Full Text: S\Soc Sci Med47, 1325.pdf

Abstract: Marriage may reduce the risk of accidents and assaults by promoting social control of health behavior. This study examines the impact of marital status on non-fatal accidents and assaults in young British women. Data is drawn from a large cohort study of the people born in 1958. Rate ratios of overall and specific incidence of non-fatal accidents and assaults are determined by negative binomial regression, with adjustment for socio-economic and behavioral confounders. The null hypothesis of no association between marital status and incidence of non-fatal accidents and assaults is rejected. It is suggested that, independent of parental status, more exposure to marriage and less exposure to marital dissolution may reduce accidents and assaults. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Accidents, Assaults, Social Control, Marital Status, Britain, Social-Control, Health, Marriage, Family, Mortality, Behavior

Albrecht, G.L. and Devlieger, P.J. (1999), The disability paradox: High quality of life against all odds. Social Science & Medicine, 48 (8), 977-988.

Full Text: S\Soc Sci Med48, 977.pdf

Abstract: This paper builds on the work of Sol Levine to examine a disability paradox: Why do many people with serious and persistent disabilities report that they experience a good or excellent quality of life when to most external observers these individuals seem to live an undesirable daily existence? The paper uses a qualitative approach to develop an explanation of this paradox using semi-structured interviews with 153 persons with disabilities. 54.3% of the respondents with moderate to serious disabilities reported having an excellent or good quality of life confirming the existence of the disability paradox. Analysis of the interviews reveals that for both those who report that they have a good and those who say they have a poor quality of life, quality of life is dependent upon finding a balance between body, mind and spirit in the self and on establishing and maintaining an harmonious set of relationships within the person’s social context and external environment. A theoretical framework is developed to express these relationships. The findings are discussed for those with and without disabilities and directions are given for future research. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Of-Life, Health, Coherence, Pain, Attitudes, Sense, Disability, Quality of Life, Body, Mind, Spirituality

Koch, T. (2000), Life quality vs the ‘quality of life’: Assumptions underlying prospective quality of life instruments in health care planning. Social Science & Medicine, 51 (3), 419-427.

Full Text: S\Soc Sci Med51, 419.pdf

Abstract: Quality of Life is a broad construct used in health planning, health economics, and medical decision-making. It is also a term that has a long currency in social and sociological literatures. This paper considers the assumptions underlying prospective QL instruments in an historical and contemporary context. It argues that as a tool in health planning and in clinical decision making life quality as a measurement has its origins in the early eugenics literature and the social policies that derived from it in first North America, the primary focus of this paper, and later in Europe. Reference to narrative and social literatures, as well as those involving coping and adaptation, are then used to critique the assumptions underlying this class of QL instruments. It concludes that to the degree now current prospective instruments reflect a purely physical perspective of ‘disease burden’ irrespective of social conditions they create a context that works against life quality, and in some cases, the continuance of persons with physical differences. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Of-Life, Euthanasia, Disease, Disabilities, Providers, Genetics, People, Injury, Odds, ALS, DALYs, Disability, Eugenics, Euthanasia, HeaLYs, Quality of Life, QALYs

? Moncrieff, J. and Crawford, M.J. (2001), British psychiatry in the 20th century - observations from a psychiatric journal. Social Science & Medicine, 53 (3), 349-356.

Full Text: 2001\Soc Sci Med53, 349.pdf

Abstract: In order to investigate change and continuity in the concerns and practices of psychiatry in Britain during the 20th century we examined contents of the British Journal of Psychiatry. Specifically we sought to examine the paradigms used by psychiatry to conceptualise mental illness during this time. Back issues of the journal for 1 year at the mid-point of each decade were examined. We undertook a quantitative analysis categorising each article in terms of its form and content and a qualitative analysis in order to summarise the subjects that were covered. The results show that there has been continuous interest in biological aspects and treatments of mental illness with relatively little coverage of psychoanalysis or social psychiatry. Little support was found for the suggestion that major shifts have occurred in the explanatory paradigms used by psychiatry over the century. Modern interest in biological psychiatry is therefore not a new departure, but appears rather as the continuation of a long-standing inclination. The decline of the asylum-based system of care has been accompanied by a broadening in the scope of psychiatric concerns with a greater emphasis on milder mental disorders such as neurosis and depression. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Analysis, Biological, Britain, Care, Coverage, Depression, Journal, Mental Disorders, Mental Illness, Midpoint, Practices, Psychiatry, Qualitative, Qualitative Analysis, Quantitative Analysis, Rights, Scope, Social, Social Psychiatry, Support

? Keskimaki, I. (2003), How did Finland’s economic recession in the early 1990s affect socio-economic equity in the use of hospital care? Social Science & Medicine, 56 (7), 1517-1530.

Full Text: 2003\Soc Sci Med56, 1517.pdf

Abstract: The study evaluates the changes in socio-economic equity in the use of general hospital care in Finland from the late 1980s to the mid 1990s. In the early 1990s the Finnish economy plunged into a deep recession which slashed over 10% of GDP and resulted in a 12% decrease in national health expenditure. At the same time, the administration and financing of specialised health services were reformed. The impact on general hospital care was controversial: budgets were reduced but better productivity increased the supply of many services. According to the study, data, based on individual linkage of nationwide hospital registers to disposable family income data in population censuses, overall acute general hospital admission rates among Finns aged 25-74 increased by over 10% from 1988 to 1996. For some surgical procedures, such as cataract, coronary revascularisation and some orthopaedic operations, rates more than doubled. In both years, lower-income groups generally used hospital care more than the better-off. However, there was a slight shift towards a pro-rich distribution, mainly due to a larger increase in surgical care among the high-income groups. In 1988 the lowest income quintile used 8% and in 1996 15% fewer operations than the highest. For individual procedures and surgical diagnostic categories, the general trends of increasing disparities were similar. Despite cuts in expenditures in the early 1990s, the Finnish general hospital system based on public funding and provision managed to increase the supply of services. However, this increase coincided with widening socio-economic discrepancies in the use of surgical services. The paper proposes that these increasing inequities were due to certain features of the Finnish health care system which create social discrepancies in access to hospital care. These include the high profile of the private sector in specialised ambulatory care and in the supply of some elective procedures, and semi-private public hospital services requiring supplementary payments from patients.

Keywords: Economic Recession, Hospital Care, Surgical Procedures, Socio-Economic Equity, Income Groups, Finland, Health-Care, Inequalities

? Metzl, J.M. and Angel, J. (2004), Assessing the impact of SSRI antidepressants on popular notions of women’s depressive illness. Social Science & Medicine, 58 (3), 577-584.

Full Text: 2004\Soc Sci Med58, 577.pdf

Abstract: This study examines how Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitor (SSRI) antidepressants have played a contributing role in expanding categories of women’s “mental illness” in relation to categories of “normal” behavior. We hypothesized that between 1985 and 2000, as Premenopausal Dysphoric Disorder (PMDD), postpartum depression, and perimenopausal depression were increasingly treated with SSRIs, popular categories of depressive illness expanded to encompass what were previously considered normative women’s life events such as motherhood, menstruation, or child birth. We quantified and qualified this expansion through an in-depth analysis of popular representations of depressive illness during the time period when SSRIs were introduced. Using established coding methods, we analyzed popular articles about depression from a mix of American magazines and newspapers spanning the years 1985-2000. Through this approach, we uncovered a widening set of gender-specific criteria outside of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual criteria for dysthymic or depressive disorders that have, over time, been conceived as indicative of treatment with SSRIs. Our results suggest that SSRI discourse may have helped shift popular categories of “normal/acceptable” and “pathological/treatable” womanhood, in much the same way that the popularity of Ritalin has shifted these categories for childhood. (C) 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Analysis, Approach, Behavior, Birth, Child, Childhood, Coding, Criteria, Depression, Discourse, Events, Gender-Specific, Impact, Life, Menstruation, Methods, Postpartum, Postpartum Depression, Rights, Role, Treatment

Weeks, W.B., Wallace, A.E. and Kimberly, B.C.S. (2004), Changes in authorship patterns in prestigious US medical journals. Social Science & Medicine, 59 (9), 1949-1954.

Full Text: S\Soc Sci Med59, 1949.pdf

Abstract: To improve identification of contributors to manuscripts, editors of medical journals have developed authorship responsibility criteria. Some have specified an acceptable number of authors per manuscript. We wanted to examine changes in patterns of authorship in the context of the development of these specifications. Therefore, we used a retrospective cohort design to calculate the average number of authors per manuscript and the prevalence of group and corporate authorship between 1980 and 2000 for original, scientific, non-serial articles published in four prestigious medical journals: the Annals of Internal Medicine, Archives of Internal Medicine, Journal of the American Medical Association, and the New England Journal of Medicine. Group authorship identifies individual authors in the byline who are writing for a group, in corporate authorship, contributors are not individually listed in the byline.

We found that the number of authors per article increased dramatically over time in each journal, from an average of 4.5 in 1980 to 6.9 in 2000 across journals. As a proportion of published manuscripts, group authorship (authors listed in the byline) increased from virtually zero to over 15%, while corporate authorship (authors not listed in the byline) remained rare and stagnant. Manuscripts published by single authors all but vanished. Group authorshi was most prevalent in journals that limited the acceptable number of authors per manuscript.

These findings suggest that the number of authors per manuscript continues to grow. The growth in the number of authors on bylines and the proportion of group-authored manuscripts is likely to reflect the increasing complexity of medical research.

Keywords: Academic Medicine, Publications

? Kitzinger, J. and Williams, C. (2005), Forecasting science futures: Legitimising hope and calming fears in the embryo stem cell debate. Social Science & Medicine, 61 (3), 731-740.

Full Text: 2005\Soc Sci Med61, 731.pdf

Abstract: Controversies about biotechnologics often centre not so much on present scientific facts as on speculations about risks and benefits in the future. It is this key futuristic element in these arguments that is the focus of this article. We examine how competing visions of utopia or dystopia are defended through the use of diverse vocabularies, metaphors, associations and appeals to authority. Our case study explores how these rhetorical processes play out in the debate about embryo stem cell research in UK national press and TV news media. The findings show how predictions from those in favour of embryo stem cell research are supported by both hype and by anti-hype, by inconsistent appeals to the technologies’ innovative status and by the selective deconstruction of concepts such as ‘potential’ and ‘hope’. The debate also mobilises binary oppositions around reason versus emotion, science versus religion and fact versus fiction. This article highlights how traditional assertions of expertise are now combined with ideas about compassion and respect for democracy and diversity. It also highlights the fact that although news reporters are often responding to topical events the real focus is often on years, even decades ahead. Close attention to how images of the future are constructed, and the evolution of new strategies for legitimation are, we suggest, important areas of on-going research, particularly in discussions of scientific and medical developments and policy. (c) 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Case Study, Constructed, Democracy, Diversity, Embryo, Events, Evolution, Media, Medical, Policy, Potential, Predictions, Religion, Research, Rights, Risks, Science, Stem Cell, Technologies, Topical, UK, Visions

? Bastos, J.L., Celeste, R.K., Faerstein, E. and Barros, A.J.D. (2010), Racial discrimination and health: A systematic review of scales with a focus on their psychometric properties. Social Science & Medicine, 70 (7), 1091-1099.

Full Text: 2010\Soc Sci Med70, 1091.pdf

Abstract: The literature addressing the use of the race variable to study causes of racial inequities in health is characterized by a dense discussion on the pitfalls in interpreting statistical associations as causal relationships. In contrast, fewer studies have addressed the use of racial discrimination scales to estimate discrimination effects on health, and none of them provided a thorough assessment of the scales’ psychometric properties. Our aim was to systematically review self-reported racial discrimination scales to describe their development processes and to provide a synthesis of their psychometric properties. A computer-based search in PUBMED, LILACS, PsycInfo, Scielo, Scopus and Web of Science was conducted without any type of restriction, using search queries containing free and controlled vocabulary. After initially identifying 3060 references, 24 scales were included in the review. Despite the fact that discrimination stands as topic of international relevance, 23 (96%) scales were developed within the United States. Most studies (67%, N = 16) were published in the last 12 years, documenting initial attempts at scale development, with a dearth of investigations on scale refinements or cross-cultural adaptations. Psychometric properties were acceptable; sixteen of all scales presented reliability scores above 0.7, 19 out of 20 instruments confirmed at least 75% of all previously stated hypotheses regarding the constructs under consideration, and conceptual dimensional structure was supported by means of any type of factor analysis in 17 of 21 scales. However, independent researchers, apart from the original scale developers, have rarely examined such scales. The use of racial terminology and how it may influence self-reported experiences of discrimination has not yet been thoroughly examined. The need to consider other types of unfair treatment as concurrently important health-damaging exposures, and the idea of a universal instrument which would permit cross-cultural adaptations, should be discussed among researchers in this emerging field of inquiry. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Keywords: African-Americans, Analysis, Assessment, Blood-Pressure, Causality, Community, Development, Discrimination, Disparities, Factor-Analysis, Inventory, Literature, Perceived Ethnic Discrimination, Prejudice, Psychometrics, Pubmed, Questionnaires, Race, Race Relations, Racial Discrimination, Reliability, Researchers, Review, Science, Scopus, Self-Report, Statistical, Stress, Systematic, Systematic Review, Treatment, Validation, Web of Science

? Street, J.M., Rogers, W.A., Israel, M. and Braunack-Mayer, A.J. (2010), Credit where credit is due? Regulation, research integrity and the attribution of authorship in the health sciences. Social Science & Medicine, 70 (9), 1458-1465

Full Text: 2010\Soc Sci Med70, 1458.pdf

Keywords: Authorship, Health, Research